Thursday 6 February 2014

2014 A year of Ceramics for Lilli Pilli Studio

                                       Having returned from ANU on the first intensive
                                       in my Grad Certificate Visual Arts
                                        I am full of a mixture of exhilaration
                                       and trepidation.
                                       I guess that's a good thing…?

                                       This unit of work is all about glaze development.
                                        It is something that has been on the top of my list
                                        of things to learn and here I am doing it!
                                        YAY!
                                        I feel so fortunate.

                                        When I started pottery in my teens it was all
                                         about the making of the form rather than the glazing
                                         and kiln control and I have never been in a position
                                          to learn this side of things formally until now.
                                          I have just muddled along in an experimental
                                          kind of way. Which has also been good.
                                          Amazing really that it has taken me until my mid 50's
                                          to be able to study ceramics again.
                                          Life is a funny old thing, and we never stop learning.

                                           When I saw Greg Daly at Clay Push in Gulgong
                                           in April 2013 and watched his slide presentation
                                            on glazes, I knew he was the potter that I
                                            wanted to learn from.
                                            As he lives in Cowra and teaches at ANU I knew that
                                            if I wanted him as a teacher I needed to go back to uni!
                                            How lucky I am that ANU are the only university
                                            in Australia that run a distance program in ceramics.

                                            I feel very blessed.

                                            So now my brain is hurting with glaze chemistry and
                                            I am busy on the research side of this unit of work.
                                            The studio is full of cups with different mixtures,
                                            test tiles, glaze materials and notes.                                          
                                             I am forced to be very organised!
                                            Or I lose track of my test runs.

                                            NOW THAT'S A CHALLENGE!

                                            So rather than show you my results I will show
                                            you the progress of work in the studio and perhaps
                                            next time I will have some fished work to share.
                                             It is a slow process and I am trying to get the kiln
                                             ready to fire in a few days time.








                                         On my way home from Canberra I dropped
                                         in to the Ian Jones and Moraig McKenna's studio
                                         and gallery at Gundaroo.
                                         I have heard so much about it but I have never
                                         had a chance to call in.
                                         Worth a visit if your in the area.

                                         http://www.oldsaintlukesstudio.com.au

                                           

                                         I came home with some lovely pots.


                                          The town of Gundaroo is beaut too.
                                          I had a fab roast veg salad lunch in a little cafe

                                                            

                                                  and found some lovely old hooks in an old wares shop.