Life is BIG, So why not enjoy it ?

                                      Well this was the week of my 53rd birthday.
                                      OOOooooh Yes,
                                      and I am feeling it.
                                      The old body is getting less agile,
                                      less shapely (or maybe MORE so ) :(
                                      slower, more aches and pains,
                                      but you know what?
                                      I love my crazy old life and I wouldn't change it.

                                      My birthday started with a wonderful stack of crepes
                                      served with berries and cooked by my gorgeous
                                      15 year old daughter.

                                         
                                          
                                                                       Yes!!!!!

                                        It was looking like this was going to be a GREAT birthday!


                                      I then received an email with an 'offer of acceptance'
                                      into a Graduate Certificate in Ceramics.
                                      A post grad course at ANU that I had applied for.

                                      I am so looking forward to this course!
                                      If I have anything between 5 - 50 years left
                                      I want to spend it potting.

                                         Wooo Hooo!
                                         Thank you UAC perfect timing for a great birthday pressy!


                                       

                                                     My youngest grand daughter, Lillie,
                                                            started calling me GoGo :D
                                                                         On ya Lil!
                                                           All in all it was a perfect day!

                                      To finish off my son, Gopal and his partner Suse,
                                      made me a lovely dinner
                                      and my inlaws came to celebrate. YAY!
                                                                LOVELY


                                     

                                    Nothing like a bit of dancing in the kitchen to liven the spirit

                                               


                                                         Yesterday I took off for Sydney
                                     I dropped my son and his family home and then I hit the galleries.
                                     I had 2 shows that I really wanted to catch
                                     The first was Gail Nichols show at Sabbia, it closes this weekend.
                                     It was absolutely beautiful!

                                                      

                                     I am very excited that she will be one of my teachers at ANU.





                                     Then I went off to Observatory Hill to the S.H. Ervin Gallery
                                     for Peter Rushforths exhibition.
                                     Wonderful!

                                     
                                 
                                             I bought his DVD



                                    I finished my day with this months CSG meeting
                                    where Gail Nichols was giving a demonstration and presentation.

                                    Then back home to the mountains by midnight!

                                    OH WOW! BIG day!

                                    Am I too old for all this excitement?

                                    Nah....I will just have a Nanna nap today,
                                   relax over my new DVD and check out what
                                    other Mud Colony adventures have been happening.

                                    Then all will be hunky dory because
                                    tomorrow is bound to be another big day!


                                 

Fire, Water and a little bit of Lustre

                                     
                                                  Today was the first clear day, for some weeks,
                                                  that I could focus on doing some raku firing.
                                                  Clear, both in weather and in commitments.

                                                 It has been raining on and off for several weeks
                                                 and the forecast is for more rain from tomorrow.
                                               So I quickly set the little raku rocket and set to work.
                                                  After a day by the kiln stoking and repacking
                                                  and stoking again ( 5 firings in all).
                                                   I am fairly happy with the results.
                                             

                                                            Here is a sample of just a few.

                                            This post will be part of the Mud Colony 
                                    this week so  check out what other potters are up to.



                                                                 NEWS FLASH!

                                        My 2013 group of costumes have been selected
                                        as a finalist in WOW.  YAY!
                                        So I am now busy making preparations to go to
                                        Wellington NZ for the show in September.
                                        You can have a look at my website for photos
                                        of my previous WOW costumes but for the moment
                                        this years must remain secret.


                                        Life is very full and it is  WONDERFUL!



so

Fire Fire FIRE!

                                                  Recent experimental work.....
                                                  mmmmm...... not sure, what do you think ?

                                    and a bit of raku but not really happy with anything yet

 

                                                         and for a look at my website
                                                    go to http://sadhanapeterson.com.au/

                                                             and for more pottery blogs
                                        check out http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/

Making and baking

                                             After a visit to my little grand daughter Lillie
                                                              to gain inspiration and joy

                                                              and plenty of hugs :)

                                          My son pointed me in the right direction
                                                    to find the foundry in Mascot.

