Glaze and body.

Matte glaze with zircon rubbed into recesses.

Medium iron stoneware clay body.

Gloss glaze with zircon for opacity.

Low iron stoneware clay body.

Gloss glaze with zircon for opacity.

Low iron stoneware clay body.

Forest walk.

How nice it is to have a forest at the back door to stroll through sometimes.
I had some spare time late Yesterday. Not enough time to do any meaningful work, as I was out for dinner last night. So I decided to go for a walk with the camera. The clouds came over so as it turned out, too dull to take photos. So I just had a nice relaxing walk.

Bendigo bushfire; six months later.

Bendigo bushfires.

It's now just over six months after the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7.

A fire ripped through the central Victorian town of Bendigo, killing 1 person and destroying 61 homes. On the same day even larger fires destroyed vast areas of Victoria claiming 173 lives.

It's now almost the end of Winter, and after more than 12 years of harsh drought we have had an average rainfall. Everything is lush and green, with the notorious Oxalis weed taking over much of the burnt out stretches of land. Lets hope that an average rainfall continues, and that this Summer is not the even greater fire risk that we are already being warned about.

Bud vase with Westringia.

Westringia crassifolia

Common Name: Whipstick Westringia.

An endangered shrub-1-2m x 1.5m with mauve-purple flowers in September to October.

Bud vase with Hardenbergia violacea.

Pink flowered form of Hardenbergia violacea.

Bud vase with August flowers.

I can't wait 'till Spring. It's been a cold wet Winter, with another 12ml today. Don't get me wrong, grateful for all the rain, we need it (12+ years of drought) just want some warmer weather.

Above is a collection of flowers I found in my garden today. All indigenous (except the hardenbergia, that's a native). And of course, presented in one of my fav. bud vases.

Tenmoku/slip/satin/porcelain_vessel.

An old favorite. I've dug this one out as I was reminded of Tenmoku. The inside glaze is Tenmoku, a classic Chinese iron oxide glaze; hence another food safe glaze.

The rest is an iron oxide slip on the rim and a magnesium satin glaze on the outside. Clay body is my own porcelain recipe.

Handmade in Melbourne..

Northcote pottery has copies of the book @ $30.00ea.

Assembled vessels.

Formed from thin slabs of rolled clay, with a matt zircon glaze applied and rubbed back. Gloss zircon/white glaze inside.

Penguin pourer.

It seems to resemble a penguin to most people, so hence Its name.

I made a group of these in various sizes for Object Gallery's "Pourers: functional vessels" exhibition that ran from the 11.07.2009 - 26.07.2009. They should still have some.

I am about to make some more this week, though it's a bit of an effort to get myself motivated; they're not the easiest things to make.

I plan to send some to Northcote pottery's new SMALLpieces retail space.

Have a look at SMALLpieces blogspot here.

Small pieces.

Emidio Puglielli has invited me to submit for Northcote Pottery Supplies new venture, SMALLpieces; a retail outlet for new Australian ceramic work.

As well as having Pan Gallery within its walls, Northcote Pottery now has a fantastic space for small hand made ceramics. So, it's soon to be the ultimate destination for all things pottery.

I plan to submit the above beakers, and have some more ideas on the way.

Northcote Pottery Supplies.

142-144 Weston St Brunswick East 3057 Melbourne Australia