Katy In The Clouds

miami marketta | february 2012

2012-02-09T18:55:00.000+10:00

Tomorrow night, hurrah!

spoons

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000+10:00

It's difficult to pinpoint where the spoons first crossed my radar. It must be nearly 6 months now, that I've been aware of the seemingly increasing trend in ceramic spoons. I admired them, coveted them, but didn't want to make my own; don't be a copycat, I told myself. But I kept seeing them, finding them more and more lovely. Suddenly I thought: no one can copyright a spoon and my skills are relatively fledgling, no one will notice or mind if I make a few.

So I sketched.

And I made.

[spoons cut from thin slab of clay and hand pinched into shape]

I love.

However; I have no idea if they will hold their form during firing to 1270c? Are they small enough to evade slumping? I will certainly only glaze the top sides just in case...

[one other small motivation to this - perhaps if I put spoons in my bowls, unimaginative people will stop asking me 'what would I do with this bowl...?']

Thursday: Our Creative Spaces + Mud Colony.

painting

2012-02-08T18:14:00.000+10:00

Building up stock for markets and my dear stockists.

inspiration: anne smerdon

2012-02-07T22:02:00.000+10:00

I am privileged to know Gold Coast artist Anne Smerdon.

Deaf eyes moist in moonlight - 2011

Anne paints wondrous illustrated narratives in watercolour, with ink and gold on paper and silk, exploring the relationships between humans and animals, much influenced by literature such as Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and Henry De Vere Stacpoole’s The Blue Lagoon.

Peacock monograms for the mid-century mod - 2012

Tweedledee and Tweedledum - 2012

Anne's very first solo show, Symbiosis, opens at 19 KAREN Contemporary Artspace on Saturday 18 Feburary, 6 - 8pm. It will be magic, I promise.

the clayer

2012-02-04T21:19:00.000+10:00

I've signed up for a little bit of online study! The Clayer, Part One: Surfacing, with San Francisco's fabulously talented ceramicist Diana Fayt.

Images: Diana Fayt

I've always been concerned about keeping my focus and developing my skills post-college, so this course instantly called to me.
Excited? Yes, muchly.

hello february

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000+10:00

If you didn't know, it's been raining here in the Land of Queens. Despite expecting this annual soaking, we get super cranky when our feet get wet, so everyone rejoiced at the glimpse of sunshine this week. It made for quick throwing/trimming/painting turnover conditions;

Thursday means Our Creative Spaces and Mud Colony. Go on, run over then!

miro constellation: part 5

2012-02-01T20:59:00.000+10:00

Sets 2 and 3 of the Miro project, ready to bisque.

still here

2012-02-01T12:39:00.001+10:00

I am still here, really.

melbournia

2012-01-18T18:27:00.000+10:00

My Christmastime escape to Melbourne;

Local South Melbourne resident: Charlie the handicapped rainbow lorikeet!

Special hidden laneways

My kind of Christmas decorations! (GPO, Bourke St)

NYE fireworks, as seen from South Melbourne

miami marketta | january 2012

2012-01-16T20:35:00.001+10:00

Another beautiful night at Miami Marketta last week. It was wonderful to see such a big crowd in January! Kudos for supporting handmade folks.

Thanks goodness for Instagram making naff iPhone photos look cute and retro!

The lori eggs were a hit, hurrah!

fired eggs

2012-01-09T14:47:00.000+10:00

Those bowls from November - fired in Michaela's gas kiln, came out perfectly. I used the same glaze the week before and it was awful?!

Ah well, I shall take my victories where I can.

I'm beginning to appreciate the simple creaminess of white stoneware clay, without my coloured glazes.

The eggs turned out perfectly, just as I imaged them.

Even the iron spots that regularly appear from Michaela's gas kiln don't bug me, in fact they almost add to the eggs.

open

2012-01-08T11:17:00.002+10:00

The online store is open again!

small emu feather bowl

You might find a few new pieces in there too :)

glaze grumble

2012-01-05T21:17:00.001+10:00

I am not proud of this.

