Popping up

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Pop up stores

Well, summer is the time for pop up shops! Modern times Pop up number 2 will have great mid century furnitre and plenty of local designer + makers. I’m looking forward to this one! 

Stay tuned for the location. From 9th December..

A new coffee collaboration

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Katherine Bowman Ceramics Craft Victoria

It’s been a busy week and in between flying visits to Canberra and Adelaide I have finished a batch of new cups for Craft Victoria. A collaboration with Jeweller Katherine Bowman, making this product has given me great satisfaction.

These are beautiful and I have to thank Craft Victoria and Katherine for that. This is the project that has encouraged me to pick up a fineliner and draw.

Melbournalia!

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Pop up stores

I am really happy to be part of this project that supports local makers…

Melbournalia showcases over 30 talented local makers and their wares, all of which make great gifts that can be easily posted for Christmas – and we’ll even do the mailing. Yes, that’s right! Melbournalia offers an in-store postal delivery service.

Open from 10 November until Christmas eve at four unique locations in the Melbourne CBD, starting with:

Melbournalia HOME
at Tractor Home
Level 1, Rear 126 Franklin Street, city

Trading from 11am on Thursday 10 November
Opening Event: 6-8pm

The new black

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Color, Studio

So I have been making more beakers and the interior color is black! Really black…. So when mixing my glaze I considered the ingredients in the stain. I was guessing at cobalt and manganese… so I looked it up on the Ceramic Properties Database … It was a good guess… cobalt, manganese dioxide and iron. But the stain I use seems to be Iron, Chrome, Cobalt and Nickel? FeCrCoNi and the manufacturer suggests it prduces a Pantone color of Black 6C. There is even a stain that produces a Pantone Proccess Black – FeCrNi. So once again black is not always black!

This weekend I will be testing some more colors… hmm where’s my periodic table…

Collaboration

I am preparing a talk about my work so have been thinking about things that are important to my practice. So one of the things that I have been actively engaged in the past year is collaborative work. More specifically, with artists working in other mediums. This has encompassed print makers, jewelers and a botanical artists (which hatched a new brand). So as well as insight into other artists works, it offers me an opoortunity to learn about their practice.

Most importantly to me is the discovery of drawing… this is obvious to most artists but I have not picked up a pen to draw since childhood. I have always been kind of embarrassed by my handwriting (eek… one sentence can fill a quater of a page!). So it’s fun to get a sketchbook and a fineliner and fill the page with little cartoony sketches. Encouraged by seeing how other artists record and develop ideas, It’s been really helpful for refining ideas. I have started to carry a notebook around and when I have a little time free I fill up a page or two…

Anyway, I am determined to document my latest collaborative effort – with the working title “contained” you can see progress here…

How stuff is made

Running a little studio is quite different to a large factory… but the processes are suprising similar. So it’s interesting to see how a big ceramic factory works and whether I can learn something about process from looking at a large producer…

how stuff works  How china is made – looks at a big factory and shows the different steps and machinery involved. I really like this – it’s almost as good as wandering around the factory. So this is bone china which is stronger and more translucent than porcelain. That is up to 50 % calcined bone ash… I use various types of ash in the studio (not much bone ash though) but never stoped to consider what bone ash or bone china is made from…. and its kind of obvious. This train of though has made me think about what might be in my porcelain…

Recycling

So at some point the question emerges -  what to do with waste clay?

If it’s wet  – its easy -  wedge it up, let it sit and rethrow. But, if it’s dry I like to make porcelain casting slip. And with that casting slip I make little teabowls –  and this has turned into an exploration of colour…

Whiteware

Tin Glazed ware – A summer obsession

Long before I became a potter I had a great affinity with tin glazed ware.
My parents had Mexican ceramic pieces and then – later – pieces from Pakistan, Morocco, Spain and  Italy. Although not identical, they were a white (often glossy) glaze over (usually brown) earthenware. They chipped easily and were brightly colored.

So although my production work is porcelain, when time permits I take a break and my studio becomes filled with terracotta.  Perhaps because of the simple shapes… or the earthy color…perhaps because it’s and low fired… or even because this earthenware  is made for friends and family, it is relaxing.. I am grateful that my terracotta is fine for throwing. It’s a summer thing. I just like the contrast of the glossy white with the brown terracotta and it seems to fit with the season.

Personally I like mine plain – just the white covering the dark earthenware …

Studio

Welcome

Welcome to my studio
As a designer and maker, I try out lots of ideas and not so many make it as products… so here’s some insight into the ideas and processes that do and don’t make it…