Week Thirteen

Week Thirteen

                        

This week was presentation week.  I cut it rather fine and was removing work from the kiln the morning of the presentation.  I was thrilled with the above two vases, as the vintage effect that I was trying to achieve was successful.  I poured clear glaze inside the vessels and painted underglaze and clear glaze on the outside.    The matt and gloss effect after firing was very pleasing.  

Week Twelve

Week Twelve

It never ceases to amaze me that a ball of clay can miraculously turn into a cup in a few minutes.

    

I read an article on The Chemistry of Pottery, by Stephen Breuer in 2012.  It answers a lot of questions I have had over the years about ceramics.  For instance, why does clay shrink so much?  Because it has a very high level of water content, apparently.  Water is within the molecular structure of clay.  He says that layers of clay sheets are separated by a layer of water molecules, bonded together by hydrogen.  These bonds are weak enough to be manipulated by force, but strong enough to hold together once that force is removed.  This allows clay to be formed into shapes that remain. The form will shrink 5 % from wet to bone dry condition.  The platelets become closer together forming a stronger structure.

Week Eleven

Week Eleven

This week I read an article called "Technopotters and Webs of Clay: Digital Possibilities for Teaching Ceramics", by Courtney Lee Weida.  In this article Weida explores new methods of teaching and learning ceramics. "The digital possibilities for ceramics included here primarily address documenting ceramic education processes, building and engaging communities and extending studio activities into the web space." (Weida, 2007, p. 1, para. 3)  She mentions that teachers are able to use the internet to plan lessons for students. The Paul Getty Museum has actual lesson plans available for teachers.  As I have discovered myself, the opportunities for students to learn online are many.  I have used Youtube extensively as a resource.  It has a great many demonstrations detailing many aspects of ceramics.

Week Ten

Week Ten

 

Inspired by watching Korean masters, I carved a bowl with flowers.  I will fire it with a celadon glaze.

I received a lot of feedback on this pot.  All comments were very positive.  I had a secret though.  I initially decided to carve the form because it was thrown unevenly and I would have destroyed it.  So by carving, I was able to rescue the situation.

Week Nine

Week Nine

Photograph by Michelle Andrews

My first collection of vases has been bisqued and I am now painting them with underglaze.  I love blue and white pottery and it is very exciting to make my own.  I am painting delicate florals, reminiscent of chinoiserie, which is in keeping with my general aesthetic.  I have applied white underglaze in a rough manner to make the pieces look old or vintage -some of the original clay shows through.

I am actually taking great care with this painting - takes a very steady hand.  I am looking for a very delicate, intricate result.

Week Eight

Week Eight

Week Eight I  am out west in the big sky country!  I am visiting my daughter for the week.  I am also getting ready for my father's 80th birthday and an artist talk I have to give at my exhibition in Brisbane.  I managed to trim my pots at uni before I left for my holiday, and put them in the kiln area, ready for bisque firing.

There is a pottery group here, in Dalby, but I visited the club house on the wrong day and had a nice chat with the painting group.  I have also been to the Dalby Regional Art Gallery.

Although I am out on the plains, I still have internet and can do some research for my project.

Week Seven

Week 7

Photographs by Michelle Andrews

The highlight of the week was a visit to the pottery studio of Belinda Stanton in Maleny.  Belinism Studio is tucked away next to the land of Maleny Dairies, in a moist, green landscape.  Belinda is a charming lady and makes these wonderful pieces, full of secret happiness.

Week Six

Week Six

Began with a consultation with my uni lecturer about how to progress forward with this project.  He said he was happy for me to continue my learning as a self-directed project.  I did learn quite a bit during my month long internship and I can continue along that line.

I suggested taking up a class with either Clairy Laurence or Clay School in West End.

Clairy Laurence (n.d.) Clairy at work [Image].  Retrieved from http://www.clairylaurence.com/

I have admired Clairy's work for a couple of years.  It is sculptural, figurative and whimsical.  In some of her work she challenges ideas of beauty and ornament, as in her series of golden beetles.  Other works display fabulous females with flowers in their hair.  I attended a demonstration she gave at the Artisan Gallery in Brisbane, and was really impressed with her sculpting skills and beautiful heads.

She has a long history in ceramics, having received her training in the eighties.  In more recent years she was workshop Supervisor at Monte Lupo for ten years.

