Is It Time to Slow Down Yet?

I have been slack in the blogging department this last couple of weeks as I have had my hands busy with making a last run of things for my next market in December. I have also decided to invite friends,family and locals to a pottery garden party at home in early December. As my next market is at Mittagong, having a party at home makes it closer and more personal for friends and family.

Things I have been working on this week.

Stand I made for my little Birds

Stall at Mittagong Markets

 We have friends over for a BBQ today, so its time to relax and enjoy the day. Have a great weekend everyone. Why not head over to Mud Colony to see what everyone else has been up to this week.

So Much to Do........

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for reading my post today. Feeling a tad overwhelmed at the moment. You know what it's like when you know that you have a certain number of days until the next market. Which broken down into bits, means that you have stuff all time left to make, dry, fire, decorate and fire. Arghhh.... Anyway, BREATH IN, BREATH OUT...... it will all be okay. Well, that is what I keep telling myself.

I feel like I have a hundred and one things to do. YET, I keep making more things, just to make sure.

For those that read my last post, Mittagong Markets went quite well. It blew an ABSOLUTE GAIL all day which was horrible. If you attend markets with your work, you will sympothise with me about windy days at markets. It was my first time there as a stallholder, so I was not sure what to expect. I have not long been back on the market scene. Did it years ago when my eldest daughters (19 and 17) were little. Now that I am home with a 2yr old, I think I have time to do it all again. Hmmm.....

I have tried a few local craft markets in my area, but found that there just weren't enough people frequenting them. Times have changed. My biggest seller at the markets are these hanging birds.  I make Christmas decorations as well this time of year, which are also popular, but these little birds are my bread and butter. I guess they are pretty and CHEAP at $4 and $5. I probably sell them far too cheaply considering the time and effort that goes into making them but hey, they sell.

Ceramic Birds with underglaze & glaze, various other glazes and fired to Cone 6

Original drawings and cardboard templates that i made

I started out by making a few very basic bird shapes and have now expanded to include more detailed birds like Kingfisher, Cockatoo, Major Mitchell, Galah, Willy Wagtail and Parrots. They do take me alot longer, so I might add another few dollars to the price of the new ones?

Kingfisher's and Cockatoo's drying

Anyway, that's enough from me so head over to Mud Colony to see what everyone else has been up to this week. 





Mittagong Markets Here I Come

Yes, thats right. I will be loading the ute on Friday evening and taking off at first light on Saturday morning to the beautiful little town of Mittagong on the NSW Southern Highlands. Its an early start but I have to be at Mittagong Markets and all set up by 8am. I am hoping as always, for a lovely sunny day with NO WIND and lots of people. Fingers crossed.

I know you don't really want to think about it but Christmas is only Eight weeks away. So, why not drop into the markets this Saturday 20 October to start your Christmas shopping. Its a lovely drive and not only are there heaps of great things to buy at the markets, but there are plenty of other great things to do and places to visit whilst in the Southern Highlands. Hope to see you there.

Follow this link for more info on the Mittagong Markets, location etc.
 http://www.stallholders.com.au/mittagong/

 Now I am back to see what is happening at the Mud Colony website and what everyone else has been blogging about this week :) http://www.mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/



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

Darwin Trip for Creative Inspiration

A recent holiday with my family to the Northern Territory gave me some renewed creative inspiration. It is a harsh and beautiful place at the same time. A landscape like no other. Not going into much detail as the photos say it all. I was a fantastic place to visit and we have some great memories to take with us forever.

Handprints in Clay

Here are some examples of some Clay Handprint Impressions I have done recently at my daughters local Day Care Centre. These lovely little treasures can be admired for years to come by parents and relatives. I have tried to keep them fairly inexpensive and at $35 each for what you see in the photos, so they are quite affordable too. The whole process is quite simple. I take along pre-rolled soft slabs to the day care centre and have the children press their hands straight into the soft clay. I then bring them home to trim and decorate. They take about a week to dry and are then fired twice in my kiln. I am looking at expanding to other day care centres in my area in the coming months. If you are interested in finding out more about these, please email me and I will be happy to answer any questions. Or call me direct on mobile 0418 180 636.

Clay Handprint Impression - Violet Underglaze and Clear Glaze

Clay Handprint Impression - Green Underglaze and Clear Glaze

Clay Handprint Impression - Cobalt Blue Underglaze and Clear Glaze



Clay Handprint Impression - Red Underglaze and Clear Glaze



Botanical Theme Pinch Pots

I made a heap of these little pinch pots to sell at the markets. My inspiration came from doing a bit of gardening and appreciating all the different textures of the various plants in our garden. They are a nice little piece to sell, that can be used as a trinket bowl for rings, ear rings, paperclips etc. People don't seem to think much about parting with a few dollars as a pose to the more expensive pieces. I really enjoyed making them. Single fired to 1200 deg c, I underglazed the textured areas inside and then it wiped back to highlight the plant design, then a clear glaze was applied to the inside only. The underside was left unglazed, as I like the contrast to the glazed interior and also shows the fingermarks of the maker during the making process giving them a very earthy and handmade quality.

Here is the clear glaze recipe that I call 'Perfect Clear'.

Perfect Clear (can also be single fired)
Cone 5 -6

Soda Feldspar            40
Gerstley Borate           30
Ball Clay                     20
Silica                           10

It is good to brush on with a wide mop brush and seems to even out nicely during firing.



Small Botanical Pinch Pots single fired to Cone 6



Botanical Pinch Pots