workin day...

Nearly done!! this big guy is awaiting a rim and that will happen tomorrow now, he's all wrapped up with heaps of placky and overnight will give todays coils time to consolidate and firm up.. then a little base tidying up and some slip and mark making... woohoo!!

trimmed and awaiting the slip now :))

The rim I score up ready for the next coil..

the pug all bright and shiny got its first workout today :))))))))))

a new batch of recycling drying out on plaster..

The Sculptural clay!!!! ready to start again with the platter making...

And this is how I wet down clay that I mentioned in the previous post...
If it's a bit too stiff for me to throw....slice her through and dunk a towel in the bucket loosely wring out and wrap up the clay in layers..tomorrow I flip the stack and the moisture settles out ready to wedge up..

slipware after all...

Well Stirling Market day came and went and would you believe I didn't take a single photo??!! mmmm brain is a bit mushed me thinks...anyhoo yesterday was lovely a tad cool and foggy when we got there yesterday atop the hill and loads of cyclists.. I mean loads...everywhere!!

It was a beautiful day and lots of first time visitors to the market too which is always lovely... we drank, we ate, we sold some ceramica and heaps of chats and catchups the best stuff really...

So back to my mushed brain would you believe the platters I threw on friday are in terracotta clay???? how did I manage this you may well ask well..... I debagged 2 bags of clay and damped it down in a wet towel.... i'll pics the process later.. the clay body is remarkably similar to my warm sculptural body and in a very similar bag and well if i don't have my specs on I do assume a fair amount :P  so back to square one on the platter remake this week.. and it looks like i'll be doing some slipware after all doug :)) some nice black and white slip mixed up and ready to go!!.. HA I don't believe it.. do you????!!!

a bit of coil...a bit of throw...

Ahhh it's friday!! I've been adding a bit to this pot when i've had a mo this week and it hasn't been easy...but what has been easy is that my clay is pugged and well aged it's been sitting in the tub for months and i'm nearly out...oops and the extruder has been a dream to use.. this pot's for the campbelltown show, I have aspirations of making 2 pots for this years exhibition.. we'll see! ... so here ya go, where i'm at.. it's lunch time and a quick vid from this morning....speedy version :))

where there's smoke there's obvara...

 a lil smokin action from today's raku firing....quite the blast of a day shared with my studio pals...enjoy

When I was little I spent quite a lot of time at home due to illness...I prob read every book in the house and the library and started drawing on books and on whatever had been given to experiment on I had charcoals, pencils, watercolours and all manner of thing to draw with... I do remember drawing portraits of Burke and Wills 2 Aussie explorers that perished in the bush and a striking watercolour painting of red and green capsicum in isolation that hung around our house for years....well eventually the tonsils and adenoids were extracted and I went back to school...and the rest is history..
I did art at every level in school and went straight to art college ....a good thing a I had no idea what I wanted to do....my first year I had Kingsley Marks as my Lecturer in clay as my Liberal Study and he was the best really...It is in that subject i was inspired by clay as a medium but unconvinced I could make a living out of it I moved into design, a good choice for me.....and there you have stylin tip #4 be inspired... absorb....and regurgitate your hearts desire

stylin #3

Well busy week and i didn't quite make it yesterday for number 3's hot stylin tip... so here tis today...

Tunes!!!!! one simply has to have the grovin tunes whilst working in the studio.... I usually have triple J on I like the alternative tunes mostly, blame this on college too... I've never been much of a top40 fan but i will make an exception for Cee Lo Green 'F You' was in high rotation on the afore mentioned station complete with a language warning I have no idea why it made me smile so much :))

 Anyhoo the J's has freebies online and one of my favs at the mo is Gorillaz 'Plastic Beach' along with 'Vampire wkd' of course...
So there's tip Number 3 get ya groove on!!!!

My lovely pug mill bits that Kevin blasted and painted up :))

Sunday arvo involved clay dirt trecking up the road...

Ovoid cups anyone ????

and some newies along with a couple of jugs...

fired another bisque today for Saturdays raku!! drop in if you're local Crouch Rd Golden Grove 5125 SAT 10am - 4pm Gas firing only....bring a plate :))

extruder action...

 for Ron Ball of Canada a few closeups of my extruder....what can i say it's just brilliant!!! check out the pin that clicks in and out of the inner post as it pushes the clay down.

The cylinder for the clay swivels out for ease of access to add clay and to change the dye beneath.... enjoy...

the contortionist wore red...

The Contortionist Wore Red was a College photography project combined with a graphics project for a book cover....I do remember dreading the next brief it always took so long to get ya head around the next challenge and then you had to pull it off convincingly!! Communicating with the lecturers was always a challenge they could be so....hmmmm how shall i put it snotty? cruel? intimidating!!!! This idea came easy.. I hate that coz then i resent working so hard the next time....hmmmm My photography lecturer provided the smoke bless him...he and his lungs weren't long for this world. He had this terrible rumbling cough that never cleared i always thought he'd hack his lungs up one day....urgh

anyhoo My Styling Tip #2

get a challenge grab it with both hands and get stuck in..

learn to use all the tools you have at hand... be it a camera, a video, a mobile phone, some new software

'a new kiln'....I can only hope :P

but grab em with both hands and work it baby, work it....

stylin...

Ahh Meredith.....it's a challenge but i'll see what i can come up with over the next 7 days....thinking of them all at one is just like preparing a shopping list really! I always forget something :P

And a lil studio tour with a bit of a flashback to last summer...we were sweltering but not at the mo, it's 22C outside lovely studio weather as it's usually quite a bit warmer up there...so here ya go stylin #1 ya have to wait til the end or fast forward...

arm throwing...

