My stamp

I spent ages messing with pottery stamps. Only to decide that I prefer to use my signature. It's so much quicker and can by etched into the clay with a pencil or just scribbled on with a ceramic pencil.

Here it is:




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A few hours with a professional

Today I was lucky enough to go to Malcolm Greenwoods studio. It was a real privelege and an amazing morning. He shared so many of his techniques with me and I even walked away with a tool.

He said it was nice to talk to someone who shared an interest. I found it amazing to be able to talk to someone who has so much knowledge and experience, who is currently making a living in a really hard industry who was so willing to share some much of his knowledge. It really was amazing.

It was so nice to just listen to the odds and ends of what he does. The space he works in is fairly modest and considerbly open to the elements!! He uses every square inch of that space. He doesn't spend loads on tools. Everything about the space is really modest and humble. It was really intersting and also shows just how frugal and clever you have to be to make ceracmics profitable. There is no room from time intensive tasks if they don't add value to the end product. I like that method of working. Time is really important. He is so efficient in how he operates. It also shows how creative you can be not only in the creative process but also the running of a business.

I will never think of almost leather hard clay the same way again! It was amazing how dry he lets his slabs become before working with them. I can't wait to try it all out for myself!

Continuum manly art gallery

Yesterday I went to the artist talk for continuum an exhibition on at manly art gallery the work showcases teachers and students work from northern beaches TAFE. Amazing and fabulous work.
The speakers were
Sue Buckle - Early art education - ceramic artist
Sue Jorgensen - Sculptural/teaching
Malcolm Greenwood - Ceramic production
Bruce McWhinney - Facilitator/ ceramic directions/ tertiary education
Bruce was absent. But there in spirit.
It was such an interesting discussion about the direction of ceramics and education.
I was very excited to meet Malcolm Greenwood. He was nice enough to trouble shoot a problem I am having with neriage. I was unaware it is something that one of his mentors specialized in so he knows it really well. I have never come across any of his work that uses the technique so it was a nice surprise and gives me some new hope in this project I am working on.
It is so nice to meet people that are willing to help you get where you need to go.
Ceramics isn't an easy career and is still a hobby for me, however it is nice to meet people who are willing to share years of their professional experience in terms of technique and business knowledge, like trends for the industry, even though it is an area that is difficult to make a living from.
Malcolm acknowledged that it is hard to compete with china as they have taken a large chunk of commercial work. However he still believes there is work there for smaller runs that are specialized for restaurants etc... He also noted that if someone wants something done just say yes and figure it out as you go. I like the attitude but it would take a lot of guts!
The information and discussion was invaluable and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
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Disappointment and slight set backs

It seems that my idea for combining an earthenware and stoneware clay 50 50 may not be working as well as I hoped. I must admit I have pushed it to the limit as I know that even commercially made clays would struggle. I was trying to use stained clay and neriage. I am using drape moulds also.
This has resulted in my plates and bowls warping while the dry. I am so heart broken. I know it's not all the clay body it's a combination of the technique I'm using including stained clays combined and draped over a mould. I wonder if I should try throwing and using the stained clays as slip as I know throwing this clay does not result in warping when thrown.

I have been given some mid fire clay from TAFE to try. I'm not sure if I want to though as if I can't get anymore to finish the dinner set then it's a waste of time.

Throwing isn't easy at the moment with a little one. Hand building was quieter and less messy. But I'm sure I'll find a way.

My first attempt at neriage

Ok. So I made it into my studio. Even though my son was having a pretty upside down day.

Below is my first attempt at neriage. I was very excited and happy with the result. But the proof will be in the drying I guess... Then the bisque... Then the glaze firing.

After a long absence

Although it seems I haven't been very active. I really have been very busy. I now have a 15 month old baby boy called Jax and we have been having lots of fun together.

What I have found is that even though I am still thinking daily about ceramics, unfortunately it is only thinking. Not much action going on. However, I don't think this is all bad. It means that I am carefully thinking about my process and technique to suit the time I have available at the moment.

I am very lucky that my sister Jo is going to come over and help with Jax whole I get back into making her a dinner set.

The technique I am venturing into is neriage. I understand that this process can have lots of cracking but I think I will give it a go. I have stained clays I made pre-Jax they are all the same clay so this should reduce the chances of cracking. I can't wait to get started!


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Jo’s Dinner set project

Over Christmas there has been lots of busy testing going on. I am making a dinner set for my sister. I also wanted to use a white clay at mid-fired (cone 6). So decided to experiment with combining earthenware and stoneware clays 50/50 to see if I could get a good mid fired clay body. Amazingly I was surprised with the results.

It is definitely possible to combine commercial earthenware and stoneware clays and get a good mid fired clay body.

This is a run down of the clays I combined all results tested well.

Stoneware clays used

1. Keanes 5B

2. BRT

3. Keanes 33

4. Keanes Porcelain

Earthenware clays used

a. Keanes 37 (white)

b. Walkers White E/W

c. Keanes Terracotta

Midfire clays used

d. MFQ

e. Feeneys RM

f. Walkers White E/W

g. Chris' KMFP

Combined clay mixes

4+a = white

2+c = brown

3+c = brown

3+a = light brown

4+d = white

b+d = white

I haven’t finished the shrinkage and porosity tests on the combined clay test but will have that shortly.

In addition to combining the clays I also added stains to the clay bodies and tested construction methods for the dinner set I want to make

This is the results. Cone 6 firing using commercial glazes

The only problem I have relates to the stripped plates, it seems that they warp, this is more likely due to construction methods as that particular clay was a commercial clay not combined with anything…

So the problem I have it to get a stripped effect that does not warp…