Hopping Frogs and Acrobats

What a lovely day I had yesterday meeting up with the very talented Tanya of Hop N Frog Pottery  who creates gorgeous Australian themed pieces from her small suburban studio.  Tanya also made welcome another very talented Ceramic Artist from Qld, Ellen Appleby of Ellen S Appleby Ceramics who was in town to attend the opening of the Christmas Show at the Kerrie Lowe Gallery who are now stocking some of her work.

Tanya's beautiful work is not limited to frogs and lady birds - just look at her whale and that "Alice in Wonderland" teapot!!

After we reluctantly left Hop N Frog behind we took a quick tour of the Archibald Prize at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery before it was time to go to the Kerrie Lowe Gallery.

It was a very cool night but as usual the team at Kerrie Lowe Gallery gave everyone  a warm welcome.  We were amongst the first to arrive so had a chance to look around before the crowd arrived.

Here is Ellen admiring works by Amanda Shelsher; Mollie Bosworth; Elaine Bradley and Cathy Franzi

Ellen's own work looked stunning - as you see here

those are her exquisite bowls and acrobats on the lower shelf

and just behind those green insects on the middle shelf are her bud vases

and then to finish off the night we met up with Amy Orsatti  another ceramic artists who blogs..

and speaking of blogs - do check out Mud Colony where lots of blogging ceramic artists have been collecting for some time now..
(thanks to my dear patient, non potting husband for the photos).

Drying clay

After getting back to making teapots to replace the ones I overfired, I'm now waiting for them to dry. Drying clay with attachments like spouts and handles needs to be done slowly so they are lightly covered now and I'll take the covers off tomorrow.  Hopefully they will be ready to pack in a bisque firing by Wednesday.

To help to inspire my decorations I picked these Native Violets from my garden..

I placed them in this tiny little wood fired bottle which I purchased while on my Mud Colony odyssey earlier this year at Robert Baron's Gooseneck Pottery.

I'm testing some more Graffito paper, this time in Teal and it was so hard to Test and not put it straight onto a teapot!! 

There are four tiles which will be coasters if the firing goes OK.  I wonder what the Teal will look like with a glaze over to bring out the colour..




If you follow me on Facebook you will have seen this next image of my own tiny bottle.  This time the decoration is tissue print.

Here is a link to my Facebook page  - Anna's Ceramics

And I also threw this pot earlier to help fill the kiln.  A little different to my usual style, this one is decorated with some sprigs with a seaside theme.






Only a few more posts to be included with the Mud Colony blog.  The end of an era on the 5th December but we will be sitting there in the ether to go back and have a look any time.
But this week, check us out here: Mud Colony

Next!!

Well as my followers may already know I had a misfiring recently and so I've got myself together and started remaking.

Hope I get them through soon as I am making some Christmas type pieces...

I'm working with some different clays, porcelain, stoneware and paperclay..

porcelain I am piercing to turn into tealight holders..

took some time out to go to the movies with my husband and then we sat and watched the movie nature provided at the nearby beach.

throwing teapots again - always make a spare lid..

and a spare spout or two..

this is thrown with recycled paperclay...  makes me think of Clarissa Regan who is a marvellous thrower who works with paper clay and fantastic prints she makes herself..

Here is a link to Clarissa Regan's blog: http://clayalchemy.blogspot.com.au/

Bat Mate and frogs

First of all "hi" :)  to my newest follower, so nice to have you drop in..  I do visit my followers blogs from time to time though must admit I spend Way too much Time on Facebook these days, but I do enjoy a bit of a story too so blogging is still up there for me..

Oh, before I forget, if you found me via Mud Colony, the delightful administrator, Adriana, is cutting us loose in December so do click on Follow in the side bar so we can keep in touch here.

This was my special tool this week..

Yes, an eye makeup brush with a small spongey bit on the other end...  just what I needed to get into the tricky bits around my Christmas tree hangers..  I will show these if I can get them through a firing successfully. I had to redesign them after I realised bits got in the way of where the string would go.. guess that is why we do prototypes.

My all round very best favourite piece of equipment has got to be this 'Bat Mate'.  Have you seen them?  Just a circle of material like thin chamois.  It sits on your wheel head, you place your bat on top and away you go!!

even if your bat is smaller it still sits there..  this one has holes for the knoggins which my wheel does not have.

the bat stays there while you centre and throw...

when finished just lift up the bat as you normally would - I use a wooden tool with a bendy bit on the end

whack your next bat on and away you go again...
and wait.. the best bit...

The clean up... super easy, take it off and rinse it out...  no clay pad to get off, no recycling of clay pad!!  I love it.  Now I rarely throw very large vessels but given the way it clings to my bats I'm sure it would cope. It comes in two sizes too.  I bought mine from Blackwattle Pottery here in Sydney.

Two more good things in my day, my son is home for a weeks' break with his oldies

and then I discovered the tadpoles I transferred to my lily tub have survived, yay!

 you can also join me on Facebook, Anna's Ceramics or my Fb Group, Anna's Aussie Ceramics.  And have a look at Mud Colony while there are still current posts..

Cuerda Seca Workshop

Today I took some time out with my pottery friends from Port Hacking Potters to do a Cuerda Seca technique workshop. 

This link explains the process in a simple way: http://palandri.com/mark/clayblog/?p=289

Our teacher, Sandra, was very friendly and her husband backed her up as our host for the day.  We all took along some food to share in our break and just like the loaves and fishes there was plenty of food on the table.

We chose our own designs and practiced with a black paint on paper first. Then we chose our tile or plate bisque ware, transferred our designs (I used carbon paper) and started the process.

Here we are at the end of the day:

and here are our designs.
All in earthenware brush on glazes so I am looking forward to seeing our colourful results.

Tomorrow I'll be visiting more clay friends at the Eveleigh Markets for the 'Clay Day' event organised by the Australian Ceramics Assn.