the good, the bad and the just so wrong...

Well finally Chrissy is cranking up to be a snug one 36C forecast and about time too!! it's been wet cold and rainy for too long..

The wkd was a washout and all plans for outdoor christmas events were foiled by wind, lighting and buckets of rain.. Unusually I have no market cheer photos, I looked like a drowned rat all day but thankfully Rose carries a wet weather pack and the shiny black mac got me through the day along with a lovely new scarf from our stall neighbours.. who sadly won't be joining us next year due to market policy about imported goods! boo on them!!

On an up note the tomatoes are looking red and shiny there will be a bumper crop this year, along with trees loaded with apples, apricots, plums and lemons...If the birds don't get to them this will be a great year..

So forget about all that cold and ice or even possibly snow... this is way more the way Christmas looks in Oz well maybe not coconuts or fig leaves just swimming attire and thongs...the feet kind :))

Merry Christmas Peeps here's hoping you have close friends and family to hang with this time of year :)) cheers ang

results...

Well it's my 3rd firing in a week and the best one by far...all the changes I made to my kiln were worth while and she fired beautifully...I can't ask for anything more..

So Kathy if you're reading.. the wedding bowls are all lovely all 86 of them so you have a set of spares for yourselves :))

Today was the Wheaty Christmas sale for ceramics and glass and some beautiful pieces were on display the room was crowded for the first hour as predicted and as newbie to  the room I did far better than I expected, thanks Charmain for the invite and to the Wheaty for such a great venue :))

I came home with a few treats yey!! 4 lovely pieces that will get used often!!

So here's a few picks from the unload...

All of the raw pieces held up well..

and a surprize the nuka glaze threw up purple from the copper brushwork I think it would make it to cone 10 quite stunning for such an easy recipe... the vases, small shino bowls with ash sprinkles and the pouring bowls were all raw glazed...

oooh and the pendants MFQ clay with shinos, ash and soda sprinkles all came out well with some nice crystals forming...

thrown, trimmed and glazed...

Thrown, trimmed and glazed...
Had a fun time in the studio today whipping up a few extra pieces for the kiln load on friday...I'm not sure that they'll all fit but anyway throwing a few bowls and leaving them out in the lovely sunshine to dry off before trimming then glazing the insides...I've sprinkled some ash and some soda ash for good measure inside and will glaze the outsides tomorrow.

Yep all in one afternoon I just had to check in on Alan's Blog again about raw glazing and so glad to see it's all still there!! Its been 3 years since Alan's fatal motor bike accident.. I have dropped in occasionally on his blog and so glad today when i thought about raw glazing that his blog is still up and still an amazing resource.. Just catching up on some of his antics today made me chuckle like trying to trim a branch off a tree overhanging his pottery sign and mud stomping at a music festival....anyhoo still miss him..

So a crazy week in my studio.. we fired the small gas kiln at the club on saturday, preparations to get that happening are still a challenge, as is group firing but great as a learning environment for our club members.. 7am call til 4pm on saturday followed by an amazing stage show that night with Sade on centre stage at the entertainment centre, I honestly haven't seen that kind of production in years!! so enjoyable even if my sis double booked herself and couldn't make it so I got to take one of my besties instead!!

Sunday glazed and loaded my gas kiln fired on Monday yey the gas delivery turned up!!! 9am - 1.30am at which point I turned the baby off.. I suspect my kiln is going into early reduction with flames leaping out of the bung around 700C.. so tomorrow i'll be finishing glazing the wedding commission bowls and make a few adjustments to the air intake around the burners and the exit flue.. that's the good thing about a fibre kiln, out with the exacto knife and quick alterations will be done... and firing again on friday gas willing!

 And on another note ....note to self... leave a light on at 1.30am to see where I'm going in the dark!!! I took a slide on the large pebbles next to the garden path that I was supposed to be walking on and yep went flying, as did my favourite glass which bounced nicely.. I however didn't and a wee bit sore today, why does it take aches a day to appear!!?? anyhoo enough whinging here's some pics...

the commission

raw pouring bowls

sweet spot

a couple of raw vases

some ash and soda sprinkled inside raw pourer bowl

a few small raw bowls with shino treatment

slippetty slipware video...

