Sarah Walton is a highly regarded maker with work in thirteen museum collections and in numerous private ones.
Of her birdbaths she says:
I am the sole producer in the world of such pieces. Each is unique and unrepeatable in its finer details and colourings. Their
durability and design are the result of countless technical advances (and setbacks) through the last 26 years. In a dormant
winter garden, glistening with frost, they catch the light. They are both aesthetic and practical. They achieve the status of
sculpture.
In my childhood I walked, drew and painted landscapes; those of the South Downs and Lake District
making a special impact. I saw their thinness of soil as a beauty of spareness and it is that quality I've tried to bring to
the birdbaths. I have looked at the human form, at the world's stone sculpture, at Neolithic and Romanesque art and the work of the
Romanian sculptor, Brancusi.
I started with the observation that birds felt safe using puddles. My first birdbaths were as shallow as puddles but gradually
I've realised they must be deeper if all their water is not to evaporate in the summer. The bird-baths are made in six shapes, each
echoing the form of its base. Their design is such that its pool of water, should it freeze in winter, has room to expand both upwards
and outwards. They stand on a 12" (30cm) square base made of Sussex green oak, which weathers to a grey. These may be supplied in varying heights.
Birdbaths may be ordered online, however many people prefer, if they can, to visit the workshop to choose one from those on display.
The pottery stands on the edge of a wood looking out across the whole of Sussex. Set out in a surrounding garden are the current birdbaths for sale. You are welcome to visit.
¾ mile from the pottery is Charleston Farmhouse, the one time home of the painters Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, which is open to the public.
During hard winters follow one or other of the following courses of action. They guarantee the birdbath indefinitely.
a. Take the birdbath inside.
b. Sand for Birdbaths: During hard winters put into the birdbath two fist fulls of washed sand. This will reduce the quantity of water that forms as solid ice. This in turn reduces to a safe degree the stresses such weather subjects the piece to. Remove once the frosts are past.
Currently there is a 15% discount being offered on the normal prices below. The prices below include the oak bases.
Packing, insurance and delivery inside mainland Britain are an additional £100.
Birdbath shapes
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