                                                    I was looking for foundry sand
                                         which I had been advised by Jeff Mincham 
                                                     would help to stop my large pots
                                                      from gripping the kiln shelves.
                                      
                                                    I use Clay Works 'sculptural clay'
                                       I find it great to work with on big pots and sculptures
                                              but it has a high shrinkage particularly in the glaze firing
                                                       this causes the pots to grip the shelves and
                                                              occasionally crack in the base.

                                                       The guy at the foundry was beaut
                                                                and gave me half a bag of ....
                                                                   Ummm....what ever it is...
                                                                       and that was my concern.
                                                       I'm not sure if it is what Jeff was suggesting and
                                            the man at the foundry wasn't sure what I was after either!
                                                       It didn't look like what I was expecting......

                                                Ah well in the name of experimentation
                                            I donned my mask and sprinkled the substance
                                  onto the shelf and placed my big pot onto the magical powder.

                                                               Would it work or ruin my kiln?
                                                                     That was the question!

                                                    

                                                                     I turned the kiln on
                                                         and went and did some other things
                                                                  trying not to think about it.

It has been very wet 

and the drive way has been turning to mush.

So I started to lay some paving stones.

This had the duel purpose of cleaning up my raku area

(which I will be using next week).

                                                          

                                                                           Then I made a big platter.
                                                                      As you can see here it is bigger
                                                                           than the top of the wheel.

                                   I carved into it and covered the carving with turquoise slip.

 

Then pared back the slip to reveal the carved pattern.

Quite happy with it at this stage.

It is quite a lump to manoeuvre though!

 

It is called 'Connected by the Stars'

                                          The pattern was inspired by some photos of turtles
                                               that a friend in Rajasthan posted on Face Book
                                                           So beautiful. Thank you Fiona

                                                           and another smaller platter.

                                                               a square one with legs

                                       Finished off a hand built pot with a thrown neck.

                                                and here is the big feller after it's bisque fire
                                           and at this stage it seems like the foundry sand
                                                      (if that is what it is) is doing OK :)

                                            So that is what has been happening here this week
                                           don't forget to see what the other Mud Colony peoples
                                           are up to in their studios too.
                                           It seems like a busy making time for most of us.

So much to know, so little time!

                                                   I have decided that it is a
                                                  Graduate Certificate in Visual Arts/Ceramics
                                                  that must be mine!
                                                  Yes, I have set the wheels in motion
                                                  to do this at ANU.
                                                  After a delightful discussion with Greg Daly
                                                  I am full of excitement and enthusiasm
                                                  for my work in 2014.

                                                  So why am I doing this at 53 years of age?
                                                  Good question.
                                                  Answer :
                                                  One is never too old to expand and deepen
                                                  ones knowledge about ones passion.

                                                  At an early age (10-12yrs old)
                                                  I decided that I wanted to be a potter
                                                  but the rich tapestry of life has taken me
                                                  on a journey through many other creative spheres.
                                                  While I have been potting over that time
                                                  there are some technical areas that I am keen to
                                                  address that I have not been able to do on my own.
                                                  This is a studio based course and my hope is that it
                                                  will be help me to focus on specific technical areas
                                                  that I am wanting to understand and develop
                                                  with the guidance of genius teachers.
                                           
                                                 WONDERFUL!

                                                 Now I just have to finish a portfolio and CV
                                                 and get it in the post ASAP
                                                 Hope they like it.



                                                 On another note my 'She Shells' will be
                                                 on exhibit at the WOW museum until
                                                 November this year.



                                         Meanwhile in the studio......

                                            Click HERE to have a look at what the other
                                           Mud Colony potters have been up to this week



                                                and click HERE to check out my web site
                                                         
                                                          http://sadhanapeterson.com.au

Ceramics in Victoria....swooooooon :)

It was a long weekend here in Australia 

so a few of the Mud Colony gals 

decided to make the most of it

 and meet in Victoria for a pottery immersed 

few days, Adriana at the helm.