One of the best clips I've seen recently involved arm throwing!! I must say for the smaller and lighter of us it's a great technique for getting your body weight into centering rather than just relying on your hands..
This week's been a bit busy, which is great as work has been quiet of late and finally I had some time this afternoon to get into the studio.. We had some lovely rain today filling the rain water tanks back up and giving the garden a much needed soak and with the cooler conditions it was lovely outside today...

So back to the platters I've decided to get on with a new batch as I'm really not happy with any of the refires and totally befuddled by this glaze i'm going to fire just a couple at a time in the kiln rather than risking such large losses as in previous firings.. And going with pouring the glaze this time!! I have a new batch of glaze and been making kiln filler pieces too for this new strategy....so settle in the clip is 10mins 40..

Can't wait for my physio to see this he might start to understand why my elbow won't heal :P.... it's my axe injury, did it chopping wood last year...

the ground...

artline 0.4 pen x2 on A5 sketchbook page

My tuesday night drawing class took an excursion into the outdoors this week ...I thought a change of scenery would be nice for the knew term...

I made up some lil viewing frames to assist with choosing what exactly to draw outside and we spent quite some time out there quietly sketching away enjoying the cool breeze and the birds..we were visited by fatty the magpie who eats everything left out for him and Janet from my class did a quick sketch of him, it was good quick sketching practice because he didn't want to stand still at all..

I drew several sketches of the ground around me it is covered with debris from the gum trees, grasses, leaves, sticks bark and ants...It was a really interesting exercise and in the last sketch i put my frame on the ground to draw what was within and got out the charcoal to do a really loose impression of what I saw...

I'm thinking some really large pieces of paper and some easels would be fun out there!!

Click on images for larger pics..

FC charcoal on Cartridge A5 sketchbook page

tea party cups...

I'll be throwing my very own teaparty with these cups!!

This is take 2 of the monster cups the sliplines turned out great but i got quite a bit of movement with the clay and the post fired cups are now ovals not round... so here's take 2 with a different clay body and fingers crossed that the handles aren't too heavy.. and a few drawings from the wkd i'm slowly getting the hang of spending more time in the sketchbook again :))



Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

the tools of the trade...

 my new toys!!!

I honestly can't remember if i've written about this before...so if i have excuse me!! :))

This tool list appeared in my lap one day and i thought... well there's no prices on it and no brand names so whats the story??
It turned out to be a workshop of wonders as I stepped inside this old iron clad shed i couldn't help but smile i took pictures (above) and heaps of them.. wrote down all the details and got as much history as I could..
It turned out the old gentleman now passed away had been a market gardener and quite the inventor as such a job requires..You should have seen this place, a gantry for carrying out large works to the kiln and a place for everything and everything in its place...
Even the atmospheric fluro light that hummed away was inspiration for this Alladin's cave.. I brought all my notes and images to Kevin 'el Club Superman extraordinare' and said what do you think?
I brought home 2 extruders with more attachments than I know what to do with, a de-airing pugmill all home made....a bunch of glaze materials, some cones and a few tools including a cheese slicer or 3 that i've been hunting down for ages! Left behind an electric kiln and a gas kiln that i'm still trying to find a home for..
It's such a mass of heavy metal pieces but put together with great thoughtfulness I can't help but love this stuff and love that it gets to have another life at my place....and after some repair work all these pieces will go on working for years.....as cumbersome as they are they make me smile :)) now what colour shall i paint the pugmill??

the writing is on the table...

Note taking not in my journal is prob not a good idea really but who's gonna stop me writing on my table eh!!??

This is for a couple of knob n alls, one chopstick high by 1/2 chopstick wide excellent measurements i just forgot to allow for the trimming of the join of the lid to pot....oooops... just under 51bs

zoom in for some MK inspirational pics on the fridge of lidded forms mmmm lovely stuff...

I'm just in from the club space... we had a photo shoot out there at  lunch time to add some visuals to a strategic planning document for our city, mostly of us pretending to work HA! and for some reason the photographer didn't want me drinking tea i told him "it's what we do mostly here!!".... 

some funny pics should appear on Annas blog i hope... a highlight for the day belindas terracotta sculpture of a circle of friends "The Village People" style....sorry no pics they'd have to be bleeped out ;)

 It was stinking hot out there today it's very humid and we have evap air in the space so just a case of cranking up the airflow and getting very schvetty!!! anyhoo work glazed and 2 kilns loaded and firing tomorrow when it should be much cooler...yey 

 A few warm up pots from this week... and trying new things with plates i really like breaking the rim with lifts and squishes... it happened by accident one day when i was cutting through with my wire and i've been trying to get that same style mark ever since... more throwing tonight as the weather cools down and i've been breaking out a porcelainous stoneware body so easy to work with and note to self to get more in my next clay order, it's lovely....so these pieces are all loaded in the kiln and catch you at the club if your so inspired tomorrow...

MILK...

 

Milk has opened in the exhibition space at the urban cow, some really cool illustrations on mdf wood and an experimental look into ceramics slipcast milk bottle milk cartons and beakers...the illustrations are strong and we'd love to see them on the clay too...Anna and I had a quick chat with Fruzsi last night who's one chicky show is on til 27th Feb her illustrations are really cool and the invite image is what grabbed me to go see the show... Fruzsi Kenez Milk at the Urban Cow Studio

We of course did the o·blig·a·to·ry schmooze in the ceramics space just to check out whats new and who's up to what...lovely stuff!!

mini me...

hey they survived x2 42 degree days and a 35deg day under placky with a very hot wet towel saturated several times during the day and more layers of placky.. 

this is a 1 1/2 pounder next to 4 1/2 pounder.  Mini me...

I may need to check the height of these guys I'm using the trusty chopstick as measuring tool lets see what the shrinkage is!!