Creative Collaboration

Once a month, I visit retailer's who buy my work in Camden NSW. It's a great opportunity not only to replenish their stock, but to have a friendly chat. On visiting one of my customer's recently at a lovely boutique florist in Camden, Jennie from ' Merci Bouquet ' happened to mention that her friend in business Nicci from ' Cupcakes in Camden ' used some my little birds recently on on of her wedding cake creations for a window display.  Later that day, I searched for Nicci's website to find this pretty photo.

What a unique use for my little wrens. I am suggesting ideas all the time to my customers for their use, but this I would not have thought of. As it happens Nicci and I think very much alike creatively and I am looking forward to working with her in the future with various ideas.

Lots more happening in my studio at the moment. I have added yet another Australian native bird to my series. Here's Willy Wagtail. Plus, I have made a realistic version of a  a Superb Fairy Wren or more commonly known as the BlueWren. They are at the drying stage, so more picks at a later date.

 

I am off to "Mittagong Markets" this Saturday 17th August. Lots of unique gifts available, so why not take a drive to the Southern Highlands this Saturday as there are heaps of places to stop along the way.

Well that's enough about what's happening in my studio. Why not drop by Mud Colony to see what the other mudder's have been up to.

Thanks for dropping by.

Two New Australian Birds to add to my Aussie Flock

Wow, I have just realised that it's been two months since my last post.  How time flies...

Since my last post, we have adopted a new dog who we call 'Ollie'. Ollie is about 12-15mnths old and quite frankly, a menace but Emily (our 3 yr old) loves him. He is the world's biggest chewer and despite having a box full of doggie toys, he has a particular fancy for shoes. We came home one day to a sea of trashed shoes on our patio, after he cleverly lifted the lid of our outdoor shoebox. I am not kidding when I say that I had to throw out twenty something shoes. We then bought a new shoebox complete with locking clips either side of the lid. Glen forgot to clip both sides one afternoon and there went my new joggers. Anyway, despite all of that he really is a nice dog, just a bit pesty. Which is why Ollie and Emily probably get along so well LOL. They seem to understand each other. PS. I quite like having a studio dog again too :)

My two studio pests. Not much room for me in there now days.

Recently, I made a conscious decision to spend less time on the computer to make for more time in the studio and to spend with Emily, so that's one of the reasons for my slackness in blogging. The other is that I now have a business relationship with a few boutique retail outlets, so I am busy making stock to keep them happy which is great. It goes to say though that having a 3 yr old in our house means my free time is limited. If Emily is not hanging off my leg, or having a melt down, I am actually trying to spend some quality time with her. Thank goodness, meltdowns are becoming less frequent. Phew. Then, there's the housework. If only I had a housecleaner..... keep dreaming Jan.

As a frequent stallholder at a craft market in Mittagong NSW, (link here Mittagong Markets), I have noticed a pattern and that is, that people don't want or don't have alot of money to spend at markets these days. So, now I tend to make alot of smaller pieces that I can keep under $20. I still make my one of artistic pieces and they are always going to be a passion of mine, but for markets, smaller and cheaper is better.

For those that don't already know, I make a variety of things out of mud, from functional pieces, to sculptural work and then there is my love of birds, plants and all things earthy and old looking. Here are two new hanging Australian birds for this weekends Mittagong Markets - The Kookaburra and the Magpie. Plus I have a heap of beautiful brooches along the same theme as my hanging birds.

Australian Kookaburra - Decorative hanging bird

Australian Magpie - Decorative hanging bird

 Oh,  I also set up my 'Etsy' shop JanWallacePottery is my search name on Etsy or just click here to be taken strainght to my online shop. Jan Wallace Pottery Etsy Shop

See I have been busy!

Why not see how busy everyone else in the Mudding world has been too. Head on over to Mud Colony to catch up with some other mud bloggers.

Inspirational Road Trip

My husband, three year old daughter and I had a marvellous trip travelling around parts of Victoria recently. This is a short visual diary of our trip. We took hundreds of photographs, but I have chosen just a handful to show some of the great times we had along the way.

Apologies to those that usually follow my blog for pottery reasons. I am going to bore you today with some family pics as it's a great way for me to connect with family and friends about our holiday.

We were very impressed with Victoria. We visited many places along our journey and despite the fact that the countryside is starved of rain at the moment, its a beautiful state, with so many quaint, old fashioned, historic towns to drive through and so much open space in between. The major roads in and around Melbourne are fantastic and a pleasure experience in comparison to Sydney.
We left home and headed for Jervis Bay on the South Coast of NSW. We stayed for 3 days at a place called 'Green Patch' then from there drove to Jindabyne. We then travelled over Snowy Mountains and the 'Great Dividing Range' to Victoria. Melbourne for a quick visit, then along the 'Great Ocean Road', Ballarat, Bendigo, Echuca (Murray River) then home. Lots of pretty towns and places in between but basically that was our trip.

I am not going into length about our trip as it will bore the socks off you. Photos say it all, plus a few comments to go with them.