I've resorted to buying premixed commercial glaze ingredients. My 'reliable' glaze has mysteriously gone bonkers. Too thick, bubbles, too thin, dry, lumps, crazing. Nightmare. I'm determined to sort it out, but after losing so many good pots to the bad glaze, this is the best interim option. Fingers crossed, eh?

miami marketta | january 2012

2012-01-05T21:07:00.002+10:00

First Miami Marketta of 2012!

the swich

2011-12-21T20:11:00.000+10:00

New stockist! The Swich Contemporary Art Space.

massive thank you to LeAnne for the gorgeous photos!

miami marketta | december 2011

2011-12-21T19:29:00.001+10:00

homepage glory

2011-12-18T18:04:00.000+10:00

Can you imagine how excited I was to see my work on the homepage of Artisan?

look for my emu feather work right in the centre!

Artisan is Queensland’s peak organization for presenting and promoting unique and individual quality crafted design.

Such a privilege, thank you Artisan!

mud colony

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000+10:00

Determinedly producing more work before the Christmas holiday = eating breakfast* whilst trimming pots.

*breakfast = white quinoa, apple, blueberries, honey, cinnamon and pecans, mmm.

Run over to see more clay creativity: Mud Colony
(big thank you to Adriana for starting off this new blog!)

feather pendants in the shop!

2011-12-14T20:45:00.000+10:00

Hand cut and painted porcelain lorikeet feather pendants, now available in the shop.

Free delivery continues through December - Monday 19 Dec is the last day to order for Christmas delivery.

miami marketta | december 2011

2011-12-09T11:20:00.001+10:00

Tonight! Support your local artists + designers and BUY HANDMADE this Christmas!

> Facebook event

my (miro) creative space

2011-12-08T06:24:00.001+10:00

Some progress on the Miro project;

glazed prototype - need to reduce the copper carb % to lighten the green

the first full scale set, plus extra pieces

umm...pac man dishes?!

More clever people over at our creative spaces and mud colony!

shop!

2011-12-06T06:53:00.001+10:00

Ta da! My online store is open for 2 weeks only; buy some lovely handmade ceramic-y goodness for yourself and your loved ones this Christmas! To sweeten the deal, shipping is free within Australia, hurrah!

miami designer markets | november 2011

2011-11-29T17:57:00.001+10:00

Last weekend I pitched my first stall at the Miami Designer Markets! Many thanks to the talented Sina of Ola Para Siempre for these beautiful photos - see more shots of the other stall holders over here on her blog!

my (dishy) creative space

2011-11-24T06:30:00.000+10:00

Continuing on from last week's creative space, I've been painting bowls to match my new flat dishes.

I've had a few egg-related incidents this last week - one being accidentally stepping on a gecko egg on my studio floor :( I didn't even figure out what it was til 5 hours later and I was devastated! But the lady mother gecko living in the apartment must have returned, as I found this one in almost the same place on the floor of the studio yesterday! So tiny! (though yes, I KNOW, they are considered pests. Hush.)
More creative spaces over here and a new weekly meeting place for clay folk over here.

eggs

2011-11-23T06:44:00.001+10:00

For weeks I've been aching for a new design. I love the lorikeet feathers, but I don't want to overdo them - I need to keep them special. Everything I thought of was too different, too unconnected. I want to keep some thread of correlation between all of my work. I wanted to extend the line, not abandon it.

Then I thought of the eggs. I've painted the feathers, then the birds, so it only makes sense to paint the eggs now. Completing the circle of life?

I also wanted to develop the feathers somewhat, make them softer and truer to the real form. I started with a soft grey wash, darkened around the feathers and eggs, then used a white underglaze for the egg with grey and blue shading and instead of black line work for the feathers I scratched a line into the clay and added the detailing in dark grey.

I can only hope that the colours behave themselves once glazed!

tent

2011-11-21T07:10:00.001+10:00

I've bought myself a photography tent - I've still got a little way to go with optimizing my camera settings, but for a quick test I'm pretty darn pleased with the results:

my (egg) creative space

2011-11-17T06:38:00.001+10:00

Inspiring me this week: sparkling blood orange, sunshine, jacaranda blossom and discovering a new (to me) potter.

[sketchbook]

[lorikeet nests?]

[plates/shallow dishes]

[sliiiightly larger bowls]

More creative spaces over here.

miami marketta | november 2011

2011-11-12T19:51:00.001+10:00

orange!

2011-11-11T07:13:00.000+10:00

After, oh 3 months or so, I've finally tested my new orange glaze on an actual pot!

And it's perfect, hurrah!

