workshop @G1855

Starting the year off with a bang and this :P

I hope to see yu! there are limited places so get in touch with Niki asap, details below

It will be a hands on all day workshop with lunch break, slideshow and chats. Bring your notebooks and any journals ideas you are processing at the mo.

I will have tools, slip and some greenware tiles for you to work on. Some working with clay skills required, newbies and other media artists all welcome.

Gallery1855’s focus on clay continues into early 2015, with artist Angela Walford for Mark making on clay, a one-day surface decoration workshop.

To register please refer to the flyer below. If you would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Cheers, Niki e niki.vouis@cttg.sa.gov.au — at Gallery 1855 in Tea Tree Gully.

epic...

Are yu ready for an epic post???

I have 20mins up my sleeve so here goes…

yesterday's firing and printing went well and even had a mo in the cool of the evening to get some pavers relaid after the not so handy handy man botch job! mr not so handy laid pavers that are so higgledy piggledy that they had to come up. I am still sifting the sand out of the pebbles that he buried, no idea what was going on there! so now back to plan b which is to lay less pavers and use pebbles for a more natural look with interspersed grasses, should be lovely :)
now back to the studio -  lil birdie is back on the studio set list, check out my instagram feed for loads of studio pics…

fri night's trim session started with blood spillage as I took a chunk outa my finger… my brilliant throwing stool really needs repairs, it needs gluing together as I managed to pinch my finger in the chair leg…so 'blood rule' get outa the studio, clean up the mess and bandaid all together and back to it…. blood soaked bandaid and all coz the trimming must happen!! we have a deadline here people :P

Ooh also I have a fab new humidycrib for my pots, it's a massive ikea shallow tub with lid and it works a treat keeping pots damp pre trimming. I just kept some wet newspaper in there when things were drying out.

Last wkd was the installation of Material World in the forest above gallery1855, a photo shoot that lasted all day despite the downpour, complete with lightning and thunder!  I dashed home for a brolley and completed the day with intermittent runs down to the gallery to hide from said storm :P

Was a fun day and the show continues for another week yet.

I went off to Melbourne a couple of wkds ago for a much needed break and hung out with claysista Adriana Christianson we toured melbs to the max. I did the Ian Potter gallery and Craft on friday after making the airport dash friday morning yes I literally ran for the plane!! Sat & Sun we visited Sue Acheson, cone 11 ceramics and Zac Chalmers, Jane Annois,  Sandra Bowkett and Mon checked out the Box Hill arts centre where AC works, brilliant space! then off to Melbs again for a wander and the National gallery before back home. Epic truly epic, our hosts were just lovely…more tea?! #melbs4wk thanks Adriana for such a fab and whirlwind tour!!!!

and no we aint finished yet….

attached are several studio videos, coz im all about process…head over to my youtube channel for more videos too you'll find me as angwadesign previous bizzo name :P anyhoo blog on and chat soon!!

oh look springy time is sneezy time...

oh look springy time is sneezy time…

Sunday last was marketeering day in the hills and druid avenue was ablast with pollen! the oak trees are getting all springy and sending flying chunks of pollen all over the streets and by days end all my stock was covered as well as ma hair and every receptacle in sight.

the crowd was pretty good and due to another event in town things hotted up fairly quickly, then the 'lunchtime lul' and time to grab a bite to eat a coffee and watch the passers by…

Had loads of visitors and a lovely meet up with a fellow instagrammer ;)
Lovely to have neighbour Rajan back out of hibernation and Timbo the glass guy back from OS and brilliant assistance setting up and packing down again by my new neighbours from the riverland, they have all manor of dried fruits and the last of the pumpkins this wkd!

My terracotta fellas made the outing and some went to new homes as well as lil birdie and raku action for the day…
It's now winding up to making for chrissy sales and refilling shops around town and very exciting a trip interstate very very soon…
Monday was post market wipe out day, so exhausting then winding up into another weeks work. Happy days all, trying to stay balanced with running and brain winding down times plus studio time to recharge…
I saw a couple of seconds of Michael Kilne in the studio today, that is before the interwebs got stuck, hopefully something of the future checking into some studio time with other clay heads :)

more studio moments...

