February seems to have been all about new beginnings.
My 2nd eldest granddaughter eagerly started school and her mum,
Suse, has started a serious little small business.
Suse works from their home in Northern NSW baking beautiful sour dough.
check her out on instagram @ the_sourdough_chick
or on Facebook thoesourdoughchick
for where you can get her beautiful loaves and how to place an order.
At home at Lilli Pilli Studio my gorgeous Stanhopea orchid flowered
It always feels so special when it flowers
as it fills the air with an intoxicatingly rich scent of chocolate.
This was one of my mums most precious plants.
This orchid and also my Crinum Lilies always flower at this time of the year
it marks the time for me when she went into hospital as a palliative care patient in 2007.
We used to take her bunches of Crinum Lilies into the hospital,
at her request, from her garden.
They are not to be confused with the popular
Bella Donna Lillies (below)
Crinum Lillies (above)
are more romantic, softer in form and colour.
Mum told me I was to move the Crinum to my garden after they had flowered
and I was to re-pot the orchid.
I did as I was told.
So when they flower in February each year I am filled with memories of her.
However with her Asiatic Lily (below),
she advised me that it would never flower at my place
so there was no point in me moving it
and I was to give it to her neighbour, which I did.
Then I bought another for myself as I was keen to try an grow it.
Funny how sometimes the urge to do
what your parents tell you not to do
is overwhelming, even as an adult!
Michael and I had a quick trip to Melbourne in the first week of Feb.
It was great to catch up with some art in the gallery,
take the tram here and there and
do a little shopping in places that we don't have in Sydney.
The main reason for the trip was that Michael had been chosen
to go onto a television quiz game
Such a different world for us but lots of fun
it will go to air sometime soon but we are still to be advised
I will post the dates for it in the March blog.
followed by an evening flight home
and long and late train trip back up the mountains
but the sky was lovely
No sooner had we returned than it was time
to make a trip to Canberra with my siblings
to see the 'Song Lines ' Exhibition at the National Museum
We picked up my brother Mike who had come to Sydney from Perth,
my sister Karin from Wilcannia and my brother Chris from Mittagong
and headed for the ACT.
'Song Lines' was wonderful though I didn't take a lot of photos
in other parts of the museum.
a morning at the NGA was energising too.
Below are some pieces that I found particularly interesting
Then a week at home
with brief moments in the studio and some quick gallery visits.
Then off to Melbourne to stay with my friend Adriana
and hang out at the Pottery Expo
x
It was a busy weekend by the river in Warrandite
and I brought home lots of treasures
and met lots of lovely potters.
Zac Charmers
Katy Mitchell
Yvette De Lacy
Adam Cox
Arnaud Barraud
Ana Maria Hernandez y Jensen
I do love to bring home new work by potters I admire
I enjoy sharing these with with my students
as all potters have different approaches,
different designs and techniques
and I think it is good for students to see work
that is different from their teachers work.
So February was HUGE for us
and March is looking like it will be very full too!
Harry Kiln is going to a new home in early March
and Betty Kiln is coming to stay in April
and we have some more travel to do in between EEK!!!
so stay tuned!
and now......
for all those mud enthusiasts....
Here is an inspirational You Tube clip
of Korean Master Potter Lee Kang-Hyo
Those who made it to the Gulgong gathering in 2013
will remember what a treat he was to watch at work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayDjp4yvF3o