*Thanks to Jill for featuring a little interview about my work over here.

tiny porcelain pots

2011-11-08T20:18:00.000+10:00

My first porcelain tests from a few weeks ago - clear glaze in and out.

circus girl

2011-11-07T20:12:00.000+10:00

Another porcelain piece:

southern ice

2011-11-06T08:20:00.000+10:00

Giddy doesn't quite cover the glee with which I unloaded the kiln last week - Southern Ice porcelain is my new obsession.

It was a dream to throw with - knowing the possibilities of translucency encouraged me to throw much, much finer than I normally would, a challenge that I relished. Of course, the finer the pot wall is, the harder it is to control, so whilst I had been thinking of altering the lips of pots for quite some time, it was convenient for this work as it disguises my rookie porcelain throwing skills! I roll glazed all of the pots, most in clear gloss, but a couple with yellow gloss.

I am beyond happy with these results - I am utterly in love with this clay.The translucency is intriguing, as it will allow me to progress with a project that has been cooking in my mind for 2 or so years; the surface, if properly sanded, is beautifully tactile; and of course the exquisite whiteness allows colours to mature to their best - for the first time since working with high temp clays, my red underglaze is BRIGHT red! My yellow glaze is positively mouth watering. Another exciting attribute for a maker like myself obsessed with underglaze decoration - fewer layers of colour is needed to achieve vibrant colours if the surface is not to be glazed. All of these factors create a more contemporary feeling around the work.

Unfortunately, all of porcelain's virtues make its poor cousin stoneware look somewhat ugly; the clay is grey to me now, giving colours a dull edge; even when sanded, the unglazed, vitrified body is not pleasant to the touch; and my existing work now feels heavy and clunky.

As with many new loves, this may not be a healthy obsession. Clayworks Southern Ice porcelain is approxiamately 2.5 times the cost of Walker's PB103 stoneware; a fact that one cannot possibly argue, as it was developed by Les Blakebrough himself, one of Australia's top ceramicists (though British born, like myself, mu ha!) and is now one of the finest commercial porcelain clays in the world.

Another concern I have with this organic work - the functionality. I always aim to make items that will be used. The world is full of more than enough useless junk already and I have no desire to add to that, especially as this medium is fairly un-environmentally friendly already. Certainly the work here is only experimental - initial exercises to test the capabilities and properties of the clay and the forms reflect that - small and varied in height and width. If I do follow this thread of undulating forms, I will have to carefully consider the function of the pieces.

As an emerging ceramicist, I feel I don't yet have the skills or confidence to do this medium sufficient justice. I certainly won't give it up, but I have to set realistic targets; I will continue to produce my stoneware ranges, but slowly develop my work in porcelain until I feel a substantial body of work is a feasible project.

my (home work) creative space

2011-11-03T08:13:00.000+10:00

If you don't already know, I grew up on the Isle of Man. It's an odd, tiny place. I spent most of my childhood playing in a national glen called Silverdale - my family has strong links to it, as my Grandfather owned much of the land from the 1930s - 60s. Over the years it has become affectionately known as 'The Children's Glen', with a boating lake, playgrounds, water driven carousel and ice cream shop, as well as the beautiful woodland walks along the Silverburn river. I think Silverdale is magic. Of all my childhood memories, the strongest are of Silverdale. Leaving it 4 years ago to travel was heart wrenching - as much as I love Australia and intend to stay here, I still feel that pull back to the glen. For various reasons, I've been thinking about home more than usual recently and it's crept into my sketchbook - and of course onto my pots.

This brainstorming is probably highly self indulgent, an expression of my homesickness, and likely won't progress much further than these experiments.

Using teeny pinch pots to test colours

Bluebells grown in abundance, as do daffodils at Spring time.

One of the key motifs I used was a sun, though it certainly rains more than anything else in that part of the world.

All of these pots are Southern Ice porcelain, so I will leave the exterior unglazed.

[goodness me, look at all that writing!]

More creative spaces over here.

miami marketta plus rabbit + cocoon official launch

2011-11-01T18:33:00.000+10:00

The next Miami Marketta is super special - we'll be part of the rabbit + cocoon official launch!

harlequin

2011-10-28T16:52:00.000+10:00

Painting some of this week's wheel thrown porcelain.

my (porcelain) creative space

2011-10-27T09:02:00.001+10:00

This week: throwing thin pots with Southern Ice Porcelain and experimenting with the forms.

