There was a Crowe-ing and a Russell in the bushes on the banks of the Wenlock River

Russell Crowe was on the David Letterman show calling for protection of Steve Irwin's Wildlife Reserve on the Wenlock River. This river has the biggest fish diversity of any river in Australia and as such is a pristine environment in its entirety which needs protection from mining. Bauxite mining means the removal of all vegetation, along with associated fauna followed by the bauxite layer scooped up and forever removed, thus dictating the death of the forest which depended on this layer. Sadly for the areas under the mining process up here there have been no indepth studies on the fauna so we are still not aware of the losses already suffered and the pending future losses in areas earmarked for the mining process. We need more high profile voices like Crowe's to make a stand for the preservation of some wilderness areas which will be forever lost if we don't speak out.

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"

The Truants

There's a great new Triple J Unearthed band from Townsville - The Truants -it just happens to have my nephew Steven on guitar. You go STEVO!!!!! Just love 'Perhaps its Time' - and heard it played on J yesterday so I was pretty excited and proud.

What a week!

Its been a week of constant work - can't believe what has been accomplished but it proves when the brain is in a good space hard work seems effortless - although I must admit running with countless whellbarrow loads of dirt did have the aches and pains coming to the fore.
Still the pottery area is now almost doubled and the pending slabs for a new awning over the kiln look all that closer to being achieved.
Now to some of the pottery - this little bowl was thrown out of the local kaolin - dried too quickly as I was impatient but I still decided to fire even though it cracked in the bisque. I love the striated marks on the clay and the shino has taken on an unusual hue. It was thin so I now wished I had thought more about what I was doing and added some extra layers. Still it has me intrigued as I now want to work out what I should add to lose the cracking but retain the wonderful imperfections - and I really want it to be a local component. I realize I need to pick some more knowledgeable potters' brains for some suggestions. I have made up a porcelain body using the local kaolin with all the additions but after this bowl I would love to pare down to the bare essentials. In all of this I have to try and pay for my experimenting so have to put the time into the necessity work as well, but my brain is a little in overdrive!
Oh that shino - it just has to be my favourite glaze and over the bauxite I am transported to my source of inspiration - that beach I walk nearly every day - although there is a crocodile alert so its walk at low tide only until he is caught.

Trip away again! and Stokers Siding Pottery

I had a quick trip away again - one little boy has not been well but he still made a comical joint act with dad, sneaking up like any good little rabbit!
Kids provide endless joy so my week with them was wonderful.

Had a trip to Stokers Siding Pottery - so worth a visit - and had a chat to Bob Connery. He was renovating a kitchen so I really appreciated his time spent showing me his 'shed' - what a wonderful work area, little creek running by his workplace, its past life as a bakery long gone. Seems fitting there is still a version of cooking going on in that great space. I came away inspired so hopefully the rhythm of work will take hold. The kiln is loaded ready for tomorrow so that's a good start!

Radio Voice!

I am continually surprised with the cyber world - would you believe 'Etsy' led to a radio interview on my work. I still find it so hard to listen to myself but family all over think its wonderful, especially my mum and dad who are still trying to think of who to tell. Little grandson No. 1 thought it was so good to see himself eating an apple at the pool - that was the most important part of the whole post - now, he has his priorities in the right place. No wonder I love these little people in my life. I spent last night sieving through pottery photos and decided I really must get some sorting in order to make life a little easier on myself.

I love teapots and wonder why I don't make them more often - they take time I know but the results are beautiful and the best thing is they seem to find homes so that should push me to do them on a regular basis. Now that I am back into the clay with a vengence I think the teapot has to feature amongst the cups and bowls. Trouble is I like doing both functional and non-functional pieces so I am not at all disciplined in my work practice and will change on a whim. I can make a cup of coffee and walk back out to my little space and start on something new.

Easter is on my mind at the moment - rabbits on bowls.......they do look comical so hope mums and dads decide they will suit some little people as well - maybe if I entice them with an easter egg it might do the trick. I did think I should stay true to the Australian animal theme with a bilby but I decided the furry rabbit would sit on the first lot of bowls so maybe the little bilby can grace the next output. Then I have to think about the dinner sets I should be making - those dinner plates are such a pain and my little area is not conducive to big plates drying everywhere, but it has to be done - not anytime soon say they say - well that is not good for someone like me because I just put it in a place called 'later'.

Now these are my regular visitors - Midnight's friends and neighbours, the brown pair, Max and Gus and No. 2 son's new baby, Drama (Johnny Drama - who's an Entourage fan?). They all insist on eating clay on a regular basis and fight for places around my feet as I work - its a wonder I produce anything! There is the odd strange mark inflicted on drying work and I do a bit of quiet noises when the party gets rough. They do make great lawn ornaments when quietly eating bones don't you think?

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.