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Friday, August 26, 2011

Cook's first taste of the Great South Land!

This is not where I live (we don't have hills!!!) but its still a special family place and sharing it with my wonderful Mum makes it even more so.


This is my lovely Mum.
Coming home was filled with mixed emotions but I did feel inspired to fix that one annoying burner and throw some shino around on many pots. I love this little one in the rough local clay. Two firings seemed to bring out its true hidden qualities and I keep thinking it should stay in my cupboard - trouble is if you saw the pots I hate to let go you would shake you head!

I love the Weipa shino and its movements over bauxite and interactions with my glazes and have to consciously stop myself from using it on everything I make. Unfortunately my market is limited and the appreciative Shino buyers are too few....so the cupboards grow.......
Still all this is a good sign - I am back eager to get my hands in clay again when time permits.





5 comments:

Peter said...

Lovely photos, and nice to see you and your mum too. The commercial realities of potting are frustrating to put it mildly! I do love what you are doing with shino, and it is wonderful too that you are using your local materials (so few potters seem to these days). I was wondering how Etzy was working out for you, and if it helped you find a wider market? I do have thoughts about trying it myself, but wonder if the freight costs we have would kill it for us.

Quietly Otaku said...

Interesting the clay looks really heavily grogged, not something I would go for just for my hands! I've thought about experimenting with clay from my garden but not really sure what kind of clay it is : z

mudheartpottery said...

Hi Peter. I do love my shino and always find the commercial bodies a bit bland so can't help throwing some local clay into the mix. As for Etsy - I am plagued by the tyranny of distance and the costs of sending overseas. Once you add packing weight it really becomes prohibitive unless its a tiny piece. I think with the Aust dollar so high now it really is not helping. We have an Aust site called Madeit but I think I will just have to focus on my local market and get back into cups and beakers!!!

mudheartpottery said...

Victoria, the clay is not too hard to throw - I don't do much preparation of the clay in this state but it still retains a creamy texture despite its appearance. I am lucky to live in this potter's paradise.

Unknown said...

Nature is amazing - look at the colors on that caterpillar - how would you notice him on the leaves!
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