STUDIO LIFE

SMALL MAJOLICA BOWL TEST PIECE

SMALL MAJOLICA BOWL TEST PIECE

SMALL MAJOLICA BOWL TEST PIECE

Yesterday - after several hours of packing up a large order, we were notified by the client that each piece has to have a sticker stating 'MADE IN SOUTH AFRICA' on it...aah, bureaucracy! Not even a sticker on the individual box will suffice, so now it all has to be unpacked again..!

Then a hardening-on firing of overglazes on a kiln load of cups mysteriously turned out soft powdery surfaces which now need to be re-fired, and hopefully not re-done!

But one little gem to cheer this day - wonderful little test bowls of majolica glazes and painted images, very inspiring. I am excited today to be wheel-throwing work where I will be applying this technique.

The discipline of ceramics is always such a life teacher, seemingly a metaphor for the ups-and- downs generally in daily living. And what a pleasure to be a participant!

STUDIO PRODUCTION

SUNNY 'GREENHOUSE' STUDIO

FINISHED GLAZED CUPS

BEAKERS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PAINTED WITH UNDERGLAZE

We seem to suddenly have a run on small cups and beakers..a few big orders have made our studio into a little production space - for now. Fortunately the softness of the plants and beautiful objects around us will always prevent the space from being factory-like. It is rather like a gracious greenhouse, with the wonderful southern hemisphere autumn sunshine casting a gentle warming light.

Ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.

If your mind isn't clouded
by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.

Hui-k'ai (1183-1260): WU-MEN-KUAN

FREEDOM DAY

VIEW OF KALK BAY HARBOUR AS SEEN FROM THE TERRACE AT KALK BAY MODERN GALLERY

PORCELAIN BOWLS BY KATHERINE GLENDAY

A drive out to Kalk Bay to select some work for our shop from Katherine Glenday who has a fabulous studio with a tranquil courtyard where we sat having tea and listening to the calming effect of the fountain..then on to Kalk Bay Modern Gallery. This is surely one of the best spaces in town, where I and Katherine and others have work on display. Later on, to collect some pots from Christo Giles who lives even further out and is one of the few potters in Cape Town who fires his work in an reduction kiln obtaining exquisite celadons, copper reds and temokku glazes on his highly skilled thrown pieces. The weather was quite glorious, calm, a perfect autumn day here...

HAPPY KILN

LARGE PLATTER(38CM) TO GO TO KIM SACKS GALLERY

LARGE PLATTER TO GO TO IMPROMPTU EXHIBITION IN STELLENBOSCH IN MAY

After last week's spate of cracking, I am delighted to have opened a 'happy' kiln today, and finding some sparkling pieces!

What comes to mind however is the zen concept which is something like:

Before enlightment - chopping wood, carrying water...

After enlightment - chopping wood, carrying water...

Although my kiln contents hardly equate to any form of enlightment(!), I like the idea that life goes on on an even keel despite the joys and sorrows.

THE HANDMADE AND THE FUNCTIONAL

JUST OUT OF THE KILN,LARGE BOWLS FOR AN ORDER

FRESHLY CAST BEAKERS, RAMEKINS AND SMALL CUPS

'Pottery is at once the simplest and the most difficult of all the arts' - Herbert Read (1893–1968)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Read

This comment was surely made in the aesthetic and philosophical sense..however this week I am feeling it in the technical mode...a number of portrait tiles came out cracked from the kiln..and of course, the square dishes too...

the discipline of ceramics surely is a life leveller!

And so it all goes on, the slip-casting, the throwing, the press-moulding. Forever optimistic..

TROUBLESOME SQUARES

Square dishes seen from above

I have an order for 10 square dishes which is proving to be somewhat troublesome. Out of about 12 made so far, only 6 are okay, problems with cracking, and clay contaminated bleeding in some areas...aah ceramics!

Looking for something to encourage me I googled 'square' and found this rather sound quotation by Abraham Lincoln which seems rather sensible and grounding...

Do not worry; eat three square meals a day; say your prayers; be courteous to your creditors; keep your digestion good; exercise; go slow and easy. Maybe there are other things your special case requires to make you happy, but my friend, these I reckon will give you a good lift. - Lincoln, Abraham

THE POT IS THE MAN..

The pot is the man/sweater...

I think it was Bernard Leach who penned the idea of 'the pot is the man'..However, on Monday, a visit to our studio by Swellendam potters John Newdigate and Ian Garrett, revealed a case of the sweater echoes the pot, echoes the man..

John was wearing a sweater in the same colours as his ceramic pieces, lime greens and blues in various tones and shades. The sweater was knitted for him by Ian who spins the raw wool on a simple spinning wheel, dyes it(from his own plants - woad and indigo for blues, weld for yellows and greens) and then knits in between burnishing his own pit-fired pots. What a cherished activity to be carrying out in our age of fast, ready-made consummables! They live in the country which may to a certain extent account for such dedication and perseverance...