busy out of the studio

Well friends, two markets in three days has been rather hectic!

Each one was with the Port Hacking Potters Group of which I am a member. The first was held in the foyer of the local hospital...

pots on display at Sutherland Hospital foyer 19 November 2015. Foreground pots by Bob Wood.

Five of us put our pots on display and we all sold some which was very nice...

Then two days later we attended the Ramsgate Foodies Market and tried again...

This too was quite successful though for me not as good this time...

Our next endeavour will be the Sporties Heavenly Handmade Market at Moorebank in two weeks time... fingers crossed.

We will also be returning to Ramsgate on the 12th December.

If you are in the area do call by and say hello...

A gallery visit - Adriana's exhibition

The talented Adriana Christenson (check her website here: http://adrianachristianson.com.au/ ) has her beautifully decorated pots in a new exhibition space in Paddington NSW called Saint Cloche...

Adriana and I at Saint Cloche Gallery Paddington NSW

Here we are with some of the pots and with the paintings and drawings of the other artists in the background.  Titled "A Day in the Country" the show includes landscape paintings, paintings of chooks and goats and some interesting drawings of cows and sheep.

I particularly liked this arrangement of Adriana's pots with the landscape painting in the background.

Adriana has used a cobalt oxide wash in several shades to paint on her iconic birdie designs - these new ones have a eucalypt theme and are then glazed in a wonderful pale green celadon. The glaze has a beautiful fit with the clay body.... not a craze in sight.

I've been busy in my studio with a bisque firing done and glazing too.  All set to fire up in the morning.

I have some specials pieces in there including some Christmas decorations so fingers crossed.

After more than a week of showers and full on rain, the garden is doing well... I love the buds on the agapanthus lillies... perhaps even more than the flowers...

and the spring time brings out the insect life too...

I've no idea what this moth is but I love the markings on it... it was in the ornamental grass in the garden today...

Thanks for dropping by and your comments... might see you over on Facebook...

The Blog Review entry for October

Many many potters across the globe like to 'chat' about their work via a blog and you can see a list which happily includes my own on the Pottery Making Info sites monthly Blog Review...
Here is a link to the October list: http://www.potterymakinginfo.com/news/clay-blog-review-october-2015/#more-2600

Visiting Sculpture By the Sea at Bondi NSW

This week my husband and I had a great day out visiting Tamarama and Bondi Beaches to see this year's Sculpture by the Sea

The weather was fine with a nice sea breeze keeping it cool for the walk from one beach to the other along the walkway that follows the 2 km coastline.

"Mirage" by Deidre Mair & Harry Stit

 I particularly liked the sculpture by people who also work in clay like this one by Naidee Changmoh who first sculpts his life size figures in clay and then has them cast in bronze.  Naidee was a demonstrator at the Clay conference at Gulgong last year.

"Fun" by Naidee Changmoh

 The winning entry was this metal piece of a deconstructed circle which represents the fragmented political blocks of our world which prevents the solving of problems such as global warming and poverty  .

"Divided planet" by Jorg Plickat

 There is also a pavilion setup with the marquettes of those who put forward their work for inclusion. I found these ceramic ones of particular interest of course.

by Thomas Quayle using the clay BRT

 These spheres (top and bottom)  are by Western Australian ceramic artist, Andrea Vinkovic

 They are marquette's for her main installation seen in place here:

 and here:

I've been following her blog for sometime now... have a look, it documents her amazing process.

Here is the link: http://andrea-ceramics.blogspot.com.au/

In the mean time I am working on getting enough work together to fire up my kiln again...

I wasn't too happy with my last wheel thrown sphere - it  was too flat on top.. after a bit of research on Facebook and YouTube I brought out my heat gun and am happier with the results...

thanks for reading my blog... and all your comments

Exciting - sold my sculpture

The last few years I have entered a sculpture in the Coraki Art Prize which is held in the small town of Coraki in northern NSW.

I have been happy to have sold my works and was delighted today to receive a phone call from the buyer of this years submission.

It is so nice to receive feedback from the person buying the work.... to know that your maybe not so subtle social comment has been understood is very gratifying and encouraging...

Here is my entry titled "2050"...

My past entries are on my portfolio here: http://annasceramicportfolio.blogspot.com.au/

I was back in the studio today, trimming vases and generally getting work together for my next firing...  one of the vases is now decorated with gum nuts and leaves...

I hope to get into the garden tomorrow... its not only the nasturtium that is getting away... the weeds are starting to take over...
have a good week folks ...

Additional shelf and props

Very pleased to have taken delivery of another kiln shelf today plus some extra props in different sizes...  it will make it much easier to pack my kiln efficiently...

The week that was... and an echidna

I've been fairly busy this last week working on a special plate (photos later if it survives) and some Christmas tree ornaments similar to these I made last year:

I also have a hand built bowl underway but need to finish it and perhaps put some feet on it.

I'm sending these brooches off to a charity event in Queensland...

and have a sculpture entered in the Coraki Art Prize... I'll show that once the show is open next week.

And I had a lovely afternoon in the company of the talented Amanda Bromfield at the Museum of Contemporary Art which is right on the harbour.


We toured the gallery from top to bottom and particularly enjoyed the ALEKS DANKO  
(click on his name for details and interviews) exhibition which finished today.

Amanda admires one of Aleks' large ceramic sculptures

Once I looked at those dark pots from last week and got over the surprise of the dark colours,  I was really quite happy with them..

two small plates

detail of small plate

after speaking with the manufacturer I now know I had the glaze too thick but as its colour is a bounty of copper within the glaze, they will still be food safe.

You can see the touches of green on the underside around the feet where the glaze is thinner and more like the result I expected.

and oh yes,  an echidna came into our place!  I couldn't believe my eyes!  He wandered around, up the driveway and into next doors front garden, inspected their shoe rack by the front door, back into the garden and tucked himself up under a bush and went to sleep!

It really made my day... here is a pic of him as he wanders onto next doors front terrace... just a lovely creature...

So I wonder what the coming week will hold - you just never know...

#SaturdayShelfie 17 Oct 2015

These brooches were mounted for sale last night.  Most of them will be going to a charity event in Queensland while the rest will be available at the next Port Hacking Potters Market Stall.

a dark firing

 Not a full pack but this is my glaze firing after bisque and before turning the kiln on...

Then I fired up using the firing schedule that came with the kiln and it really is firing too high... that second cone on the right should be more upright..  some adjustment needed for next time...

I was a little disappointed with some pieces but generally it was all OK though it looks quite dark.. I realised that it is for two reasons, I've used a darker clay for some works and have some black decoration on others...

I'm very pleased with this little jug and will be keeping this one for the Christmas gravy!

Spring has been here for a month now and my nasturtiums have gone wild! They are out of the pot and up the back fence.. I love their bright colours.

Time to start on the next firing...  I have a little Christmas theme happening that I hope will be popular...

And another pig sculpture underway...

Thanks for dropping by.. perhaps I'll catch you on Facebook :^)

Holiday weekend in the studio

Today is a holiday here in Sydney Australia.
Great weather for the beach if you don't mind the crowds..

However I have been preparing for my next glaze firing...

wheel thrown buff stoneware, black slip and graffito decoration

 These two jugs are glazed and packed...

detail of unfired teapot lid

I am trying to refire a small teapot to hopefully heal a small crack near the handle...
Also in there are some jewellery pieces and some Christmas tree hangers...

Its all packed now however my friend needs to test fire some clay she was given... it was free but unlabelled.. so we shall put it inside a small test dish and see how it goes...