Sometimes when I glaze, I just inadvertently try something not tried before – no test tiles – just to see what happens.
In this case, a little magic happened! But….
The altered stoneware cups have a beautiful pearl glaze as the backdrop for the shimmering cascade of blues, ending with the cobalt drips.
Each one is unique and one-of-a-kind.
You’ll love holding and drinking from these cups!
Marian
Making your own brushes can be such fun! It is inexpensive, easy and really a creative endeavour.
I’ve written about making brushes and how I gather roadkill – Click Here to read.
Handmade brushes can be strictly functional or can be more artistic in design.
I decided to host a Brush Making Workshop to teach others how to make brushes, but also as a collaborative effort to make brushes for ceramics.
It was really amazing how creative and hard-working everyone was –
Everyone worked diligently on their brush creations – individually and cooperatively.
Their creativity was boundless!
A 4 – wheel drive across the property took us to the bamboo grove and to other areas that had plenty of “brush handle” possibilities.
Back at the barn, everyone got stuck right back into making brushes!
The final results of everyone’s day of brush making were pretty incredible. Here they are!
I don’t think anyone will be able to look at sticks without thinking “brushes” or “roadkill” and not think, “STOP”. It’s an addictive little sport!
It was a great workshop – very laid back and cruisy – but also very productive!
It will be interesting to see what everyone does with their brushes and if they make more!
I, personally, can’t wait to start mark making on my pots!
Happy potting to you all,
Marian
Amidst all the ceramics in the current trend of whites, earth tones, rustic-looking pottery, one doesn’t find a great deal of colour. Is black a colour? Ok, there’s lots of black and greys as well.
But I need colour.
A recent video was posted about Jim Carrey’s painting. It’s titled, “I Needed Color”. I NEED colour too!!!
Sometimes I feel the need to join the flocks of ceramicists making basic white/black/grey work- as it’s highly marketable and very “in trend”. I can do it.
But I always end up longing for a myriad of colour in my work.
More colourful glazes!
So what do you reckon? Too much?
A lady recently told me that she didn’t like to serve or eat food on copper red…???
Maybe I’ll be “trendy” someday when people get tired of the neural tones!
Colour me “outta here”!
Marian
I’ve never aspired to be a production potter and even when I do try to make a dozen of the same shape, I seldom succeed.
These tumblers are a perfect example! I tried a new dark stoneware – very groggy and super horrible on your hands when throwing. So this will probably be the last of these.
But I do really LOVE the look. I left the exterior raw – giving the user a very tactile and lovely experience. The interior is glazed for food safety. But the lip and the drip are the stars of the show! Three different glazes are used to get this effect.
I may keep them all myself, but as a potter that is sort of a curse! We have too many pots! So I’ve decided to let you have a chance at getting all or one for yourself.
They are in my online shop now: Click Here.
To me rainbows are a promise of good things to come, so the tumblers are my way of telling you that things are gonna be great!
Rainbows to you all!
Marian
This year’s Mud Trail aka Northern Rivers Open Studios aka Australian Ceramics Open Studios has come and gone. It was a great success, lots of fun, and ultimately a good experience.
We decided on a theme of Food and Flowers. Tara is a florist (her day job!) so her ability to arrange flowers was apparent- it looked so professional!
We made lots of vessels for displaying flowers and plants and this definitely made me move to a new style of work. I made a lot of tulipieres – Originally made by Delft – such fun!
I made a version of this piece:
Tara filled it with flowers and it was just spectacular!
Here’s a pictorial review of the weekend.
I have to say one of the highlights for me was working with Tara Dyson-Holland, a friend/artist/ceramic artist.
Her studio was recently destroyed in the Murwillumbah Flood of 2017- completely under water. She lost all of her work…her painting, her ceramics, the last 3 years of her creative life.
In an effort to heal and get past this horrible ordeal, Tara started making art on discarded boxes – 100 boxes in 100 days.
As a result, she placed her boxes as an art installation at my studio, with a written explanation of the process, her thoughts.
When someone purchased a piece of ceramics, they were “gifted” one of Tara’s painted boxes to house their piece. Everyone loved it!
And one of the best parts was hearing Tara say that talking with people at the Open Studio weekend made her realize that “she’s over it” … she has healed and has now moved past her loss.
Art is the great healer. Art is great therapy. Art is life. Or is it that life is Art? It’s all the same to me.
Peace out,
Marian
To become truly expert in one area of ceramics, requires carefully repeating of forms, techniques, glazes, and firings. Repetitive development of these processes and forms, with refinements along the way, are what allow an artist to become truly proficient in that area and also to develop a body of distinguishable work.
Enter my ADD self….lets see, in the last few months, I probably have worked on:
3. Work for Barrel Firing
4. New Collaborative Work
5. Handbuilt pieces
7. Extruded Pieces
8. And probably some I’ve forgotten to mention! Oh yeah, Decals and Gold Lustre!
Herein lies the problem. I find myself chasing down rabbit trails and seldom have enough time to truly perfect any one area. I get bored easily – so I have tons of empathy for kids stuck in a classroom with no outlets for individual interests and creativity.
