This morning I was interviewed by a student for her end of year assignment. The questions were mainly all about how I work & my inspiration etc, but one question that she asked was what do I do in my spare time?
Hmm, spare time? I have a vague memory of this concept & something called a life, but it is a distant memory!!
Oh, sounds a bit sad doesn’t it… really its not! Im pretty happy with what Ive got going on!!!
One thing I have been getting up to all this year is taking a pottery class at Cone 11. And yes, to answer the question you are thinking (as everyone I tell about the classes automatically asks!) – it is totally & exactly just like that scene from the movie Ghost. Un cannily so in fact! The song & everything. The same.
Anyway…moving on.
I loves it! I love getting filthy & filthy I do get. I always come away covered head to toe in clay splatter which just adds to my personal satisfaction! (weirdly no one else in the class gets as splashy messy as me!!!) Im on to my 3rd term now & soon to go on to my 4th. Which means there is barely a surface in my house that doesnt have a kooky misshapen bowl on it!
Oh, I didn’t yet mention that I am not brilliant at it! My bowls are usually crooked & wot not. No matter, its just so satisfying to make a little sumpin sumpin in my own 2 hands!
This is the studio – located at the Abbotsford convent, & right beside the Collingwood Children’s farm – there is just something special about wandering through the convent grounds that is inspiring!
These are my most recent pieces ready for glazing.
In previous terms I have completely lost my shit when it comes to the glazing. I forget the less is more thing that I rant & rant to my clients, & have made nice simple shapes look weird & just wrong by using multiple colours without having the skills to carry it off!
Case & point:
(not all – but certainly some!)
These are my most recent creations after glazing & firing. Um, so it is meant to be a dinner plate. But as you can see by the forks size, its more of a muffin plate – or at a stretch a toast plate!
and this is a very shallow bowl! Good for soup I suppose!
This one from my first term has turned out to be quite useful – The wonkyness got turned into a small spout which is perfect to rest my tea spoon in! – you know just like it was meant to be!
This isnt the prettiest of shapes & does illustrate the glazing mania I get in!
(Psst – in this pic you can kinda see my silver braille-celet! A recent side project (huh I DO have a life!) of mine that I designed & had it made – it has a message written in braille to me on it!!)
Here is another example of me loosing my shit in a haze of glazing fun! Although I think the splatter is kinda cute!
This gives you a good idea of the scale of my earlier pieces! Tiny! But now I have the perfect place to keep my eraser! – as you do!!
I could go on, and on. But Im sure its a topic that is far more interesting to me than to you! So I will spare you any further examples but at least now I have proof that I DO have a life!
If you want to see some good ceramics – check out my teacher the super lovely Ilona’s work on her website – here. Great stuff & top chick!