Pots, my trusty mate, the dog & my inspirational beach

Big week bisque/glaze and I feel like a potter again.   The kiln worked well but climbed a little too high in the soak so where there should have been some light there was a darker outcome.    The next day with another look I wasn't as critical but I will be a bit more diligent next time.  I have been throwing slabs on the floor adding Weipa Kaolin and bauxite to texture the clay.  I even brought home a little of the beach kaolin you can see in the photo to crush and add.   I must use it as a glaze.  I am drawn to Stefan Schwarz and his constant use and tests with his local raw materials.  Beautiful glazes.  There is so much I want to do with what is around me here and now I have no excuses as time is my own.  The beach I walk is full of so much I could use.  Every year after the fires go through I promise myself I will go down and bring back ash from the grasses and trees that fall but still have not done it.  Now its green and the rain has washed all the ash away so I wait again for the dry and its predictable fires and this year I will head down bucket in hand and fill it!   I am slowly getting the feel for clay again, its been a long time since I have been able to completely focus on that wonderful muddy medium.

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.

Forever

I have just sent off my 'Forever' piece of clay. What an interesting concept - I couldn't resist being part of it. Still not getting out to the pottery but it can wait - lots of glazing to be done.

I was inspired by the beautiful sculptural pieces from Burnt.Normal Church Pottery - mine are definitely not as free and expressive but they are family inspired and will eventually find their way to my special loved ones. I think I will have to do more when time permits but be a little less controlled and see where the clay takes me.

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.

Weipa goes to Sydney

These are some of the pieces which have journeyed to Planet. Hope city life embraces them!

I am so fortunate to have inspiration overload up here and the raw materials on hand to use and make these pieces unique. Southern Ice gives such a beautiful translucency to the forms and works so well with bauxite. I still have to make up my local porcelain using raw kaolin - unfortunately its still slightly tainted with the bauxite but I am sure I will get an unusual workeable body.

Shino and some green cups!

Shino dominated the kiln load this time. Finally fired some of the big pots sitting around taking up much needed space in my limited work area. Just thought the green cups would add a complete contrast to the earthy bauxite, shino ware. Think my heart was in the glazing but it was with mixed feelings as another son flew the coop - he will be missed but is probably glad he doesn't have mum asking him to do those fix-it jobs.

Camera and pots!!!

My photography is always a struggle - especially with the reflective light bouncing off the shino and my wonderful blue black 'Milky Way' series but now the camera has failed me. Remoteness makes these things all that more difficult as the nearest 'hospital' is in Sydney so I will be walking my beach without this constant companion.
Porcelain 'Milky Way' dillyThe images never do this wonderful glaze combination justice - there is so much refracted light it hinders the contrast especially on the porcelain body. Sunlight works magic and I so wish I had the equipment to capture these works properly.

The little shino basket, glaze rolling back off the underlying bauxite over a local clay mix.
Shino, bauxite and a 2 glaze green always works to capture the local monsoon colours.
Beakers - these found some good homes - shell marks highlighted with the bauxite and multiple glazes over a local clay mix create interesting responses.
Local clay filled with its abundance of iron works so well with two little soy pourers.
Southern Ice Porcelain, beautiful and impurity free, and I go and add something like bauxite to change that crisp whiteness but it works so well, the transluscency accenturating the bauxite markings. When the camera returns the dilly forms will find their way to the paperbarks just on sunset - 'dilly inspired porcelain basket with its found woven soft coral handle sits quietly amidst its fragile surroundings, reflecting on the past indigenous women who gathered along this pristine shore for thousands of years leaving only their footprints - if only we could do the same.'
My AvantCard postcard - "CallingAllArtists.pdf"

March Madness

Finally some pots from the kiln. The load has been sitting for a few weeks - had some fixing to do before I could fire - fixing of kiln and firer! (Don't think she is fixed just yet, but that's another story). Felt good to see a few pots worth re-examining. Now I have some handles to weave on the porcelain dilly forms. Loved the unglazed bauxite finish and plan to play a little more with this later in the month.

Cups, beakers and goblets are slowly filling my little area - have decided the next load will consist of just these forms - bet I sneak in a few porcelain pieces......can't help myself and I have to try out
my new batch of porcelain - well that's my excuse.