I’m not working on anything specific this Sunday so today’s visit is a bit more general, looking at the day to day stuff that I do in the studio.
As some readers may know I also teach classes and workshops from my studio ( I also visit schools and businesses for workshops), so today I unloaded the kiln from a firing I did a couple of days ago and reloaded it with a bisque firing, which I then fired. A bisque firing is the first firing in the ceramic process, which hardens the clay body so that is able to be glazed – it is less porous and easier to handle without breaking.
Most of the work in the kiln was students, though I did put in some terracotta beads and marbled pendants I recently made, plus the “Made by Nature” series, which was the subject of a Sunday Studio Visit post a couple of weeks ago.
I also did a bit of marketing – Facebook, Twitter & Google+ – it can be so time consuming when you are self employed!
I also have a poetry and drawing blog …. so today I wrote a poem for that and began a drawing… the drawing began its life as a ‘join the dots’ from a previous drawing I did in my journal, which is made of handmade paper. The previous drawing was created using permanent ink pens, which are kind of like ‘posh’ textas which can bleed on unsized paper. So some of the marks from the previous drawing bled through to the next page, which I then used as a starting point for todays drawing….
Apart from that it has been a gorgeous weekend here in Dunnstown with the amount of birdlife being mindblowing…. Parrots, Kookaburras, New Holland Honeyeaters, Wattle Birds, Blue Wrens (& a koala) and the family of magpies currently living on our property – two parents and three babies!! They are so amazing to watch and come up really close without worrying about us at all, which I love that they don’t see us as a danger, not even Eddy (the rescue dog) …AND so cute to see that alot of the bird life is drinking from the water feature we installed in the garden two years ago – yes, handmade by me!!
I work on the publication of a number of catalogs, including an Arts & Crafts catalog. I go through the catalog page by page, and am amazed that there are so many “creative arts” that one can wander through, including ceramics. I can’t believe there are sooooo many glazes, underglazes, paints, brushes, and other components to choose from. Your art is definitely not simple, and it’s constantly evolving. Am happy to be learning from you!
Posted by Claudia Anderson | November 10, 2014, 1:13 amthanks so much Claudia … yes ceramics is very multi dimensional ; creative and artistic yet also very technical and scientific!! That’s what I love about it!!
Posted by Dawn Whitehand | November 10, 2014, 1:42 am