Staying at Home

Staying at home due to restrictions imposed by our government to help reduce the spread of Covid 19 seems to be working.  It has not been much different here as both my husband and I enjoy each other's company and have never been big on social gatherings. We are still able to do our weekly shop and our hobbies are home based and we can keep in touch with family and friends via phone or online video calls.

The general atmosphere has affected my pottery making as I just did not feel inspired to go to the studio.  The studio was also cluttered with materials that were to be sold for a fund raiser that was cancelled.  It took me ages to finally realize that by putting a few things outside and doing a huge tidy up I could clear my working space.

a few of the many boxes of materials cluttering up the studio

some of the old test tiles from my training days removed from the studio

The clean up extended to my house and I found this iconic children's book - Dot and the Kangaroo is an Australian classic written about a young girl who gets lost in the bush and is saved by a kind kangaroo.  In the story the kangaroo gives her berries to eat that stave off hunger but also allow her to understand what the animals are saying.  Wouldn't that be cool.

 Autumn in Sydney means that many of the camellia's start to flower.  This single one is one of my favourites.

 Just before the restrictions came in we made it to the nursery to get some compost and seedlings.  The cosmos have come to life with the drought breaking rain - they should have been flowering during summer but it was just too dry.  The marigolds starting flowering within days of being planted out.

I'm back in the studio at last and will be catching up on a commission and a few other pieces to fill the kiln.
Take care everyone - be patient with the restrictions and keep yourself and others well.

Rain at last

Over the last couple of weeks much of the east coast has received flooding rains... from one extreme to the other... while all the bush fires are either out or at least contained those whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed by the fires are still facing recovery.

One of my friends is bringing artists together to exhibit in a fund raiser to help. They are calling it Creative Coastal Appeal and it will be in the Ulladulla Civic Centre.
My work titled "2070" will be part of that exhibition in Ulladulla on the NSW south coast over the Anzac holiday weekend, 25 April.

If you live close by please consider attending....bring your friends and buy some art for a good cause.

EDIT: The show in Ulladulla was postponed indefinitely due to restrictions caused by the fight to limit the Corona Virus.  Fortunately, prior to this my friend took "2070" to another fund raiser at The Ivy Hill Gallery further down the coast where it sold.  So happy the bush fire affected potters I nominated will get the funds.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

to my Friends and Followers
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
A Happy New Year would include an end to this current drought and the resultant bush fires. 
Stay safe everyone.

Christmas sales preparations underway

I have several markets and a PopUp Shop as well as my usual stockists to supply over the next month so glad my last firing went well.
Here is a selection of some current pieces.
I hope to be back in the studio tomorrow for more making....

small bud vase. white stoneware with 2 colour stamped design

Christmas Tree Hangers - porcelain and tissue print

Christmas Tree Hangers - Porcelain, gilding and glass beads

Second chance

This teapot was meant to go to the Sydney Teapot Show back in September however my kiln broke down and there was no time to refire it.
Once the kiln was repaired I was able to refire the whole load successfully.

So this one is now on show at the Hazelhurst Gallery Shop in Gymea NSW.
The design is inspired by the Bangalow Palm trees we have in our garden.

Wheel thrown stoneware teapot with cane handle. Scraffitto decoration. Royal Blue lid. 2019

Great result

The women running the Art For Bales fundraiser are still processing receipts, however the initial results are terrific.
I also made a donation to bring my contribution up to the price of two bales of hay.  Thank you to those who purchased my brooches.  Every little helps.

If you would like to help you can still donate directly to the charity - here is the link: https://www.buyabale.com.au/

Art for Bales fundraiser, sale day today and tomorrow

If you have an Instagram account please consider purchasing some art work for the fundraiser for drought relief, @artforbales2019

There are 200 or more artists, including myself with art works and pottery for sale. The sale is taking place over two days, 19 & 20 October 2019

Here are my small offerings - 3 porcelain brooches.
The green bird has sold - the cupcakes are still available
$15 each with free delivery within Australia

Teapot, kiln failure and Art for Bales

I am very happy with my entry in the Sydney Teapot Show. My teapot (only one due to my kiln failing at a crucial time) titled "Bluey" sold on day one of the show!

"Bluey" stoneware wheel thrown teapot 2019

That will help with the expense of repairing my little kiln!

The show will be open until the 20 October 2019 at the Kerrie Lowe Gallery in Newtown, Sydney.

If you are on Instagram please keep a look out for the fund raiser called Art for Bales 2019.  I took part last year and sadly their help is still needed as our farmers face another year of drought which also means more bushfires.  It all takes a toll on both farmers and the animals.