More creative spaces here.

my (starry) creative space

2011-10-20T08:09:00.000+10:00

More porcelain stars, soon to grace my market table for the Christmas season:

More beautiful creative spaces over here!

tiny girl pots

2011-10-18T17:09:00.000+10:00

The results from the webcam time lapse video painting:

webcam time lapse video!

2011-10-17T22:21:00.000+10:00

porcelain feather pendants

2011-10-17T10:00:00.000+10:00

miami marketta | october 2011

2011-10-16T16:28:00.000+10:00

my (miro) creative space

2011-10-06T07:23:00.000+10:00

Gosh, it's been a while since I did a creative space post!

I've started to play with glaze colours for the miro project; copper carb + yellow, cobalt and yellow. Next, black. But I might settle for a dark grey.

More creative spaces over here! Thanks Kirsty!

watercolour feathers

2011-10-05T20:36:00.000+10:00

necklaces

2011-10-03T21:23:00.003+10:00

Preparing feather necklaces for the next Miami Marketta!

silverdale

2011-10-02T14:43:00.000+10:00

Vintage post cards from the place I still call home:

inspiration | shannon garson

2011-09-28T16:43:00.000+10:00

I've mentioned Shannon Garson once before, an incredibly talented artist and potter. She is very close to the top of my role model's list, so I am very sad to say that she has brought her blog, Strange Fragments, to a close as she begins her MA in writing. Thankfully, we can still watch (read: stalk) her work through her Facebook page!

(image courtesy Shannon Garson)

miami marketta | october

2011-09-26T19:56:00.002+10:00

Come see me at Rabbit + Cocoon's next Miami Marketta on Friday 14 October, 5 - 10pm!

awards

2011-09-12T19:03:00.000+10:00

Last month I entered this nesting dish set into the Gold Coast Potters Association's Annual Members' exhibition. I was lucky enough to be commended with the Ruth Lyons' Encouragement Award.

Judge Di Peach, had this to say about my work;
"When nested I could see how well this set was proportioned, equally stepped in both height and diameter. They were precisely thrown, with a slit-and-crossover feature, and very neatly turned. Small colourful feathers so realistically hand painted I thought at first they were decals were positioned around the feature split and with a flawless glaze made altogether a very visually satisfying and functional set."
Considering this is my first year to exhibit with the Potters', I am so thankful to receive such an award and these positive comments about my work.

The Overall Winner of the exhibition was Anne Mossman, with a piece from her set 'Still Life II'. Di Peach said "The small dimpled bottle amongst Anne Mossman’s “Still Life II” was an exquisite wee thing. Slip cast and the surface then minutely gouged and refined its translucency was an additional quality."
I was so happy to see Anne win this award, I have been a fan of her work for years and it is so reassuring to see small works given such great credit.

miami marketta | september

2011-09-12T10:00:00.000+10:00

Some iPhone shots of the September Miami Marketta at Rabbit + Cocoon

The lovely Carmel (and Katie!) of artist collective Daughter

My stall neighbour, Omilee

emu feather collection

2011-09-11T14:47:00.000+10:00

Beginnings of the new collection ~ emu feathers!

Photography: Carmel Dunne

feather colour

2011-09-06T12:58:00.001+10:00

Painting a few left over porcelain feathers from last year:

stars

2011-09-04T19:41:00.000+10:00

More porcelain play;

potters' market

2011-08-31T10:35:00.006+10:00

Last Sunday; Gold Coast Potters' market day, sunshine, lovely pots, cupcakes, brownies, lavender + kumquat marmalade.

[rainbow-spewing bear in bottom right hand corner is part of these very exciting solo shows opening next month at 19 KAREN]

porcelain play

2011-08-30T21:26:00.000+10:00

I retrieved my tiny stash of Southern Ice Porcelain from the bottom of the clay box today and spent a beautiful few hours making old and new things;

miami marketta | arts creative | sept 2011

2011-08-30T09:13:00.000+10:00

I'll be at the next Miami Marketta on Friday 9 September, hurrah!

miro constellation: part 4

2011-08-30T08:23:00.000+10:00

Playing with colour;

miro constellation: part 3

2011-08-25T15:41:00.001+10:00

Beginnings of another set for my Miro work;

