start with the image...

Image, image, image..

The hills are alive and all that and for some reason are stuck in my subconscious and probably will continue to be my subject matter for some time. But meanwhile an interlude of little terracotta people who are bound for some saggar firing shortly. The SALA installation is coming together nicely as my fellow clubees are creating all kinds of terracotta characters.

And meanwhile the gallery has a great exhibition of ceramics at the mo and spent quite a long time on the lower floor admiring and trying to figure out a few pieces. This Ash piece of course grabbed my attention!

Last weekend Ali and I presented a print on clay workshop at Gallery 1855, it was a great day with loads of great attendees and a fun collaboration again :)

Today's pop up series of workshops commenced with the Balloon forming with Anna such a fun session and everyone took the notion and adapted their own styles. And so great to have friends drop in from across town.

And a bit of happy hour in the studio tonight, my first bash at facetting and throwing, they are ok for a first go and some kiln fillers… onward

tiger boy...

This gorgeous fella left us on the wkd, he was the most loveable mischievous and totally loveable character. 18 big years of love and cuddles. There were days of the week when I was so busy and all he wanted was some fuss and love and made sure he got his way :) I will miss him hanging his paw around my neck, those wet feet after running through the rain to the back door. 

The last few weeks have been caring for him, watching him. His previous visit to the vets was pretty funny a massive wee all over everything, a little back atcha vet baby don't squeeze that bladder so much!! He had a suspected bladder tumor and a few of aged things, caring for him was a joy as much as he was a gift. 

My studio door watcher and all round gorgeous tiger boy, you will be missed...

Ahhh the results...

Ahhh the results of a self imposed long wkd in the studio. Many 2.5 kg warm up bowls around 50 soup size bowl and 50 cups and mugs. Just allowing that amount of concentrated time with nothing else happening was brilliant and the results now are mostly bisqued with some still waiting for the next load which is tiles but before that I digress...

I recently acquired my new lil birdie screen so printing and firing has commenced with a batch about to be delivered to a new Gallery along with some shino wares on Monday, its a bit of a road trip but should be lovely…

and oops forgot their blue moon on the dishes so they are moonless!

Yes El Mexicano Quiz Night at Tea Tree Studio went off!! Loads of prep with catering etc and the chilli went down a treat with some lovely salsa by Anna and cup cakes to boot! it was a ton of fun and here's some of the winners….

So to the tiles they have been a while in the making and so wet I even lit the studio fire yesterday to warm the place up, so there you have it the mark making has progressed and just some more detailing and more drying to go.

and last sunday's opening at the gallery 1855 of "Shadows"

some lovely collage and print works by 3 artists

And of course the tiger himself, striding along into his 18yr with more visits to the vets of late and with a change of meds he has perked up a bit again and responding well. yes he has a nanna rug :) loves it…







and a shout out to Kim in Tassie Sunday Blog's up…head on over for a peruse around the pond

the first of 2014...

The first of 2014 and may there be many more...

Saturday started early with the light up of the pilots well before brekky time, then on with the checking everything, the gas tanks, the pressure, the climb and as always the log.

I have come to rely on the past logs a lot as I aim for consistent colour and a heavy atmosphere. I headed down to the local garden centre for as the guy called it an 'armful of firewood' which in my firing focussed brain totally confused me. I know what he meant now but at the time ….huh?? Just think of a limb and fill it with wood you'll see where my brain went! snorts…. really i wasn't that tired, just in fully focussed mode. I know the day after firing is the tell tale sign of how well the firing went, am I exhausted? did I pay enough attention to every sign form the kiln during the firing?
And the result, well here's the pics, a lovely cone ten always shows up in the chun response. A touch of red from a soda test piece refire and some interesting cone 6 refire results in there too.

I did send a verbal sorry to the neighbours about the smoke,
I would normally be loading some wood later on in the day and the smoke is barely noticeable, so maybe the wood was very fresh? anyhoo I ended up opening the dampers to deter so much smoke. notes for next firing, start later and stoke later that way aiming for some more carbon in the work. There is a notable difference with this clay body too TMK is a porcelainous stoneware and the results are very smooth and silky, it looks like there is barely a touch of iron on that body so even though it is lovely to throw with I prefer a bit more iron in the body and will continue to use SWE and LGH for those results.

A peak in just as I cracked the kiln and a nice thing as big sis was there to open the kiln with me and grab the pots as I unloaded. Anyhoo off to market with some new pots, the new market in town Flinders Street Market is turning out to be quite a surprise and it can only get better, I'm there Sat Mar 29 and Stirling Market Sun Mar 23, hope to see you!