I've been trying to source a simple way of getting this video out to you guys but it seems digital is going to be the easiest....so here on youtube you can access a reasonable resolution of the movie it's way better full size but unfortunately will cost way too much to store online full size so here you have it....the long awaited, sorry Robert and others that have been waiting for way too long for this :P

This is the slipware tour video of USA April 2011 workshops starring Doug Fitch and Hannah McAndrew.. the tour covers 3 workshop in Cape Cod Mass, Fredericksburg Virg, and Shelby North Carolina.. Doug and Hannah travelled from the UK to do these workshops and I travelled from Australia to catch up again with these guys and meet some super new blogging friends in the States a big thankyou to all who put us up!!! gave us coffee and all the amazing potters we met!!!

When I have some time this holidays there's plenty more short vids to make... :))

So settle in this one is about 45 mins... well hey I had a lot to squeeze in!! hope you like it.. cheers ang

ang's open studio...

Yes it's that time of year again...

This saturday 19th november is my open studio day from 10am - 4pm.... drop on by if you're in town have a coffee and a chat and purchase that small gift that you're looking for...something handmade and local

The verandah will be set up full of this years new work and a few favourites too.. The garden is looking green and lush and there will be plenty of seats to stay and chat for a while, see ya saturday  :))

email me if you need directions angelawalford@gmail.com   ...it's pretty easy just off Hancock Rd Fairview Park

print on clay 2 vid...

Here we go a lil printing display action from saturdays workshop....

A big thankyou to those who came out for the day and making it such a cool day.... Lunch again was an amazing time of chatting and getting to know folks and yeh yummy gluten free chocolate cake thanks Ali..

and a big thankyou also to Alison Arnold for being our special guest for the day.... we learned heaps, made some screens and picked up on some printing applications and got Connie started with her new printing kit too....all round a super day...enjoy the clip!!

print on clay2...

Print on Clay 2 ...  This is the next workshop out at Tea Tree Studio there's still room if you want to come..
Saturday November 12th 10am - 2pm BYO shared lunch... just give me a call to book or email teatreestudio@gmail.com

It should be another great workshop!! Alison Arnold is special guest at this one..we'll be showing all manner of techniques from printing to stencilling.. Bring leatherhard tiles, plates wares anything you wish to print on about 4-6 pieces should be enough for a play.. We have video clips on making your owns screen plus we'll be making some on the day screens are $16 each. All this for $15 a head..

Tea Tree Studio is located at Lot 6 Crouch Road Golden Grove, in the green sheds next to the church..

stirling idea...

Yep it's that time of the year!! the sun is shining and the marketeers are out enjoying it...It was a beautiful day in the hills yesterday, some very balmy weather brought out the crowds, some of whom have realised it's time to start shopping... others more reluctant

Waldorf Spring Fair had been moved to next saturday so luckily this wkd wasn't a double header market wise.. The usual events of grannies taking a stumble down the giddy ramp that is between the lower level where our stall is and the high road.... dogs taking a dislike to each other, kiddies in despair!! usually about being stuck in a pusher they would rather be steering and of course the lovely peeps that come into our stall and talk pots!!! they're cool!!

Music wise we had a couple of extremes with the buskers yesterday, we had the teen who played everything a bit too anxty!! and our friend Raj and his buddy who thumped out a good tune or three!! pity about my poor head after Johns' 50th up the road the night before... I was a tad doofed out.

The Story of Clay...

UNFORTUNATELY THIS VIDEO LINK HAS BEEN REMOVED!!
But you should still hunt for it.... it's a really cool 3 part series by the BBC..


One video that has made the rounds this week on facebook is The Story of Clay.... Ceramics A Fragile History 1 from the BBC, I spotted it on Friday night and bookmarked it for future reference..

Some stand out moments watching Mary Wondrausch sliptrailing, The Sculptures of Lydia Dwight, the daughter of John Dwight who died at the age of 6.... and austerely trailing right at the end THE LOOS!! 'The Crapper'!!

This one just has to be shared!! enjoy if you haven't seen it already :))

BBC Series in to the history of Ceramics from early beginnings to modern day

studio stuff...

It's time for my weekly catchup...

Last week was grab a few hours here and there in the studio but it really seemed to work well...my head was uncluttered considering the amount of multitasking going on and the end result a bisque kiln load just finished this lunch time!!

Lots of lovely jugs and mugs that I got really carried away with scrolls and textures on the handles.. A couple of testers for watercolour tile illustrations I used MFQ which is just like porcelain when you wedge it...mmm lovely...

Theres a bunch of cat feeding bowls on my ware racks, some raku waiting to happen and some wee seasoning bowls for the table..