Transporting this one to the kiln will be precarious, to say the least!

miro constellation: part 2

2011-08-24T15:40:00.000+10:00

Developing further ideas for the Miro project, with cut and altered wheel thrown forms.

stick set

2011-08-24T15:31:00.000+10:00

I should note, the more compliant model is unfortunately the one missing a front leg.

square

2011-08-18T21:04:00.001+10:00

More new work for [m]art design store in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

Lovely photos curtesy of Carmel Dunne.

new ramekins

2011-08-17T16:31:00.000+10:00

Clear glazed folded ramekins for [m]art design store ~ gorgeous photos curtesy of Carmel Dunne.

miro constellation: part 1

2011-08-16T21:31:00.000+10:00

I've been invited to participate in a group show in 2012 called 'The Art of Spain'. For weeks I had colourful shapes floating around my head but didn't know which Spanish artist I was thinking of. Finally I realised that it was the work of Joan Miró. I'm particularly drawn to his constellation series and want to make 2 or 3 sets of dishes inspired by his interlocking groups of shapes. After some sketching, I started on a prototype today and I'm already so happy with the result, even at this early stage in development.

The walls of the dishes in this reduced scale prototype are thicker than I would like, but it's been about 18 months since I last did any slab building, so that may have been a good thing! Each set will have around 10 individual pieces, be glazed in different colours (within a limited colour palette) and be fully functional as tableware.

The smallest dishes don't work well in this set as the clay is too thick for the size, but the end product will be larger and more delicate. I'm dreaming of using glazes like Chun Liao.

Miami Marketta Launch!

2011-08-16T17:48:00.001+10:00

I was so excited to be part of the Miami Marketta Arts Creative launch at Rabbit + Cocoon on Friday 12 August; it was a beautiful night with so many gorgeous stalls (like my neighbours Juky + Beatrix, Sarah Crawford, Hattie + Celeste Twikler) and lovely visitors! Here are some snapshots of the night:

I owe a special thanks to my helpers and friends for supporting me at my very first market :) You guys rock!

nesting

2011-08-11T20:57:00.000+10:00

Lorikeet feather nesting dishes, displayed at the Trinity Lutheran College Art Exhibition, received a commendation and sold, hurrah!

inspire

2011-08-07T18:16:00.000+10:00

Coming from a surface decoration background, colour and line are 2 things sure to catch my eye (and heart) in ceramic design. This is a selection of my favourite pieces, pulled from my ever-growing inspiration folder;

Chun Liao

le Petit Atelier de Paris (collaboration)

Follow the links to see more of these ceramicists' incredibly beautiful work.

[all images copyright the respective artist]

pretty pots

2011-07-31T17:51:00.005+10:00

Another beautiful shot from Carmel.

gc potters exhibition 2011

2011-07-29T18:02:00.000+10:00

My entry for the Gold Coast Potters' Association Annual Members Exhibition 2011;

Lorikeet Feather Nesting Dishes

Wheel thrown + altered stoneware, hand painted underglaze, clear + cobalt gloss glazes, fired to 1275C oxidation in an electric kiln

The show opens at 3pm on Saturday 13 August at The Clay Art Benowa Gallery, Corner Ashmore Rd + Carrara St, Benowa, Gold Coast.

*photography: Carmel Dunne

miami marketta | arts creative

2011-07-27T13:55:00.000+10:00

I'm stoked to announce that I will have a stall at the inaugural Miami Marketta Arts Creative on Friday 12th August! This new market is hosted by Rabbit + Cocoon, a new multi-arts hub on the Gold Coast.

roasted emu?

2011-07-25T19:59:00.001+10:00

The emu feathers, under a clear glaze, fired to cone 9 oxidation.

Next time I'll apply more, stronger layers of the underglaze pencil ^

fired sticks

2011-07-25T19:50:00.000+10:00

I've finally fired my stick insect and emu feather test pieces and am pretty chuffed with them! The brown underglaze pencil did fade a little, so I know to be more heavy handed with it next time (and must remember not to smudge it off with my hand...!), but the Duncan EZ Strokes have worked perfectly well - awesome considering they are only designed for earthenware temperatures.

[click to enlarge + see detail]

colour me glaze

2011-07-17T18:50:00.001+10:00

I've been working on expanding my glaze colour range, by adding commercial stains to my clear gloss glaze.