A job cancellation this morning meant a diary reshuffle and how could I turn today into something more productive. I've been thinking about summer preparations with daylight savings time heading our way fast it's a reminder that the hot weather will be here soon and cool throwing days will be a thing of the past. So onward into some new summer works, I'm retaining the forms of the very popular lil birdie wares and will be exploring new prints and some new season colours.

I got started with some beakers today as making small closed forms is in my muscle memory at the mo and may as well take advantage of that. Here's a snapshot of an hour or so condensed into 7 minutes.

Follow the #3hoursinstudio series on instagram and the dreaded facebook ang walford ceramics or twitter

studio day byo cheer...

Some of this… before a wipe out day

One very productive monday in the studio with a test run of some gritty red stoneware. Some new tiles on the way with thoughts percolating again. Then the crash yesterday a big wipe out migraine day, haven't had one for ages and what a booger but out the other side today and covered up everything ready for trimming and handles. Anyhoo here's the vid… cheers

journal update...

a raku firing video to get yu started

click for a link to my statigram feed ;)

I feel like I'm always playing catchup these days and in an attempt to journal update here's last weeks efforts. I'd been madly making raku bottles for last wkd's open studio and only managed to fire a few of them as it was difficult to get a firing rhythm happening with visitors etc, the kiln would cool down and it would take an hour to get it back up to temperature so not many raku firings occurred but we did manage to get a few Obvaras through with some lovely results. I found after a bit of experimenting with time some gorgeous results from a truly smelly concoction.

firing last week in my rocket raku kiln...my usual turquoise glaze coming out not so…but some lovely reds again

our tree audience for the day and cranky skies…

obligatory fire and studio buds for the day...

  

and then last wkd stirling market sunday another fine winters day with lots of peeps out enjoying the sun and I took my heated jacket out for a market test run….soooo nice you wouldn't believe what a difference it makes, I found the company online and they just happen to be in Adelaide what lovely service the guy even brought out samples for me to try on. So if you're interested look up all purpose heated clothing

anyhoo it's off to the studio for me and do some warm up throwing pots, it's been a while since I've made some nice bowl shapes so check in later on the dreaded facebook and instagram or twitter

Open Studio Day #2/duo...

Sunday & Saturday & Friday, well frankly that was tiring but had some lovely chats with some lovely peeps thanks for dropping by and for some having a play with fire. Coffee and scones went down a treat and even some spicy, well not too spicy lentil soup for my friends!!

It was quieter than last year but that may have been the location, on the edge of the sticks and frankly sat navs are a bit useless peeps always end up with the horses! Anyhoo had a great time with my studio bud, we Obvared and rakued and demoed all wkd and with some lovely and not so nice wild life next door in the trees. A koala watched our proceedings yesterday and was sniffing the Obvara I reckon… the crappy magpies were swooping all arvo but he carried on his merry way across the carpark and up some more bluegums for a feed…

enjoy the vids

open studio...

OPEN STUDIO CERAMICS 2014
16 & 17 August at Tea Tree Studio

Anna Couper & Angela Walford
at Tea Tree Studio  30 Crouch Road,  Golden Grove SA

This year Anna and Angela are combining their open studio as part of The Australian Ceramics Association Showcase.

Nestled in the foothills at Golden Grove this delightful location has it all.
We will be working away on the pottery wheel, hand forming some intricate organic forms and firing these works across the weekend in a raku kiln.

Make sure you stay in touch on Instagram Angela Walford angdesign.com.au
and facebook Ang Walford Ceramics, twitter @angwalford  And facebook Anna Couper for updates across the wkd to see what we are up to and when the firing events will be where you can witness the pots straight out of the fire!

Tea Tree Studio is off Golden Grove Road, 30 Crouch Road Golden Grove in the green sheds next to the church. No doubt the coffee pot will be on hand and probably some scones baking too. 

Come on out and see us Saturday 10am - 4pm 

and Sunday 11am - 3pm.

 

the big clay day out...