And last but not least if you're a fan on facebook you get to see whats been cooking for lunch!! but if you don't happen to be a facebooker here's todays cook up gluten free pasta, tomato based sauced with red capsicum, zucchini, mushroom, chilli and some grilled chicken...mmmm

 I'm getting sorted now for all the spring sales and markets plus the really crazy ones leading up to christmas...

 Ali and I are squeezing in a print on clay workshop next month ..

Plus I have my open studio on the 19th of November ...

get in touch with me if you need any more info for my open studio or the workshop...so that's about it, I hope you're up to your elbows in the good stuff if you choose :P 

shino's plus...

I spent the most part of yesterday doing a photo shoot of the last gas firing and here's a few results... It was indeed a great firing, I ran out of redgum chips and ended up using some pine bits but that was ok just not as much lustre as I would normally see. Now I have a few pieces to keep for exhibitions next year..

On the kiln side of things the exit flue has some damage.. It got pretty hot back there and now needs some repairs but all in hand!

So here's a few pics...




Created with flickr slideshow.

my PORT festival wkd...

The Port Festival Wkd has been and gone and yes still recovering...I do love these big events but they are exhausting, Saturday was open 11am - 9pm and Sunday the same we did however start packing up at 8pm when it felt like a ghost town :P

Saturday evening was 'cool' we traversed the Port end with the street animations and all kinds of character and wandered the dock a little before piling in our cars and heading home.. Sunday despite the forecast showers was lovely and a different crowd came out which was also lovely... the music kept the day humming again.. a big yey to the event organisers and our friend Sharon who kept us in touch and was the person with all the info throughout the event, it really was well organised and sweets in the afternoon you guys have the touch :))

 here's a wee vid of the wkds events... of course the obligatory analysing and discussing of work and what works and what doesn't at these type of markets but all in all very enjoyable!!! but will we be back.....

 

Mondays Firing vid...

Monday being a public holiday gave me extra time last wkd to glaze load and fire my gas kiln and again she roared!!

I'm getting used to the super large bung hole its great you can see 3 shelves in one peep!

 I unloaded last night after unloading the bisq at the club...all good... everything survived, although i did steam overnight the most amazing thing was the mug shrinkage... So back to the gas kiln a good solid firing throughout, the different chun on my dk celedon has a much higher melt time so its a tad underdone but everything else is yummo and my raw glazed mountain survived ..

I'll take some better photos friday hopefully...happy firing :))

 

today's studio...

A quick peek at todays studio work, the first of a long wkd's worth with a sweet introduction by a honeyeater hanging around my back door today munching on the Lime tree nectar :))

slipware movie teaser pt2...

                                                                                 After some final tweaking the Slipware Movie will be on it's way, a lil post out to England, Scotland and the US will see it pop up in your mail boxes very soon!! The movie content is all about the three workshops in Cape Cod, Virginia and North Carolina....Lots of Video some with pertinent techie info, question answering, loads of throwing demos, handle attachments and an immense amount of stills all blended into one film.. I still have copious amounts of video from travelling to put together and that will take some time...I'm so glad I put together short vids as we went along the east coast otherwise this could really be a nightmare sorting out!! anyhoo enjoy the teaser pt 2...

 

slippety slip slop...

The workshop on Saturday went down a treat the only part of videoing that the peeps wanted to see more of was Hannah's Platter slip decorating....

unfortunately my flip decided to flip out and didn't record the enormous platter at the Cape Cod workshop...which was an amazing piece!! so I only have stills...

So I got the universal remote to tune in to the TV and we now have a vid channel on the old box woohoo!! only took me and hour to tune the beast in :P

I had prepped plenty of pots and slip in the week prior so the day ran pretty smoothly after sussing out thickness of the slip issues....The slip trailing was a hit so most of the deco that will come out of the kiln will consist of that...I really enjoyed doing finger wipes and marking the wet slip with dabs...so I have a few of those plus the old black over white pours...mmmm

I think a couple of things have cracks in them prob from messing with them too much it's a do the marks and leave the pots alone process really...

The weather was great on saturday quite cool and really good for slip trailing into wet slip, I think the warmer months will be no good for this process unless we have some humid days..otherwise spring activity it will be... we have a good size turn out about a dozen of us and a great lunch spread and plenty of time to play....so thanks to everyone that made this day a success!! 

the next workshop is a printing one see you in november for that one...

where to start!!!

nice start to the marbling

sandy started us all going dotty

judiths sliptrailing

annas slip trailing

alis kingfisher

sallys houses

belindas slip trailing

pam about to do surgery

a couple of my dotty pieces