Mega Monday

I spent Monday afternoon teaching a very compressed version of my one day Print On Clay workshop to Advanced Diploma Students at Central Institute of Technology, Perth.  I whizzed through my demos and explanations of processes and materials involved, in order to allow time to 'play' at the end of the session.  They were quick on the uptake.  Before I knew it, two and a half hours had elapsed and they got an hour of trying stuff out.   The students were so polite and friendly, especially Holly who made me a Vanilla Latte which I then allowed to go cold - and nobody yawned.  We are enduring another heatwave in Perth and it was no surprise to hear it reached 40C, decidedly uncomfortable!  I would have been comatose in their place. Happily, most of the students tried out a few of the techniques and seemed to enjoy themselves.  We covered Inkjet transfer, Underglaze Tissue monoprints, silk screened imagery via Tissue, via Plaster and open stock decals as well as iron oxide laser decals.  There were so many other things we could have done but I will keep some of them for a workshop later this year at The Potter's Market.

Tomorrow night I teach Wheelwork for beginners.  One girl asked me if I felt she could ever make a teapot, good to see her planning ahead.  I wonder will my Japanese lady with the broken fingers come back, I have a few ideas for her to try out.  Anyone else got suggestions of what to teach her?

detail of one of my lotus series vessels, copper glaze on Southern Ice clay

Unstoppable

Last night I taught a throwing class for beginners at the Central Institute of Technology, Perth, for the first time.  I had 18 students, most of whom had no clay experience except for a some hand building in high school.  The ages ranged from about eighteen to about sixty.  I congratulated them on signing up to something I suspected they'd wanted to do for a while, I was right.  The teaching part was easy, but keeping them all feeling positive about their achievements was uppermost in my mind.  It is only a six week course and my mission was not just to get them skilled up and more confident in their abilities, but also, to imbue a love and fascination with clay.

The workshop is large, spacious and well equipped, facing right on a busy corner of Northbridge, in central Perth. Windows face the junction of Beaufort and Aberdeen Streets and often passersby and even drivers at the traffic lights look in with open curiosity, like a daytime TV show with the public waving at the TV camera from behind the presenters.  What did they see?  A picture of industry, people leaning over their wheels valiantly taming their wobbling spinning clay.  I was so impressed with their focus after a long day at work, no skiving off for coffees or smokes here.  Between flitting from wheel to wheel showing them how to get the wobble out of their work, I spotted one person having trouble, yet keen not to draw attention to herself.  She was a Japanese woman, probably sixtyish, and her English was not great, more gestural with the odd word thrown in.  Eventually I discovered the problem,  She had what looked like three dreadfully broken fingers on one hand, I doubt they will ever heal or even line up properly again.  This was from a volleyball clash, and she still plays!  She had tried to wedge, centre and throw before she shrugged and quit, and who would blame her. Nonplussed I tried to talk to her about her options as she did not seem to be in pain, the fingers were just in the way and useless.  We tried working without the bent fingers, centring with the heel of that hand and I wondered aloud whether a refund would be a good idea but NO!  'Can I make with just my hands?' she said, wishing to continue, but just not on the wheel.  How could I say no?  Should I say no?  Disability is a major factor in my family so I try to accommodate it as much as possible.  I'd have felt like a total heel to turn her away, yet I wondered was this always her plan.  So we will continue this way and see how it works out, but nobody else will be given this option.  She seemed to just want to get in touch with clay again, for as she said when I offered to bring in some good books and ideas for her - 'I have plenty imagination'.  This should be interesting. check out http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/?m=1 to see what my pals are up to in their studios.
Gratuitous image of chawan for sticking with me through this long post.

Pottery Wheels

We all like to poke around someone else's studio don't we? We enjoy gleaning insights and hints about how people work.  I think most throwers here in Western Australia have Venco wheels.  This is a local brand and they are certainly built to last, they are practically ubiquituous here and seem to hold their value very well.  Oddly though my own electric wheel is what Aussies call a 'Bitsa' - like they call mongrel dogs a Bitsa - 'bitsa this and bitsa that'.  I have two wheels in my small studio at the end of my garden.  The electric one (above) was cobbled together from parts from many makes of wheel. I bought it secondhand twenty years ago from the technician at Curtin University Art School, and it still goes like a rocket and has amazing torque.  Is that the right word?  It spins very fast, has good control and the pedal can be locked into position so it continues to spin while you walk away which can be handy for banding or drying.  These days Venco produce the most desirable electric wheel I know of - a wireless wheel!  It is light, easy to transport and very, very adaptable.  I was lent the prototype by my friend Stewart Scambler and am hankering for one in a ridiculous manner.  Venco pugmills sell very well in the US too they tell me.  This wheel below is my other wheel, the pedal is on the left and being short, I need to counterbalance my weight with some bricks underfoot on the other side.  It is a very contemplative Zen thing to use this wheel. I never wanted one until I saw a video of Kaye Pemberton using hers.  The tray is lined with copper.

Anne Linneman, Denmark ceramic artist says that when she set up her studio she put her money into the Rolls Royce of Wheels, as it is her main source of income.  I can't recall what brand.  Additionally, she is extremely aware of protecting her body from repetitive strain injury, warming up before she sets to work.  There is nothing common about common sense, sometimes we need the obvious pointed out to us.

VICKI PASSLOW - Back to BAC

Sigh, if only I could apparate like Harry Potter did - I'd be hopping off to Canberra to see this exhibition, then onto Henrietta Norris's, Between the Tidelines, in Salamanca Arts Centre, Tasmania which I mentioned in a post last week.

My friend Vicki Passlow is a research scientist in Marine geology who also happens to be a very creative potter.  I have some exquisite pieces from the ANU graduate show of 2009, which echoed the light, colours and waving of seagrass at the bottom of the ocean.  Our time at ANU overlapped often.  More recently Vicki has been working on some of the body of work on show at the Back to BAC exhibition at Strathnairn Arts Association.  Back to BAC opens this Friday night in Belconnen and Vicki plans to be presenting at the artist session on 18th March.


Have a look too at Erin Collett's gorgeous promotional posters of Vicki's work from 2009.  You know to click on the highlighted text to find the link right??  You must admit, I have some pretty capable friends eh?  Why not subscribe to my blog to hear more.  Have a good week!

ARTIST RESIDENCIES IN AUSTRALIA

I joined LinkedIn a while back, not quite sure why, but what have I got to lose in having a 'presence' in various places? Someone enquired about Artist Residencies for ceramic artists in Australia.  Do you know of any?

Western Australia
SODA in North Fremantle, Western Australia - run by Fleur Schell.
ArtsourceWA offer a studio/residential space in Fremantle, WA., here are probably more on offer.
Central Institute of Technology (TAFE), Perth, often have artists in residence - though I have no clue about accommodation arrangements etc.  I am doing a residency there after Easter 2012.

South Australia
The Jam Factory, Adelaide was mentioned.  Their link to the website is down so try this.
The Journal of Australian Ceramics often reports on residencies.

Victoria
Isn't there one in Northcote Pottery in Victoria (Adriana Christianson will know and will respond I am certain)

ACT
Janet DeBoos put forward these options for the East Coast

Sturt Workshops (about 2 hours south of Sydney)


Strathnairn Arts Centre, Canberra, ACT


Watson Arts Centre/Canberra Potters Society. 


We need to include the Northern Territory, Tasmania, NSW .....

Please COMMENT with any additions, I am expecting  deluge!