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 :))