One sunrise and some sculptures ...

I met my friend, Bron, at Bondi Beach

just before sunrise on Friday,

as I'd heard this was a good time

to see Sculpture by the Sea without the crowds.

Here are a few of my favourites...

Jenny Orchard, Plant People, ceramic, metal, glazes

Serena Horton, Sanctuary, porcelain, plaster

Alex Kosmas, Gilded Cage, gold leaf, stainless steel, brass and cast bronze

Angela Femia & Julie Card, Going Up, pvc pipe, elastic

Marguerite Derricourt, Rat Race, copper tubing, wire mesh

Paul Trefry, Little Boy Lost, silicon, fibreglass, human hair

Belinda Villani, Tribute to a Workhorse, woven rattan, steel

Jane Gillings, Dream Home, wood, discarded plastic

Greg Johns, Pattern 111, coreten steel

Spring Fever is over... the event that is!

SF is a bi-annual event organised by the Suncoast Clayworkers, 15 - 19 October 2009.

Vipoo Srivilasa, Fleur Schell, Ian Jones and Shannon Garson and Jim Robison (UK)

created work before a group of mostly local clayworkers.

Great work, lots of sharing and some hands-on fun

filled four fantastic days.

View more of my images here

photos of Spring Fever 2009

Vipoo reminded us of what was possible using the most basic tools - two hands, a butter knife and a wooden skewer.

Have you seen this interesting new work from Adelaide artist Simone-Clare Hede?

It's decorative, disturbing and definitely different!

Ceramic artist Simone-Clare Hede presents her first solo exhibition of hand-built works, Populuxe, consisting of ceramic vessels depicting consumers glued to the television screen in a zombie-like trance, wall-mounted vintage automobiles and colourful TV sets featuring grotesque versions of commercials common to the 1950s.

Populuxe opens on Wed 14 October at 6pm and closes on Fri 23 October at the Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre, cnr North Terrace and Morphett Street, Adelaide.

Shown here are some of Simone-Clare's brooches which she sells through her new website.

... and a brooch I made earlier ... Cool Ice porcelain, Japanese tissue transfer, clear glaze and gold lustre; fired three times - 980ºC, 1220ºC and 760ºC, then paint-on rust as the final touch.

Lots of fun was had by 20 creative bods at my Precious Petite Porcelain workshop at Central TAFE, Perth, WA; working small has one definite benefit ... we used about 1/10th bag of clay between us!

Western Australia beckons...

I am off to the Ceramics Arts Association of WA Annual Exhibition to judge their annual prizes and then give a speech to open the show. Then, on Saturday, I am giving a workshop called "Petite Precious Porcelain", where we will focus on working small, make some "Cool Ice" porcelain jewellery and have some fun along the way. Hope to meet lots of the local potters, visit some studios and check out the landscapes of the south west!

Wood-fired ceramics by Ben Richardson

Click on this link to view a wonderful short "visual poem", based upon the work of Australian potter, Ben Richardson. It was shot in southern Tasmania and accompanied the exhibition, 'Working Fire', at Carnegie Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania.

Direction Glen Dunn and Ben Richardson

Camera and Editing Glen Dunn

Music and Sound Jethro Woodward

7.5 minutes

More on Ben's work can be viewed here:

http://www.benrichardson.com.au

food + pots

Home-grown spinach in a bowl by Aleida Pullar

Candle holder by Vicki Grima; pourer by Maryke Henderson

Spinach spirali in a bowl by a Hornsby TAFE student

Yummy!

Ashley Fiona McHutchison, Footprint Series; Ceramic Revisions, Brenda May Gallery, July 2009

Ashley Fiona McHutchison works with me in the office of The Australian Ceramics Association (as Subscriptions Manager) and she makes a cute boot too! ... and she has started a blog www.ashleyfiona.blogspot.com

What a great week in Sydney at Australian Ceramics Triennale!

Takeshi Yasuda demonstrating in the sunshine

The ceramics world in Sydney is slowly returning to normal after a wonderful Australian Ceramics Triennale. With over 50 exhibitions, it's hard to choose favourites, but I have a few: BEAKER CULTURE at Flinders St Gallery (bought a lovely 2 beaker set there by Trisha Dean), TABLEWARES at Rex Irwin (too late to buy the piece of choice), TERRA ANIMA (Avital Sheffer) at Robin Gibson (no money left by then), NEW FRIENDS, ART AND ADVENTURE (Aeden Harris) at the Japan Foundation Gallery (one piece still to collect) and WHITE HEAT at Manly Art Gallery (a translucent pair of Avi Amesbury's will sit on my windowsill). Planet (tableware), Helen Stephens (Kenji Uranishi), Brenda May (Ceramics Revisions) and Animalia (Irianna Kanellopoloulou) at Global Gallery also featured work which I will stay with me  - such diversity and some admirable new work. 

I felt positive after the discussion on future directions of ceramics education, disappointed by the lack of meaningful talk on writing and stimulated by Kim Dickey's keynote address.

The historical National Art School and its sandstone buildings  provided a perfect backdrop for demos by local and international ceramic artists. 

Check out my best 100 images on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickimosaic/sets/72157621721964349/

Some of my little salt pots are in this exhibition which opens Tuesday 7 July

Taken into the morning sunshine to record their translucence ...

... my pinch pot pourers are finished, ready to deliver to 

Object, 417 Bourke St, Surry Hills.

Pourers will be shown in the Collectors Cabinet 

from Sat 11 - Sun 26 July

Tues to Sun, 11am - 6pm

  

White Heat at Manly

After being the middle-person between the curator, Julie Bartholomew, the 25 artists and the Manly Art Gallery & Museum, I was thrilled to see the exhibition open on Friday 12 June. It looks great! The diversity of the work and how the tradition of ceramics has been used to tell stories, make commentary on social, political and cultural issues, pushing all the boundaries,  is inspiring. 

Well worth a visit - the location is fantastic - right on Sydney Harbour.

Curator of WHITE HEAT: Dr Julie Bartholomew

Pru Morrison's series on our pollies - worth a MUCH closer look

The main gallery at Manly Art Gallery & Museum

Meng-shu You with her installation

Manly afternoon, Sunday 14 June

Clayworkers exhibition

small sculpture by Paul Gould

smooth porcelain by Marian Marcatili

... some interesting work at the Inner City Clayworkers Co-operative.

Inner EDge – ceramics by staff of Western Sydney Institute of TAFE, Nepean College

www.clayworkers.com.au

Pourers in progress...

I am making some pinched forms for Pourers, to be shown in the collectors cabinet at Object Gallery 11– 26 July, during the Australian Ceramics Triennale. I am using Cool Ice porcelain. 

Botany Banquet 22 May 2009

My friend, Alison, and I get together once a month and cook dinner - a special dish we've seen somewhere. This month Alison cooked trout stuffed with spinach in pastry. I cooked chocolate hazelnut pudding. 

Getting started...

Welcome to my blog. 

Postings about ceramics + food + books. 

See + touch + taste ... enjoying everyday things.