Introducing ...

Hah!  You think it is INTRODUCING me!  But it isn't!  My eldest son is studying to become a library technician at Central TAFE in Perth and one of their exercises is to develop their own .... yes BLOG.  Emmet is a really good writer, very into detail.  Actually he is a bit like me, more about the process than the end result really.  So for those of you that know him, or are remotely interested in Gundams (best that you look it up or I will not do the subject justice in his eyes) here is the link.  


So proud ..... http://gianthumanoidwarmachine.blogspot.com/

sigh, again - a three blog family!!

The work it nearly killed me to produce thanks to shonky electricity and dodgy kiln door got to CraftACT safely.  I felt kind of shaky for a few mins when I saw this though.

http://www.craftact.org.au/

http://www.craftact.org.au/exhibitions/pdf/Harvest_Bradley_MR_screen.pdf

COLOUR

In clay related chit chat among ceramists the subject of 'brown pots' has popped up lately. I think the average person who is a non potter thinks Pottery=brown pots circa 1975 - a tad dated, often dull. With so many shades of brown, the best of which are either connected to food or some evocative imager - Cafe au Lait, mocha, chocolate, donkey, burnt, sand and so on - brown can be made to sound quite attractive.  This intro is just by way of saying, I have friends who make waaaay colourful stuff too. Here are some images of work recently seen in the CAAWA Selective Exhibition at Heathcote Gallery, Applecross, Western Australia.  The teapots below above are by my friend and neighbour Trish Scambler.  Her husband Stewart makes irresistable woodfired brown pots hehe.  http://www.ceramicartswa.asn.au/gallery/trish-scambler

This wildly, vivid and glam lady is on a vessel by Robyn Lees, now based in Margaret River, Western Australia http://www.margaretrivergallery.com.au/robynlees.html. I've attended a brilliant workshop with Robyn - she had so much to share and was so funny too. So yes, I believe there is room for brown in pottery, and also room for tons of colour.  

Karma?

".. and my coffee is cold, I can take it."

I was wrong. I admit it! It happens occasionally.   It was not my error that caused the kiln to fail on me.  I had programmed it perfectly.  It seems asking it to go up at a rate of 150 degrees C per hour is asking too much.  Funny, it worked last time, and the time before that and before that.  I have committed to a bigger and better kiln to replace this one, one with NO rust or door falling off the hinge, one that BLOOMING works and does not cause me angst, lack of sleep and loss of my work.  Do you think it knows??  

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!