The Winds are still howling!

One casualty in the back garden but it couldn't have picked a better spot to fall. If this wind and rain stops tomorrow maybe the axe will be swinging and I can put it back in its place.     Wind gusts have been relentless and the combination of that and the ocean's roar has been deafening at times.   Oswald lost strength according to the weatherman but conditions have not changed all day so it seems we are to be serenaded again tonight with the wind and rain.

Copper glazes.   I am a lover of small pots making and falling in love with them continually so my cupboards house too many for any one person to use but I find it difficult to part with them - that's the hoarder in me.   These little gems are not mine but they have lived with me for over 50 years.   My Dad loved mining history so as children my brother and I spent many holidays seeking out old mining areas and some new ones as well.   These were testing crucibles made at the Battersea Works in England and used at the Chillagoe Copper Mine.   In the late 1950's the old mine site was completely abandoned and held little interest to visitors.   The main attraction was a tour of the limestone caves by torchlight.  These caves are still an attraction and the area is also renowned for its beautiful marble.

As a child scratching around the lab area was such fun where these little gems lay in their hundreds.   Taller beaker style ones were there as well with incredible colour variations.   A cardboard box soon overflowed and found its way into the trusty FJ Holden along with the camping gear.   Dad, too was the hoarding type but his bits and pieces collected in his lifetime provide the family with many cherished memories of an interesting life  -  maybe my love of little pots began here.......

Oswald

He is lurking out there writhing above the ocean waves sending his tendrils fanning out snatching the branches and leaves from the trees.   'Gales are expected'  the warnings say - well we have had gales all day long and now the constant roar and ocean's fury is unrelenting and he is sitting at the bottom of the Gulf.  The town is Code Blue - cyclone conditions apply.   We are used to ferocious storms up here and quietly await what Mother Nature brings.   Fortunately we are a few houses from the beach and the difference in the wind is noticeable when walking around the corner to the beachfront road.  

We do have a new Cyclone Shelter - I think they may be tiling the inside - ironic if in its near completion it may come into use.   Such a shame its position is so close to the shore where wind velocity is at its highest and parking in cyclonic conditions would be an interesting exercise with all the trees in its vicinty.    I am not sure what the safest option would be if conditions did require transport to the shelter.  

Anyway I have covered my kiln just in case the wind damages my kiln shed roof.  My little outside 'studio' area has not been touched so fingers crossed Oswald will kindly cross the coast at some uninhabited point south of us and lose its strength.  Fortunately these early houses were designed with cyclones in mind and aligned with the narrowest end facing a typical coastal onslaught.   Since their construction the town has only had minor 'blows' so we have been lucky.   The Cape is a big area and land seems to soften their fury.

At least I have very little pottery sitting out there - probably a good thing as it is getting blasted with spray from these wild winds.  We have been complaining about no rain - well its raining now and the late Wet has certainly begun.   I think my visiting friend spoke too much about the lack of rain to the 'Old People' a week ago and they have given him his answer!    He will be smiling down there in suburbia!

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.

Sunset Inspiration

Just some of the wonderful colours which inspire this.

Special memories of 'the walker' leaving his footprints in the sand will always be in my heart.

Chickens and a firing at last!

Our chickens are growing and are such a hit we have to make miniatures so this is the little flock sitting on the table. Sadly a few have hit the tiles and not survived. 'More clay' is the afternoon's catch phrase and these little bits of nothing are easy to make and not as breakable as the 'dines'.

Just a couple of things from this small kiln load - managed to unload and then head to the shops and had a few sales - paid for gas - so it was worth it. Tourist season is upon us but they are reluctant buyers as they have to traverse rough roads and worry about breakages and space - a premium when you come to these out of the way places.

I loved these low bowls. I have to think about what I sit on the bottom shelves as they never get the heatwork like the rest of the kiln so I usually use my Derek Smith glazes and throw a few extras to experiment. I will do a few more like this I think.

This was one of the favourite beakers (yunomi's - now I read a blog where a potter said he wasn't Japanese so didn't feel he had the right to call them this - so I think I will stick to calling them beakers as well!). I did intend to match a lot of the beakers from the last firing with these pressed plates but of course time was short I decided I just couldn't stand the time and effort thinking about glazing but this result proves that you should sometimes stick to what you originally planned. The pressed plates all ended up with bauxite and shino but they beautiful too. I will make more pressed plates now as I decided not to take the beakers down to sell because I think they deserve the accompanying plate. Now I need time to play in clay............