'Greenpatch' at Jervis Bay



Couldn't resist showing you this photo - one of Emily's many faces

                        

                                 We did part of the Mt Kosciuszko walk - Mt Kosciuszko on the left in background



Anyone that knows my husband Glen, knows his passion is the weather. Weather station at the top of Thredbo

Glen carrying Emily 'again' on the Mt Kosciuszko walk

One of Emily's better faces ha ha...

Thredbo Chairlift



Beautiful CARPET of  plants layed the snowy mountains.
Photo doesn't do it justice but the textures were amazing.





One of our many campsites in our home away from home



The highlight of our trip was easily drive along the 'Great Ocean Road' to see the amazing 'Apostles'. You see photos on the internet and in books, but until you visit, you can't imagine how spectacular they are in real life.





Glen carrying Emily AGAIN





Great day spent at 'Sovereign Hill' - Glen caught Gold Fever lol





                                         



Town called 'Glenrowan' - The historical place of 'Ned Kelly's' Last Stand



An OMG moment - An Antique Shop in Bendigo
was selling a picture i made over ten years ago.
It travelled from NSW to Victoria and still looks great after all that time and travelling.



Great visit to 'Bendigo Pottery'



An old Paddle Steamer on the Murray River at Echuca

Went on a paddle steamer along the Murray. Emily loved it.





Clay impressions of Barnicles on the rocks at Jervis Bay to use in my clay work.



For me, other highlights included the opportunity to go to the 'Pottery Expo' at Warandyte. I had the pleasure of meeting so many inspirational potters including the lovely Adrianna from Mud Colony. Our visit to 'Bendigo Pottery' was also fantastic.

Thanks for reading my blog. Hope you enjoyed the journey.

Back into Pottery Prior to a Road Trip

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since my last post. I trust everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I had a break from potting over Christmas and all of January. Been giving my dodgy shoulder (partial tear) a bit of a rest.

This week has been mental. We are heading off on a road trip to Melbourne in the morning and it's been a week of organising, appointments, decorating birds and pendants, packing and firing the kiln, packing the caravan and last minute housework ( I like coming home to a clean house).

Back into it the last couple of weeks. My first firing for the year was more of my little Australian Birds and just today I unpacked a load of Pendants and some more birdies. Some examples below. I have been working on some more varieties. More pics for follow after I get back from holidays.

Recently, on a visit to my husband's grandmother, I asked if she had any handmade lace or crocheted doilies that I have to use in my pottery work. She was very happy to know what I wanted to use them for and gave me a collection to take home. I am so happy to be using something so precious in my work that has a family history. I have used some to make some lovely marks on the pendants below.

Very excited to be leaving for Melbourne in the morning, but even better is that I discovered our trip coincides with the 'Pottery Expo'. It is held at Warrandyte on the banks of the Yarra River. I only realised it was happening after one of my friends from 'Mud Colony' mentioned it in a post. Thanks!

Why don't you catch up with the 'Mud Colony' family to see what everyone else has been doing.

Enjoy your weekend everyone. Until next time.

RaKu MaNia

Pottery is a creative passion shared by many. It brings people together who are likeminded and equally passionate about the same thing. I recently had the pleasure of meeting a new friend brought about by a our shared love for clay and raku firing. Rhonda Morris lives about 30 - 40 mins from my home in Appin NSW and we met for the first time simply because we share an interest. We intially met via the American website 'Cone 6 & Other Ways With Clay' www.cone6pots.ning.com The founder of the website George Lewter was calling for potters around the world to host a raku firing day and invite potters to get together for this event. As it turned out, Rhonda and I are were the only two in the world that ended up getting together for a raku firing day. Rhonda and I had a lovely afternoon. We chatted, glazed pots then as the sun went down we set up for the firing. Despite a very windy evening, our raku firing was fun and a success. It is definately something that I would love to do again. Here are some pics of our firing.

Waiting for the Raku Kiln to reach temperature. This is a kiln i made myself. Details in earlier post on this blog.

What a beautiful sight to behold. Nothing beats opening the kiln and taking out red hot pots.

I was taking pots out of the kiln and Rhonda was adding additional reduction material and putting on lids

Fast and exciting!

Don't fall in the pool Rhonda!

Rhonda's pots straight out of the redction bins, prior to being cleaned

View of my pots in the reduction bin



My pots after alot of scrubbing!

 The next night and the following week, I did other firings on my own. Talk about hectic! I dropped one pot in the rush of getting them all out before they got too cool. Here are the results of some of those pots.

'Under the Sea Sculptural Pots' - Raku Fired



Detail of reduction on one of the 'Barnicles pot'



Detail of light reduction - Copper red in cracks

Japanese style Ikebana Vase - White Crackle, Raku Fired

Tea Light Candle Holders, Raku Fired - Copper Matt glaze with some nice reduction

Set of 3 Square Raku Fired White Crackle -  Art Deco Style Vases

Large Open Plate - Raku Fired White Crackle with Copper Wash highlights

Detail of Underside of Raku Fired Plate

Thanks to Rhonda Morris for a great day and for letting me know about the 'Mud Colony' via facebook www.mudcolony.blogspot.com