                                                We started our weekend in Melbourne.

                                               First stop was Northcote Pottery Supplies 
                                                where Adriana Christianson had work
                                                 and I bought this gorgeous beaker.

                                                    Craft Victoria Gallery 
                                                    and these cute plant pots (above and below)
                                                    by Kim Jaeger were in the display window.

                                                  
                                                   Adriana also had work there
                                                  ( but I had to restrain myself it was going
                                                   to be a BIG weekend!)

 

                                          We dropped into another little gallery close by to Craft Vic
                                           called FortyFiveDownstairs and these vibrant platters
                                           (above and below) made by Gordon Hickmott and
                                           decorated a group of artists called ROAR which included
                                           Annie Howie, Pasquale Giardino, Tony Mighell,
                                           Danial Lalor Kogan, Richard Birmingham, Bruce Earles,
                                           Stephen McCarthy, Trevor Hoppen, Peter Ferguson, Andrew
                                           Ferguson, Mike Nicholls, Judi Singleton and Wayne Eager.

                                         I am not sure which platter belongs with which artist
                                         but they were fun and visiting them was a great
                                         way to start our weekend.

 

                                           After stocking up on some nice food stuffs at the
                                                                Queen Victoria Markets 
                                      we headed out of Melbourne towards South Gippsland.

 

The next day we went to visit Robb Barron's Studio 

Gooseneck Pottery

 

                                         Rob works out of a 4 chamber Korean style kiln.
                                         His work and environment along with his attitude
                                        are very inspiring.

  

 You can see (above), although only two chambers  

       are shown behind Marian, each chamber is big enough 

to stand in comfortably, it is a big his kiln!

He dose fire in just one chamber at times though.

 

                                               His wood stack is as impressive as his pots

                                            
                                              and his throwing demo was a joy to behold.
                                              He started by centering with a club of wood.

                                           
                                              and using his motor assisted kick wheel
                                              he threw a nice big pitcher.
 

 

                                                 On to Loch where there were some
                                                gorgeous old wares/second hand shops
                                               and the girls enjoyed Devonshire Tea.

                                     

                                             Truly Southurst- arrived on Saturday night
                                          after doing a market and I bought this lovely
                                          citrus juicer from her.

                                              Sunday we headed off to see the work of
                                              Zak Chalmers at his Valley Plains Pottery.
                                              Zak worked and gained experience with
                                              Robb Barron for some years before building
                                              his own kilns.
                                    

                                           
                                              It was wonderful to see Zak
                                              incorporate his family, work and environment
                                              together as a total art form.
                                          

                                                  
                                             I enjoyed watching him work with his wife
                                             and children as much as I loved soaking up the
                                             beauty of his work and exhibition space.

                                                    

 

                                                     What little boy wouldn't want
                                                     to do some earth moving with wet clay
                                                     and his matchbox truck?

                                             How lucky this little guy is to have a tunnel
                                            in a well shaped pot to drive his truck through :)

 

                                                         OH what a place....swooooon!

                                                 
                                                   Zak uses a small Anagama
                                                  for the more sculptural and ashy pieces.
                                                  

 

He also uses this little kiln (above)

                                                      designed by Jack Troy 
                                                       
                                        I think I may well have to build myself one of these!

 

                                                   On return to the house we were staying at
                                          we created a mini exhibition so we could all enjoy
                                          what each other had bought before we packed them
                                           into our suit cases.

 

                                         So funny, we are all Mud Colony bloggers so there
                                         was a certain amount of posting and internet advice/
                                         discussion/sharing in amongst all the ceramic talk.

 

 Last night, dinner out, we were a bunch of happy 

munchkins after a great weekend of inspiration.

                                                          

                                                                        Sunset at Inverloch
                                                               and the dawn of some new work
                                                                   on our return to our studios.