art studio

Sunday Studio Visit: The Calm after the Storm!

The last few Sunday studio visits have been a hype of activity, but this week I am spending a relaxing afternoon not doing much!! I am cleaning up the studio a bit after being in full production mode creating works for an exhibition (the subject of the next blog post) which you can checkout on Facebook. Apart from that I am loading student works into the kiln, which I will bisque fire tomorrow. I’m also mixing up a couple of glazes which are getting low… So, that’s about it for this Sunday – not quite as exciting as past weeks, but much more relaxing!! (yes that is my kiln god sitting on top of the kiln & yes she is prayed to on a regular basis)

Sunday Studio Visit: Preparing for Exhibitions

This afternoon it is all about preparing for exhibitions – filling in application forms, writing artist statements, taking photos, getting measurements, recording catalogue details…phew!

One exhibition is a juried exhibition, so I may not even get selected – but it is free to enter (lots of competitions charge an administration fee) so worth the effort. I have been in this show in the past, but that is no guarantee. So I have to fill out the application form, write and artist statement and sort out some good images, since this is what they judge from…. also dimensions need to be supplied. This application is due tomorrow, so I better get myself organised!! Luckily, though, I can email all the info. The barbed wire work is for this application.

The second show is a local group exhibition here in Ballarat which I was invited to participate in. It is in celebration a of a local arts radio show called Accessing Arts which has been running for 10 years – so its an anniversary exhibition. The host, Dave Knowles has guests on every week – usually local artists, curators and the like –  and I have been on the show several times, so am included in the exhibition along with many other artists who have been on the show. I am putting three works in this show, depending on space – a wall work, a plinth piece and a floor piece. These works have to be delivered to the Gallery tomorrow for the show to start Thursday with the official opening on Saturday – which I won’t be able to go to because I am running a pit firing workshop this weekend…. oh well! Still to do for this exhibition is catalogue information and a statement about my memories of being on the radio show….

So thats it for this afternoon….. now i’d better get organising myself 🙂

Sunday Studio Visit: New Sculpture

I have been thinking about how I can be more regular with my postings on this blog instead of being a bit random, and have decided to start a themed weekly post, and if I do other posts in between all the better.

The theme I have decided on is a visit to my studio and they will be on Sunday afternoons. The posts will be about what is (or is not) happening in my studio on any given Sunday. So without further ado…..

Welcome to my studio…..

I am currently working on a sculpture which is as yet untitled. Made from handbuilt porcelain and barbed wire, the sculpture is a development evolving from my recent Human Gridlock exhibition. In that exhibition I had some ceramic spheres snuggled into barbed wire nests.

“Space for Memories” $610.00 – POA for individual components of this installation or custom sculpture orders

I particularly like the inherent tension between the purity and fineness of porcelain and the harshness of barbed wire, so I thought I would experiment with developing this idea further.

The sculpture is almost finished…. I just need to do a final wrap around of barbed wire to give the entire structure more strength and think up a title…

I hope to then enter the sculpture in an upcoming competition… but that can wait for another post 🙂

Ceramic and Barbed Wire

A Relaxing Afternoon in the Studio

Though Autumn in Australia, it is getting Wintry on certain days here in Dunnstown at the base of Mt Warrenheip (who would have thought it was under bushfire siege two months ago!).

So as the weather gets colder the inspiration to visit the studio tends to decrease.

Today, however, I was firing the kiln, so the studio managed to retain a degree of civil temperature so I decided to go play!

All pray to the Kiln God!

I have been tossing a few different ideas around in my head of late about trying some different techniques and designs. Historically I have always thrown my work, even the sculptural pieces. However, after my finger cutting off experience I started exploring more handbuilding techniques, and discovered I quite liked the rhythm and feel of handbuilding. So of late, I have been thinking alot about both types of techniques and had a play with some new ideas for both today. I am quite happy with the preliminary results, and am enthused to keep developing todays efforts.

How enthused I will remain as winter pummels in, I’m not sure!

So here are todays results 🙂

Wheelthrown with Kaolin

Handbuilt Mugs

Wheelthrown spring faceted and kaolin

For those of you who know I make jewellery which I sell in my Etsy store, I could not resist making a few jewellery bits from some of the offcuts, which I think I will make into a tribal style necklace, and perhaps matching earrings, due to the rough edges of the pieces…

Tribal Necklace drawing

Green Ceramic Pendants

Anyway, I enjoyed my afternoon in the studio…. hope you have too 🙂