A Big shout out to my friend Darren Williams Photography for these! 

some moving stills from the day…

We had an amazing crew, kitchen, studio and firers they were all just brilliant and made for a great environment. I still cannot believe the response we had for the event, so big shout out to all who came and made it such an enjoyable day. It was a pre 9am til well past midnight thing for some of us.

There was a lot of permissions to get for the day and the council were very helpful in making sure all of those safety needs were met. One big huge shout out to Kevin who without none of this would have happened. He is one committed and brilliant Safety Officer and all round mentor to loads of students. 

A Big Thank you to all!

 Oh and then there's the digging out the pots from the pit in the rain!!! seriously messy stuff!! again thankyou to kevin, sandy, irene and matt who between them cleaned up and washed everyones pots, well done guys...

Here's a wee vid, hope you enjoy…and hop on over to my youtube channel there's plenty there to watch...

honest moments...

These are the days… the ones where things come together, moments collide, software works and computers behave themselves!! grrrrr…. I received notification today that a work of mine was gifted and you may remember a little thing called the blogger show curated by Meredith of Whynot Pottery it was a show that brought so many of us ceramists/potters together in North Carolina USA.

The work that I was creating at the time was very much driven by a desire to see beyond the kitchen table. Although the works I make are so often beyond function I desired to create something that was so far from utilitarian that it repelled the notion of function and became a landscape in and of it's own right. Early settlers painted imagery of Australia are so steeped in our artistic cultural heritage but not made of clay. Any of you who know me are well aware of my stance on our medium of choice and it's perception in our contemporary culture.

I started to create a flat body of work, a series of wall tile palques that were accessible to contemporary culture and representative of the media, abstract in form and loose in creation. 2D and 3D by nature.

This imagery is well embedded in my psych and I feel compelled by my surrounding to continue it's exploration. Given the abundance of local clay and iron content this subject nature could keep me obsessed for a lifetime.

and head on over to the frogpond for this sundays splash...

The work… 'Hills Edge' … It is one of a series of tiles symbolising the natural landscape of our City's eastern region, the beautiful Adelaide foot hills. 

 A gift by the city of tea tree gully to Mirioko Chuo High School in Japan, it is a great honour that my work would be selected to gift to our (city of tea tree gully) sister city delegation on their visit last month… photography by Derek McClure Photography

the big clay day out...

So this is happening.... It's been in the pipeline since january this year and getting very,very, close to the pointy end now..

The Big Clay Day Out is coming very, very, soon!! 
SAT 21 June 2014 10 am til late...at Tea Tree Studio Golden Grove SA

the big clay day out poster

ang design raku

ang pots in the making

digging the pit

digging the pit

digging the pit

digging the pit

digging the pit

kevin's fine!

kevin's fine! just a bit of fun

knocked out by my crappy tea making!!! kevin's fine!

in the kiln

#kevin'snotdeadhe'spretending

Kevin and I were at the club on holiday monday digging the pit, well he was digging and I made some shocking tea...so after totally wearing out our safety officer he tells me the posi needs new and younger blood....nup just kidding I'm sure I can talk him into another year of service :)

The volunteers meeting is next monday night where we will be divvying up tasks and catering ideas...it's all so very exciting!! after seeking the relevant council and firery approvals and filled in all the paperwork I can hardly wait! We have loads of excited peeps looking forward to a day of raku and pit firing into the night. 



Just $5 gets you in to participate and we have sample pots for the locals to have a try. Complete with a capable kitchen crew there will be soups, a bbq, coffee and cake and spuds on later in the day. 

Arrival at the gate is 10am and quite possibly you will be greeted by some scouts eager to see the action. Demonstrations throughout the day and pit loading at 10am. Stay in touch during the event on facebook and instagram #thebigclaydayout...

here's the promo blurb fyi...

The Big Clay Day Out is coming very, very, soon!! 
SAT 21 June 2014 10 am til late...at Tea Tree Studio Golden Grove SA

Have your pots bisque fired and ready to go. The pit is loading at 10am and raku throughout the day with 4 raku kilns for large and small work. Raku glazes available and stay in touch during the day on instagram ‪#‎thebigclaydayout‬

if you'd like to join the group send a request on tea tree studio group page https://www.facebook.com/groups/teatreestudio