I would love to learn from this talented artist.  If not now, definitely later.


Australian Ceramics (2013, August 13) Ray Cavill, Clayschool, QLD. [Image]. Open Studio Ceramics Australia Showcase. Retrieved from https://www.australianceramics.com/2013/08/06/unearth-more-than-100-local-potters/

Then there is Ray Cavil who runs Clay School in West End, Brisbane.  From all reports, he is a well respected potter with a long teaching background.  My lecturer knows him and recommended him as a replacement for Paul Holland.

I have contacted Ray and hope to look in on Clay School next week.

Reflection of Week Five

Reflection about Week Five

Last week at the lecture, my teacher impressed upon us the importance of reflection and supplied these two diagrams to explain what it means and how to do it...

So, using the above diagram first, I need to process what has happened to my internship at Windmill Pottery.  

Week Five

Week Five - Disaster!

 

As an intern at Windmill Pottery I have kept all the floors swept, wiped down the sink and benches, watered the garden - including carrying buckets out to trees in the paddock, cleaned tools and boards (bats), wrapped up and shelved students' work, carried items to the drying shed, carried items from the drying shed, trimmed the bases of my work and students' work, dusted every item in the gallery every week, vacuumed the gallery, sanded and varnished the outdoor table, cleaned the coffee percolator, replaced the dirty towels, emptied the refuse bins into the big bins, emptied the buckets of scrap into the recycling vat, cleaned the pottery wheels and laid out the sets of tools for the students, dug clay, measured ingredients, wedged clay, cut, wrapped and stacked pugged clay etc etc.

Week Four

Week Four

Time to learn how to manufacture clay.  This is very hard work but strangely satisfying.  It begins by shoveling clay 'dirt' into a wheel barrow.  It is then broken up further and tipped into a large bucket, half full of water.  The mixture is stirred with a heavy-duty paint stirrer.

Next, silica and kaolin is measured into the mix and combined.  Then the sieving process begins.  I wasn't present for this part, but I believe the clay sludge if poured through a series of increasingly fine sieves.  The final result is poured onto special plaster-topped tables where the moisture is sucked out by the plaster.  When it resembles chocolate, it is cut, rolled up and wrapped in plastic (if it's going to be left for any period of time).

Week Three

Week Three

This week marks the beginning of my adventures with making yunomis or tumblers.  I have discovered that even though I weigh out the same amount of clay, and I have calipers measured for the base, the lip and the height required, it is extremely hard to make these cups identical!  And this week, since I am still learning the wheel, I had only a 50% success rate.  Half my work ended up in the recycling tub!

Week Two

Week Two

The sun blazes down relentlessly as I lug two buckets of dam water out into the paddock to water some of Paul's fruit trees.  He has quite an orchard of sub-tropical fruit trees, many of which are mature, and makes jams and jellies himself.  But they require quite a bit of TLC during hot Summers.  Watering the trees and the grape vines is part of my job list and I don't mind at all, since I love to garden.  He has a vege garden and a water feature that also require weekly watering.  

After the watering, I meticulously sweep everywhere and dust all the pottery pieces in the gallery.  Again, I don't mind since I am committed to giving one whole day to maintenance around the workshops.  Today, the boss was talking about teaching me more of the business than just the pottery making.

This week there were several highlights...

Week One

Week One

The arrangement with the internship is that I will work around the workshop one day per week, then the next day I will be tutored in pottery techniques.  On my first day, I received the Induction tour of the facilities.

These are the two large gas kilns.  They are used for reduction firing.  I have to keep this area well swept and clean as it gets very dirty.

Paul Holland, Master Potter   https://windmillpottery.com.au/

Proposal

My Creative Project this semester will be a three month internship with Paul Holland, master potter at Windmill Pottery, at Sheldon in the Redland Bay area.  This will be a steep learning curve for me, exploring pottery literally from the ground up.  I will learn how to dig and process clay, how to prepare it for use, how to throw functional ware on the wheel, how to trim, how to pack the kiln and the firing process, as well as the science of glazes and how to apply them.   Paul Holland has also expressed the intention of teaching me the business side of running a pottery workshop.  I will attend two days per week, for the three months, with a 50/50 split of workshop jobs and tuition.