Sadhana's Mixed Bag: 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