Red - Walkers FW5827
[l-r: 0.5%, 1%, 4% + 4%]

Orange - Walkers FW5808
[l-r: 0.5%, 1%, 4% + 4%]

Inspired by Lindsay of Suite One Studio, Green
[l-r: 4% Yellow Walkers FW5400 + 0.5 %, 0.75%, 1%, 1.5%, 1.75%, 2%, 2.5%, 2.75% + 3% Copper Carbonate]

I've found that the red and orange stains have changed the gloss of the clear glaze slightly, so I may have to fire them to a cooler temperature. The yellow + copper carbonate green keeps it's shine beautifully, but over 2.5% the copper carbonate became inconsistent, however the form and texture of the test tiles (mostly smashed up cracked bisque ware!) may be the cause of this. Next, trying them on pots!
*EDIT: Silly me, I forgot to say that all of these samples were fired to cone 9 oxidation in an electric kiln!

me at QCA!

2011-07-14T17:27:00.000+10:00

A small selection of my work will be on display outside the Griffith University Queensland College of Art library until July 31, as part of the jewellery and small objects exhibition inspired by the 4th Biennial Australian Animal Studies Group Conference 2011 (mouthful much?!)

Many thanks to convenors Elizabeth Shaw + Renata Fojtikova!

[Works on bottom shelf: Sharon Muir]

snow

2011-06-21T17:27:00.000+10:00

6 months ago I was at home, in the snow:

emu

2011-06-16T08:47:00.000+10:00

Another new design I've been playing with - emu feathers.

stick pots

2011-06-14T16:58:00.001+10:00

Yesterday's stick insect sketches made their way onto pots today;

I started with a light sketch in brown underglaze pencil, then one or 2 layers of dark brown underglaze and a bit of shadow with the pencil again. I haven't used either of these products to stoneware before, so I don't know how the colour will fire, especially under a glaze - they may just fade and burn out.

sticks

2011-06-13T11:28:00.000+10:00

Early this year, a good friend gifted some stick insects to me as pets. 2 spiny leaf stick insects to be precise. One boy (known as Boy) and one girl with a missing leg (known as Girl). They live in a bunch of eucalyptus leaves on my coffee table and are terribly civilised; they only wander off when they run out of leaves and their poop smells like gum leaves! I've been wanting to draw them for months and last night, finally did:

[click image to enlarge]

buy

2011-06-01T22:43:00.000+10:00

Hello online store!

beach vs. pots

2011-05-30T19:13:00.000+10:00

After a long hiatus, the beach got the better of my work time.

You'd never know these are the last days of Autumn...!

book of faces

2011-05-24T07:24:00.000+10:00

New Facebook page - be nice and run over to like it, please?

florence's lungs

2011-05-23T19:00:00.000+10:00

This whole album is my favourite working music:

looking back + moving on

2011-05-22T14:23:00.000+10:00

It has occurred to me that I haven't been using my blog in the way that I should. I used to write about my progress, analyse pieces of work and document my feelings as I worked. I made notes for a post back in November, which I intended to post after I finished my diploma in December. I completed the course, but chose not to type up the blog post. I want to start writing more here, even just little snippets. For now, here's the post I wanted to share 5 months ago:

I recently graduated with a diploma of visual arts. For the most part, it has been an enjoyable and fulfilling 2 years; I found the most incredible teacher, I met some lovely people from around the world and my skills base has grown enormously. However, sadly the last 6 months have been quite awful. So much so that I would have quit the course given half a chance, but visa and grant commitments had me tied. Our resources were taken away from us, our teachers were forced to resign, our work was damaged or stolen and the owner of the college, once a passionate patron of the arts - who had in the past purchased my work and praised my skills - ignored our pleas for support. The arts department was marginalised and ostracised, when it once it was the very core of the educational institution.

My moods have gone from mildly agitated to argumentative to downright angry with the education offered in the last 6 months. A distinct lack of positive communication or even respect from the management has frustrated students and teachers alike. In the last weeks of classes and now that I have graduated, besides having a great sense of relief, I feel deeply disappointed. We started the diploma in February with such energy and enthusiasm, which to our despair was drained from us over the course of 10 months, to the point that we couldn't wait to be out the door.