But I’ve been reading Big Magic (again!!) by Elizabeth Gilbert and she really speaks to me!! You MUST read it!! She believes – and so do I- that we all are gifted with “buried treasures” – planted deep inside us-but we must hunt to find and uncover those jewels. What an awesome task!
What’s the solution? Do what makes one happy!!! Life is short. Find your buried jewels and treasures and use them. We better pack it in- no regrets!
With love and messy hands,
Marian
I’ve admired the artistic talents of Tara Dyson Holland for several years now. She has a quirky, humorous take on the world and it shows in her art – lots of little characters, flowers, lines, circles, colour!
We mutually agreed to collaborate one day and we have FINALLY started!
The amazing thing about this collaboration is that we have already inspired each other to work outside our comfort zones. Initially, we have exchanged pots – with the caveat that the other person can do whatever they want with the pot!
Our theme is Food & Flowers – cause that’s what we are both all about!
We’ve only just begun, but it’s going to be fun!
The results have been so fun, enlightening and inspiring. I’ve gone in a direction that I had never even considered before and it is really making me make new, exciting work.
I’ve been making vessels that are particularly suited to displaying flowers. It has really pushed me out of my norm in making traditional functional pieces.
I highly recommend the collaboration effect. It makes one work and think differently.
Now go collaborate!
Marian
I joined a group to exhibit at the Murwillumbah Art Trail this year, which turned out to be super awesome and successful!
Our theme was Multiverse – so I did a Google to find out what that was all about.
Definition: noun 1. (in physics and cosmology) a hypothetical collection of identical or diverse universes, including our own.”
(As a note, this post is probably best viewed on your computer, not your phone.)
Sometimes words just don’t do justice to what you are trying to describe. For the Malcolm Greenwood Workshop, that is definitely the case.
For as much planning, preparation, thought, worry – that goes into a workshop, the outcome is up for grabs. There are so many elements that must fall into place to make it all work – the people, the weather, the equipment, the venue, the presenter – and in this case, ALL of these things surpassed my expectations! It all just worked.
The two main things that make this workshop work were:
Number ONE!! Malcolm Greenwood!!!
His knowledge, humour, expertise, patience, generosity, skill (and on and on) were amazing.
Number TWO!! The Participants!!
Each person brought a beautiful attitude of keenness, compassion for one another, a deep sharing, and patience. As one person said after the workshop, “I felt like I might be the less skilled/experienced potter in the group on the first day during introductions, but I never felt that way again.” Malcolm had a way of leveling the playing field. We were ALL learning new techniques, making new tools, and hearing a new philosophy and way of creating.
THE PARTICIPANTS!
On top of that, the studio is like none other and is suited perfectly to the type of workshop that Malcolm teaches. Making your own tools requires space, tools, wood, bamboo, woodworking equipment – we had it all. We managed to borrow/bring enough wheels that everyone had a wheel to work on. And this group! No fussing or fighting over who got what…amazing…such a nice group of people! Space for tables for handbuilding. Space for relaxing when Ronnie served up tapas, wine and beer after a hard day. Tables for lunch…etc, etc, etc.
I think that pictures will best convey what happened at this workshop…MAGIC!
The interesting thing about many of the pictures are the consultative and collaborative nature of the workshop. Malcolm helping participants. Participants helping participants. So good.
WATCHING MALCOLM
Malcolm did demonstration after demonstration – lucky us!
ARTIST TALK AND DINNER
Wednesday evening, a dinner for guests and participants, allowed the clay community to have a chance to hear Malcolm talk about his practice. It was so great!
WEDGING CLAY
Properly wedging clay was one of the key points that Malcolm wanted to get across.
LUNCHES WITH MALCOLM
These lunches gave everyone a chance to talk about various issues in creating a career with ceramics.
MAKING TOOLS
Everyone got right into the power tools!
SPRAYING GLAZES FOR THE RAW FIRING
FIRING RESULTS
For me, the raw firing of the pots was a first. I also had never fired both kilns at the same time. Thankfully, it all worked brilliantly!
Sorry for all the photos, but there are just so many good ones. A week of brilliance with a Master and a beautiful group of people allows one to see and photograph many wonderful things. I hope that you enjoy them.
So would we do it again? Too soon to say, but you can get on a waiting list by contacting me…just in case…you wouldn’t want to miss it.
Peace Out!
Marian
I’ve done lots of markets. They are tons of work, prep, frustration…and sometimes with low traffic, few sales, and little interest.
However! Last weekend, that was not the case! It was awesome!
Big special thanks to Lyndall Bensley, who did the stall with me! She’s a legend!! and her daughter, Sophie, and Ronnie, my husband, who helped immensely!
Thanks to Stone & Wood Brewery, the quick (4 days) decision to do the stall, the fact that they installed the marquee and didn’t charge us anything to have the stall – we did great! Lots of sales, little to no frustration, met tons of nice people, drank some good beer and overall scored it a 10!
The brewery is located in the new industrial estate at Murwillumbah – not the easiest place to find – so the fact that literally thousands of people showed up blew everyone’s mind!
So enjoy the pics and have a Stone & Wood beer and be grateful to all those nice people out there…they DO EXIST!!
Now, go make some art!
Love to you all!
Marian
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