The purchaser of the vase depicting Sheffield council flats turned out to be the Duke of Devonshire but the artist wasn't aware of his identity at the time, despite chatting to him, until she received a letter from the Duke inviting her to come and see it in its new home. Which she duly did.

Taylor deliberately juxtaposes different styles and cultural references to encourage viewers to reflect on the place of post-war architecture in Sheffield today.

"The stoneware forming the structure of the vessels is deliberately left visible to acknowledge the concrete of the tower block's functional brutalist exterior," she says. "The slip decoration depicts the chintz patterns often chosen by residents to personalise the interiors."

This sentimental touch is set against the demolition of these buildings which attract large and enthusiastic crowds.

The final drawing on the vase in oxide or underglaze transposes the linear outline of the structure of the building in a style that is deliberately naive – "a pedestrian understanding of an intimidating building containing social and political aspirations," continues Taylor. "Souvenirs of a very British relationship with post-war architecture."

New works by Emilie Taylor depicting Park Hill, Jordanthorpe and Norfolk Park flats will be on display throughout October at the Old Sweet Shop in Nether Edge. They are part of a joint exhibition with Jenny Wilkinson, who specialises in ink line drawings of urban landscapes on small postcards.

Pots and Postcards opens on Saturday afternoon and continues until November 1.

Frozen moments

A HUGE black cloud hovers in an empty industrial building; a tiny white mouse stands frozen to the spot in front of a giant steamroller. The imaginative and provocative combination makes up This Moment Here, an exhibition by Sheffield artist Chloë Brown at Bloc Space.

The helium-filled black cloud appears like an ominous presence trapped in the gallery space which the artist sees as reminiscent of those found in cartoons such as Peanuts – "a harbinger of doom, a sign of depression or sadness hanging over the head of Charlie Brown".

Accompanying this is the confrontation between roller and taxidermied mouse which evokes the iconic image of the 'lone rebel' standing in front of a line of tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

But it also echoes sequences in cartoons such as Tom & Jerry. It's gallows humour treading a careful line between tragedy and comedy, she says.

This Moment Here follows in the tradition of Memento Mori, a theme that has permeated Brown's work throughout her career. The show continues her fascination with the filmic freeze frame, use of taxidermy functioning as three-dimensional freeze frame. She is drawn to taxidermy "not because it symbolises death, but because it is death".

This Moment Here is at Bloc Space, Eyre Lane, from Saturday until October 18.

There is an artist's talk on Wednesday from 1pm-1.30pm.

Mercy in cathedral

SHEFFIELD Cathedral is the appropriate venue for a showing of Mercy has a Human Face, work by local artist John Brokenshire.

The paintings respond to two works in the Graves Gallery – The Execution of Marshal Ney (1868) by Jean Leon Gerome and the Adulteress before Christ (1735) by Giovanni Pittoni.

The first shows an figure lying on the ground before the retreating firing squad. The second is a depiction of a Biblical story of the woman who is saved by Christ from stoning.

Brokenshire's Execution paintings explore the cost of war and the tragedy of human conflict and the Adulteress paintings mark the claiming of freedom and its cost.

Mercy has a Human Face runs from Saturday until November 12 in the nave and side chapel of the Cathedral. It is part of a collaboration for the Off the Shelf festival, The Healing Touch, on Sunday, October 19 in the 1554 Gallery of the Cathedral, when poet Elizabeth Browning will present a new selection of work in dialogue with the exhibition.

The poems draw on Biblical and natural imagery to explore healing and loss.

Serenity of Shizen

COMING from a Japanese background but having lived and trained in Britain, Mari-Ruth Oda's work is a blend of East and West.

Influences in her current show at the Cupola Gallery are the Japanese tea-gardens that provide a contemplative environment in which the spirit is purified and the stone gardens which echo the forms of nature.

In a similar way, Mari-Ruth Oda aims to incorporate serenity and express her reverence of nature in the show, Shizen.

Shizen is at the Cupola Gallery, Middlewood Road, until October 18.

Village art show opens

NOW in its eighth year, the Great Baslow Art Show has become established as one of the leading shows in the region and this weekend take places at Baslow Village Hall.

With a more central venue with good parking facilities, the organisers are looking forward to this year being the most successful yet.

There are wide range of entries from more than 40 artists, including Karina Goodman, Anthea Tassell, Lynne Wilkinson and Janice Allen.

Monies raised will go to Baslow St Anne's School PTA. It is open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4.30pm. Admission is £1, children free.

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