I will be selling 3 of my porcelain brooches so check out #artforbales2019 and my Instagram account - @potterybyanna.
The sale is only on Instagram and will go live from 19 October 2019.

August offerings

I have been working on teapots for the last couple of weeks hoping for a few good enough to go to the Sydney Teapot Show which is fast approaching.

My last firing was to add to my market collection and also work for the Hazelhurst Arts Centre and Gallery shop.

It seems my bud vases, jewellery (brooches) and pigs are all quite popular which is lovely.
No pigs in the last firing but these brooches and bud vases have been delivered.

Porcelain brooches. Textured, cut, glazed and added bling.

Bud vases.  Wheel thrown stoneware - copper green glaze.

Note to self: blue material is not a good background for these pots.

A Potters Irish Odyssey - Part Three

Here is the final post on my Irish Odyssey... if you have arrived here via a link from Facebook you might not be able to scroll through to the first two posts so just make sure you are on this blog's home page then you will be able to see all three episodes.. thanks for all your enthusiastic comments.

left to right - Markus Jungman, Eleanor Swan x 2, Sinead Fagan

So this final post is a combination of studio visits and gallery visits.

After leaving Cork we traveled to a village called Glengarriff where we based ourselves for the week.

On the way we made a visit to Sinéad Fagan's country workshop.  We got lost even though Sinéad had given us good instructions.  Our SatNav sent us to the wrong side of the main road and we had to phone and Sinéad very kindly came and rescued us.

I have been intrigued by images of Sinéad's saggar fired wall pieces for some time now.  Here is a link to her website: http://www.sineceramics.com/about_sinead.htm

and an example image from her Facebook page:

Her process might sound simple as the works are not glazed, however to be able to produce such evocative 'landscapes' repeatedly, takes perseverance,  skill plus lots of time finding the dry seaweed and other combustibles before preparing them inside the saggar for firing.

My phone battery started having issues so only one photo of the workshop to show you.  The kiln is a top loading raku gas fired kiln with a natty lid lifting mechanism and as you can see produces beautiful pieces.

Thank you Sinéad for swapping for this lovely vessel.  I'm very glad it made it home safely.

While in Glengarriff we travelled around the area and enjoyed the wonderful scenery - so green after the drought browns of Sydney. We drove around the Beara Penisnula, over Healy Pass and took a boat ride to Garinish Island.

Garinish Island - Australian plants are doing well in the gardens, Tea Tree and Bottle Brush shrubs.

The wild growing foxglove flowers were everywhere

We visited the impressive ceramics gallery in Kenmare, the Millcove Gallery
John Goode, who is an owner of the gallery, made us very welcome and we enjoyed our talk about the state of ceramics around the world.

The gallery stocks some of the best of Irish ceramic art and most of the people I visited would have their work in this prestigious gallery.

John has produced two books on Irish Ceramics and kindly gave me a copy of the first edition as I already have a copy of the second edition.

I just had to buy something from the gallery and I found this beautiful little porcelain jug by Markus Jungman  click on his name to go to his website for more of his pottery.  I didn't find out until later that he lives not far away and would have welcomed a visit - next time perhaps.

Before we left the area we had been told of an exhibition at the Blue House Gallery in Schull.

Blue House Gallery in Schull (not really my bookshop next door)

It was a group show so lots of different styles to enjoy... you can see better images on the gallery website here: http://www.bluehousegalleryschull.com/2019/ceramicgroup.html

Then we were back in Dublin for a while where we made a day trip out to see the delightful and generous, Eleanor Swan.  Here is the link to her website:
http://www.eleanorswan.com/

Her studio is fascinating as it is situated in the old buildings of a stately home, Russborough House (click on name for link).

There are other artisans with workshops there too.  We loved the stone mason who works with Irish marble, Hennessey and Byrne.

Eleanor's studio in The Forge Yard at Russborough House

 It's a great setup with the artisan's having a shop as well as the workspace so you can buy directly from them.  They also have works for sale in the gallery shop attached to the house for those who do the tours or visit the cafe and might not make it to the workshops.

Sales area in the workshop

examples of Eleanor's work

Eleanor is a sculptor and hand builder.  Her works range from large sculptures designed for those with vision impairment to be able to touch, down to little houses and beautiful ornate wall hangings.

Her flowers are very delicate while her sculptures are quite strong and impressive. Do follow the link above to her website to see the full range.  Eleanor has visited China and Taipei and has works in gallery collections there and in Ireland.

Thank you Eleanor for a lovely inspiring visit.  These little pieces made it back safely to Sydney.

That's it for this visit to Ireland.  I look forward to visiting again sometime.