My Hippo - I think I may call it Murphy

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

I was well into adulthood when I heard of 'Murphy's Law'-'If anything can go wrong, it will'. 'Poor Murphy, whoever he was, he was just having a bad run of things'.  The Dubliner in me thought, 'is this an 'Irish' thing?'.  It has seemed of late the silly 'law' (see how reckless I am to call it such) is haunting me. Oh yeah, I like to walk on the wild side me!!  I have been making my thrown double walled 'nest' forms, to send to Craft ACT in Canberra for the Crucible Gallery.  They only need five, I made about thirty, because in ceramics - stuff happens!  I KNOW!!  :>P    ... and it did!
At first the usual demon 'Inertia' sat upon me like a big grumpy HIPPO and refused to budge.  Any potter knows that feeling, when you somehow just can't get started - and elbowing that Hippo off you is the crucial step.

Garden Studio

I broke through that barrier and am staying here i.e. on the side where I am PRODUCTIVE! See recent post and kiln-load!  But things went awry! The medium I used for under glaze printing became hard to find, the substitute clogged my silk screens permanently. In troubleshooting I found an ally - and a generous one (Simon Cohen of Nehoc you ROCK!!).  Why do I always do things the hard way? As Janet De Boos wisely observed of my trials, I am process driven.  Recognising this puts it into perspective,  every failure is a lesson learnt, I think Einstein said that.
I copped some 'S' cracks so they met my hammer - it is always the Southern Ice. The TMK was divine to throw but not as white as my beloved SI! I was a smidge displeased with other pieces so I tidied them up to refire alongside a batch of new stuff.  Whew!  You think?  Now due to an error I missed when programming my kiln, I have had to refire that work again as the newer laser decal work did not fuse onto the porcelain surface.  So when I should be congratulating myself on having sent them off on time, instead I am crestfallen, feeling foolish and grinding my teeth.  I'm feeling a little paranoid and a little damp from dashing through rain down to my garden studio to ensure the kiln is doing what I programmed it to do.  I got onto FaceBook, blurted a bit, some pottery friends across the planet said the right thing, told me their tales of, let's face it, cock ups, and I feel better now.  Sigh ... but wait there's more!  I also discovered another Law - did you know there is a Muphry's law too?  Google it!

adriana christianson: In the groove

adriana christianson: In the groove: "Im loving being at the warrandyte studio. To dedicate time to my claywork with no distractions has just been such a big shift in my thinkin..."

busy busy busy

Productive at last, stressed as ever!  Can't talk, got printing to apply onto these babies and fire again!  

MATERIAL MATTERS - Clay Symposium at ANU Canberra

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I would like to attend this.  Mmm thinking ...

More teaching

 

I recently taught a roomful of high school teachers from all over Perth and way beyond Perth about Print on Clay techniques.  Some of them came all the way up from Bunbury!  My delightful friend Rachel Zimmerman of EXPLORE had arranged a Professional Development class in Claremont.  The first time I was faced with a roomful of teachers I was perplexed, they really seemed to know it all already - and gleefully shared their own discoveries and tips.  Teaching teachers is a joy as they turn up already 'switched on' and ready to grab the key points and tips all the while formulating plans on how to employ the techniques in their own classrooms.  They use every free second to try out new techniques and materials and always seem well prepared.

I find it hard to divide how to share some techniques as some are more applicable for an artist to take on, and some are less usable in a classroom situation.  Where to draw the line on what possibilities there are?  I am teaching again this weekend at Canning Arts Group.  Can't wait!!