Back to May 2011. My disappointment still lingers on, though I do my best to look forward and be grateful for the few good and kind people that I met and the skill set that I gained. These things make my life good and happy. Michaela Kloeckner is now my mentor; we meet every few weeks to talk clay and share ideas. Through her I joined the Gold Coast Potters Association and met more beautiful and talented potters, all of whom have been unconditionally supportive of me as I take the steps toward founding my fledgling business.

[plate throwing, May 2010]

folded nest

2011-05-17T19:47:00.002+10:00

Developing the nested dishes:

skulls + sieves

2011-05-09T21:57:00.003+10:00

Today included; sanding some porcelain skull beads for a Frida Kahlo-inspired outfit

Making some mini glaze sieves out of halva containers [there's slip in this one, not halva - they are very useful sized tubs, not to mention halva is super-yummy]...
...and some old tights. I found that well stretch dernier 50 worked well!

[Thanks muchly to Su Brown for the home made sieve tip!]
Playing around with pots and a new tablecloth
And playing with my awesome new tiny digital scales :)

funny people

2011-05-08T15:48:00.003+10:00

I met a very nice bloke from the Gold Coast Sculptors Society (the Potters neighbours) called Ole, who showed me his latest carving project:

Pretty awesome me thinks.

sunlight

2011-05-06T21:24:00.002+10:00

Beautiful early morning light;

too school for cool

2011-05-06T18:25:00.001+10:00

Excellent throwing music:

my (long awaited!) creative space

2011-05-05T06:00:00.001+10:00

Woo! It's only taken me 4 months but hello My Creative Space 2011!

(if you peek back at previous posts you'll see I've been far from uncreative. Just somehow the creative stuff never made it to a Thursday post!)
I'm a bit chuffed with myself for figuring out nesting dishes. Took me a while. Some were too wide, too high, too short, fell off the shelf when I tried to measure them...
Fingers crossed lovely Kirsty has overcome her hosting probs and you'll find heaps and heaps of more creative spaces!

nest

2011-04-26T18:29:00.000+10:00

Hurrah! I've conquered nesting dishes :)

potters' frog

2011-04-24T13:22:00.004+10:00

Early morning glazing

With a small green friend
Heaps of pots in the kiln, huzzah! [I can't claim all of these...]
This is James, the kiln god. Nice bloke.

friday good

2011-04-22T18:42:00.002+10:00

painting days

2011-04-18T09:24:00.001+10:00

My Sunday;

2011-04-17T11:18:00.002+10:00

Me, idle? Nope.

ta-da!

2011-04-05T18:01:00.002+10:00

I am proud to present...my website!

Take a peek, let me know what you think :) www.kathrynmitchellceramics.com

welcome

2011-04-01T19:44:00.003+10:00

We had a lovely little welcome party for myself and Joanne McFaul at Clay Art Benowa last Sunday afternoon :)

[slightly embarrassed photo, taken by Michaela]

flying lorikeets

2011-03-22T20:42:00.005+10:00

Photography: Carmel Dunne

2011-03-20T18:18:00.002+10:00

Hoping the kiln gods are looking over my pots tonight!

shiny birds

2011-03-18T08:30:00.003+10:00

My first glaze firing in the Gold Coast Potter Assoc. baby kiln (affectionately known as Minnie) was a complete success! Hurrah!

['scuse the dull kiln picture, artificial light]

Folded ramekins with a new feather
Lovely lori cups!
My clear glaze was perfect, despite long months of neglect! The cobalt gloss is gorgeous as ever and I managed to be pedantic enough to remove all traces of cobalt from the outside of the cups. The yellow gloss looks good, but could use some more pigment and I certainly shouldn't be watering it down any more for roll glazing.
I owe a gratitude to the lovely ladies of the GC Potters - everyone is so supportive and helpful as I develop my ceramics practice :)

2011-03-16T21:36:00.003+10:00

Glazing + firing;

faraway friend

2011-03-14T13:05:00.003+10:00

6 months ago I met this lovely girl. She's the kind of person that makes you feel instantly at ease, like you've known her for years. Next week she's leaving Australia in search of more adventures. We had a little goodbye celebration last night at Max Brenner and swapped some artwork. She gave me this tiny little collage;

With a note;
Good luck to you Vic, I'll miss you x

sunday rain

2011-03-14T12:57:00.003+10:00

Clay Art Benowa on a rainy Sunday in March ~