Lithium/bauxite disc and yunomi

This is the little glass disc I used on a previously glazed pressed plate and it produced beautiful swirls in a myriad of colours. I was hoping I could be the lazy potter and not have to crush them up but I now know it has to be used sparingly to produce a good result with other glazes. Didn't have enough time to do a line blend and I doubt it will happen before the next glaze but I think I will get some surprises. I did find out it eats shelves when it seeps through a cracked tray! That little tray in the previous post didn't quite like another firing!
A big part of my two days glazing was spent on these yunomis mixing the glazes with the shino in all sorts of thicknesses over the bauxite and mixed clay body. The two outer yunomis are from local clay, not sieved so there were iron particles which created interesting fractures. I haven't tried firing this clay as is before and didn't expect the wonderful results. I will be using this a lot more now and still in its natural state, impurities and all. One thing I will be more diligent with is compressing the bottoms as the right yunomi has a crack on its base and it does leak - testament to my throwing on the hump and not paying attention to its base.








This dilly is made with the unprocessed Weipa kaolin and an addition of potash. It threw beautifully and although a fairly white body the firing process certainly bought out the iron in the natural kaolin. I am still happy that I can use it and get a really thin form - I lost a couple of pieces just moving them around as they are very fragile in the dry state. The varying thickness of the clear glaze gives interesting responses from the clay.



I had a bit of a run with the pressed plates - an easy task while watching a little two year old paint and play in clay - means I can stop and run when I am called!!! and it requires little creative thinking. I think I perhaps could have been a bit more adventurous in my glazing of this little set - there are six of these - but they are growing on me the more I look at them. This size plate is prefect for a snack and ideal for the fridge - I have one in my cupboard and its use proves its versatility. We are rice wrap junkies and these are perfect for finger food and the accompanying sauce.
I am always tired after glazing and firing and marvel at all those wonderful woodfirers who labour through long nights of firing. I love the results of the fire and ash but wonder how long it must take to recover from those labour intensive hours spent stoking. The woodfire community seems to be growing worldwide and I am glad there is such appreciation for the work produced.

I have to neglect clay for a little while as we are getting chickens - they are spending a whole day flying to live in our remote climes so hope they survive the trip - we are assured they will be ok. At least our Winter nights only go down to 23C+ and the days are still hitting low 30's. Nona and Mum have to try their hand at converting a steel frame canopy into a snake proof chook house - we have lots of pythons around so I'm sure chickens would make a tasty morsel. The things we do for little ones.......

Glass

I don't use glass with my pottery but I have access to a quantity which contains bauxite so would really like to use it in some of my pieces, especially the handbuilt trays. This one I threw into the bisque and I vaguely remember glass should only go to 800C so this was a little higher and the crazing is wonderful but it would not make the piece user friendly as I can feel the edges of the larger crazes. I am hoping someone out in blogger world or on the ceramics discussion list will be able to give me an idea of the firing temps and cooling to make the pieces useable.

340 grams Exhibition

My two dilly made it to Gulgong in one piece for the 340 grams Exhibition and are sitting beside two delicate translucent bowls made by John Tuckwell. He certainly managed to use his 340 grams well as his bowls look as if they are paper thin and large in comparison to what I ended up producing. This is why I love the net - I can sit so far away from John yet enjoy his beautiful pieces and read another interesting blog.

Clay Energy would have been great to experience and I did want to get down there this year but now I will have to plan ahead and really make sure it happens in 2 years time. Hopefully there will be lots of images posted by all the visiting potters on blogs and facebook sites so those of us who couldn't make it can trawl our way through and enjoy the experience from afar.

Finally loaded my kiln today and maybe I will get those burners going tomorrow. There are a few dinosaurs and some other very strange pieces to excite one little potter. We were out there again today making a 'long neck' - it had a few modifications and little additions of kaolin so I'm not sure if it will survive the night!

Pots and 'dines'

We are getting some late storms and the sunsets accompanying these downpours have been spectacular. A late afternoon drive to Rocky Point boat ramp caught some keen fishermen with a golden backdrop I just had to capture. In the few minutes it takes to get home round River Drive the light changed and the skies lit up with the most incredible pink hues.

I played a little with the camera in between trimming pots today- yes I am easily distracted but sometimes my eyes see things I just can't ignore. I was explaining to my favourite little person in the house how you can see through ice and then what did I see!!!
Finally the clay is forming - I hate recycling but it just had to be done. I throw in a little local red dirt and I get excited thinking about the results under glazes so it makes the task less tedious. I just hope I stay on this roll and keep the hands working but life often throws us the odd curved ball so who knows. I seem to spend a lot of time skipping from one pottery blog to another and not actually getting outside into the heat and pushing that clay about but I did catch the video on making seals and decided I might just do that in between recycling clay..... but as you can see there are things drying so I did manage to do a little bit of work yesterday and trimmed today.

A lot has changed in my life the last couple of years so I thought maybe a change in my mark making might also be due. The three little people who make me look at the world in a fun carefree way and remind me that family is all important have merged into my new mark and I like its look and what it means to me.
And here are two little hands having fun with clay - he loves 'dines' so we had our own little version of 'Ice Age' happening - now this is potting at its best.