Anna Chicos

Anna uses the simplest form of tissue transfer to make drawings to be transferred to the leatherhard clay surface - in Anna's case onto white porcelain. After firing or glazing she uses additions of gold lustre to highlight some areas as in the following pictures of her work.

The process uses few materials and tools

• Dip a wet hake brush into water then into into a pot of powdered underglaze (usually black but any colour works)
• Brush this onto a smooth tile or glass sheet to a uniform deposit of pigment on the tile
• Allow this to dry
• Tape tissue paper over the pigment without touching the paper
• Draw with various thicknesses and hardnesses of pencils and implements over the tissue.
  
• The pigment is transferred from the pencil lines onto the underside of the tissue
• Trim off the tissue and transfer to the clay surface, sweep with a rubber kidney to complete the transfer of pigment.

My Print on Clay workshops

In March at Perth Studio Potters, Cottesloe and in May at Central TAFE, Perth I taught my workshop 'Introduction to Print On Clay Techniques'. I put this together to share some of the skills I learnt from Paul Scott (link) and Professor Suzanne Wolfe of Univ. of Hawaii in my time at ANU, Canberra.

The people who attended were so keen and interesting, now I see how rewarding teaching can be but it wouldn't have gone so smoothly at either venue without behind the scenes backup from kind supportive potters doing the admin and finance side, setting up tables, photocopying handouts, putting kettles on all that stuff I hadn't time to consider. Potters are wonderful people.

I used the time to explain several techniques like ...
Underglaze tissue transfer
Ungerglaze / slip transfer
Silk-screened underglaze tissue transfers
On-glaze waterslide decals
Laser decals
and ordering digital ones from your own images

The photo above is of my friend Anna Chicos using the simplest of underglaze transfer techniques , well a post is boring without something to look at, and I will be posting images of her beautiful work here soon, with her permission. Her final project for our ANU course is based on tissue transfer onto porcelain. What makes her work special is her affinity for the drawn line and howe well she uses it. Be excited in anticipation.

I lost my Mojo

What happened? Several busy months have passed since I last wrote here and so much has happened but I'll fill in those gaps later. Right now I want to tell the world or anyone who happens to look in here that the Clay Feet website is about to be launched and I think it is looking pretty darn good, thanks to the massive efforts of Clay Footer Alyson Hayes in Sydney www.clayfeet.com.au

I am working on my ANU projects and on making work for the forthcoming Clay Feet show at The Inner City Clayworkers Gallery in Glebe, Sydney and the CAAWA show too. These are two of the most recent works .... small hanging wall porcelain boxes with laser decals. The ones I am working on today are all glazed and different sizes with underglaze prints and laser decals and hopefully onglaze too.




And that is all for today, more soon.

Anne Linneman Workshop at SODA

I had a good time yesterday! I attended Ann Linneman's workshop http://annlinnemann-english.blogspot.com/ at Fleur Schell's place SODA in North Fremantle.

It is always restful but exciting to observe an artist at work, and Ann demonstrated her method of teapot making - note the handle of willow pieces, her bowl sets, her cups in addition to some of her sculptural forms. On an unfamiliar wheel (a Venco) and with unfamiliar clay (Walkers SWP) she took a while to adjust to her new set up and there was no shortage of helpers who share the SODA studio space to find whatever was needed. Almost everyone I know has an older model Venco or a Shimpo wheel. Ann doesn't need a car in Copenhagen, but cycles around instead, instead, and, as all of her work starts on a wheel, she invested in, as she put it, the "Rolls Royce" of potter's wheels made in Denmark and has never regretted it. She is very body aware and careful not to incur injuries from inappropriate posture etc. especially as it impacts her ability to make a living. As a potter held back by long term elbow damage, it seems to me this message can't be stressed enough.

How nice it is to look at just thrown porclelain, the cool off-white smooth surfaces just beg to be stroked. I was impressed with how few tools Ann needed, mainly just a simple small rectangular metal rib for cleaning up the outer surfaces, the throwing lines and spirals are left on her interiors, and the rib's corner cuts in and cleans up under the foot of the work. She trained as a production thrower then later as a ceramic designer and it shows. Her designs are very spare and elegant, simple and clean. She explained that many Scandinavian ceramists get their work produced in slipcasting factories in China and that the old formal ways of training in ceramics are petering out. Sounds familiar, just like everywhere else!

I considered how many handmade pots are in use in my home, and how much Chinese produced stuff we own. I was glad to conclude it was about half and half. Irish people tend to buy wedding presents that would set up a couple in their kitchen and dining room, especially the formal dining room. You'd get Waterford or Galway Crystal and a good China dinner service, in my case Wedgwood. You might score some lovely Shanagarry Pottery or Jerpoint Glassware, which, because of their value, just sit in a china cabinet for 'best' use. Henry and I decided to use our handmade stuff for day to day and it makes the day nicer to sip your soda water from a mouthblown fat sensous beaker. I've just discovered Shanagarry Pottery has closed it's doors, another gem bites the dust.

I serve up my spuds in a Richard Batterham faceted bowl, salad in Simon Pearce bowls and coffee in Mary Wandrausch cups, my own salad bowl and the macadamia nuts from a friends tree sit in a beautiful turned wooden bowl my own son Emmet made for me. It is a special moment when someone lovely like Em hands over his work and says 'I made this for you'. PURE magic.

Now, like my mate Anna Chicos, (and someday soon I'll feature her work here), I CRAVE one of Ann's cups from her collaboration with Paul Scott. A winter or summer cup, with the platinum or gold rim. I may have to sell a child first though : >]

At the Ann Linneman SODA The lunch was big tasty gourmet pies and salads, on handmade plates and bowls and that salad dressing was to die for. Later, we were invited to a slideshow and curry dinner and what a range of dishes! Pippin Drysdale with whom Ann was staying joined us, and many of the attendees partners turned up. At one point I thought Fleur's youngest rogue Harry, was about to knock over a large wood fired Stewart Scambler piece.

Pippin work here and Stewart's website here http://www.pippindrysdale.com/


and http://www.ceramicartswa.asn.au/membersgallery/stewartscambler/index.php and http://sidestoke.com/Scambler/index.html

I live in East Fremantle, across the Swan River five minutes drive from Fleur in North Freo. She teased me later that night that I should stay later for more wine and walk home rather than drive. If I'd stayed later I wouldn't have been able to walk if I'd followed Fleur's suggestion, so any left over vino will have to go into her next boef bourgignon.

Look what I got

The piece of porcelain shown above and made by Trudy Golley (Canada) is mine, mine, mine.

I went to a meeting of the Ceramics Study Group of Western Australia (CAAWA) Study Group tonight for a talk and slideshow by Trudy Golley and her husband Paul Leathers. They are staying at SODA (Fleur Schell's artist residential venue) in North Fremantle, Western Oz http://www.sodaresidency.com/and preparing work for a show "LUSUS ARTEFACTAE: Playful Making"at Perth Galleries - link , just a few doors away down the road. The images of the work for the show are available on their website Alluvium .......http://www.alluvium.ca/ ..and click on the link under Lusus Artefactae. Find out more about these two great artists and how they collaborate.