Glaze testing.

FROM TOP 1. Copper oxide slip and red iron oxide slip. 2. Tenmoku glaze.
Later today I'll make a Shino glaze. I put some red iron oxide brush work on a leather hard bowl on Friday, and at the moment I'm bisque firing it. The red iron oxide should come through the glaze and make an orange. Cross fingers for me.

Southern Cross Station.

I went to Melbourne by train this week. On the trip down we stopped at Sunbury for about 20 minutes waiting/hoping that a faulty signal would be repaired. The conductor joked to a colleague that they would normally hand out free tea and coffee, but they ran out of hot water before Bendigo. Finally they threw us of the train and onto coaches. I had upgraded to first class for the trip and now I was crammed into a bus with screaming kids, not happy!
The trip back was better, but I almost missed the train taking these photos. I thought I’d take a look around as it was a 30 minute wait on a cold platform for the train. While upstairs from the platform I heard an announcement that my train was leaving. By the time I had run down the escalator the announcement said stand clear of the yellow line, the train is now departing. I found an open door and leapt through it, just as the train started rolling. It was a nice ride back home, but a cold walk from the station.

Landscape bowl.

You can see it, can't you? A lake, some mountains etc.

Bowl with blemish/optical blue glaze.

If only every blemish was so perfect!

The British Museum.

CRAFTING
BEAUTY IN
MODERN
JAPAN.
I went to this exhibition last year, and was very disappointed (not with the exhibition, that was wonderful)that I could not take any photo's. As I could not afford the accompanying book, both financially and for it's weight(travelling to Europe with a 20kg. limit is near impossible)I did get a number of pic's of the vessel just outside the exhibition entrance. I think this piece (I'll attach the photo later, it's on a disk, somewhere) was probably the best anyway.
Luckily I discovered the book on Amazon. So, my advice when travelling with weight restrictions. Don't buy it if you can order it later.

Pan Gallery 001. more...

FROM TOP 1. pan gallery. 2. bowl by lene kuhl jakobsen 3. 3 altered vessels by andrew widdis. 4. beautiful raku vases by judith roberts. 5. plates on wall by chris plumridge, large porcelain bowl by phil elson, far left by sandra bowkett far right by wendy reeve. 6. foreground pedestal andrew widdis, katie jacobs and lilach mileikowski.

Kimono: Osaka's Golden Age.

Kimono: Osaka's Golden Age
Until 14 Sep 2008
"Discover breathtakingly beautiful kimono and accessories from the glory days of Japan.
This extraordinary exhibition, highlighting the wealth and prosperity of the Edo and Meiji periods (1850-1900), is showing exclusively at the Immigration Museum.
Direct from the Osaka Museum of History, the stunning collection celebrates the Immigration Museum’s 10th birthday and 30 years of the Melbourne-Osaka sister-city relationship."

IMMIGRATION MUSEUM 400 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

http://museumvictoria.com.au/Kimono

I went to this exhibition yesterday. Wonderful, highly recommend you pop in if you can. The Kimono's are very subtle. Also on display are some wigs stating the various status of children, servants, married women with and without children, interesting. Other various items of dress are on display too. And I now think that dressing gown I bought (The hotel I stayed at in Tokyo provided, and I was too scared to accidentally on purpose pack it) is a yukata. And I now know that it is wrapped left side over right, for both male and female.
When you've had a good look at the Kimono's, there are a couple exhibitions on Melbourne immigration. Ships and things, though I did not get a good look at this as the person I was with was concerned about the parking meter. Parking inspectors in the CBD are ruthless. I think they are personally assigned to each meter. Because they get you the minute the meter runs out!

Pan Gallery 001.

TOP Pan Gallery: first show 001. 30th May, 2008. MIDDLE Chris Sanders (guest speaker) gives an insightfull talk. ABOVE The three vessels I have in the show. I'll miss them.

altered vessels.

Some more altered vessels fresh from the kiln Wednesday morning.

Pan Gallery opening, tonight!.

Off to Melbourne today to deliver new pieces for Pan Gallery's inaugural exhibition 001First Show. Very excited! Please pop into Pan Gallery if you can.

Pan Gallery 142-144 Weston St Brunswick East,

Victoria. Australia.

Monday to Friday 9-5 Saturday 9-4.

Altered vessels.

My two new favourite pieces. That is untill todays firing has finished, because all the pieces I'm putting in the kiln today are my fave's too. I'm having fun with my porcelain again!

Whipstick State Forest.

click the photo to enlarge.

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On Wednesday the sun made an appearance through the clouds. So I had to go for a drive through the forest to see what it looks like after a wash. It had rained three days out of the last four. Quite something given +8 years drought, more than a days rain is an event. The Whipstick State Forest is a box-ironbark and mallee "scrub" woodlands. It's truly beautiful, but one has to watch where they are going, from 1852 a gold rush left many unmarked shafts. Last year a trail biker found one and was badly injured when his bike landed on top of him at the bottom of the shaft, can't say I was upset. Those trail bike riders do so much damage.
I think I'll get a compass, and go for a further look next week!

Celedon glaze.

from this post on, most images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

TOP Test bowls, a subtle Celedon glaze on a local Stoneware clay body. ABOVE The same glaze and clay body, but the glaze is applied twice as thick.

Further testing this Celedon glaze, I've decided subtle is best. For the following reasons.
To get the saturated blue the glaze needs to be thick, and this means some pooling of the glaze. The thick glaze tends to be more fluid when melting, this is most likely the case also for a thinner glaze, but it's just not as obvious. as you can see inside the cup there is less of the vibrant blue at the top. The thickness on the handle is a result of the glaze application.
This vivid blue is also not typical of my other work, and though colour is something I have done in the past, technicolour is not a road I want to go down.

Pan Gallery's inaugural exhibition.

Pan Gallery's inaugural exhibition 001First Show presents new works from sixteen Victorian artists. Of which I'm one. Please do come to the opening, or drop in as many times during the show as it takes for you to buy numerous pieces. LOL.

First Show: A group exhibition of new works in ceramics.
31 May to 26 June
Opening Friday 30 May 6-8pm
RSVP by email to npsupplies@bigpond.com

Artists - alistair whyte andrew widdis anne-marie plevier barbara van oost chris plumridge claire blake jenny boyd judith robertskatie jacobs kerrie lightbody kevin boyd lene kuhl jakobsen lilach mileikowski phil elson sandra bowkett wendy reeve

Guest Speaker - Chris Sanders

Inside out magazine.

Inside Out - May/June 2008.
http://digital.insideout.com.au/insideout/20080506/?pg=19

Celedon bowl.

Tuesdays reduction firing. This is the same glaze as on the celedon tea cup. I've applied the glaze thicker, and adjusted the kiln draft flow. And you can clearly see a difference.
The clay body did not get good reduction though, so it's a khaki not a neutral grey. Even though I made a special effort to bring reduction on early (800 deg. c.)when the clay is still porous.
I will work on that again, as I much prefer the clay body be a mid grey.

A mix from yesterdays firing.

An overview of pieces from yesterdays oxidation firing.

Slip glaze on bowl.

248mm x 41mm.

This was really hard to photograph. And I think it's probably a piece that you need to see in person, to get a feel for the colour in the glaze dribble and lightness of the porcelain. But anyway, I've posted because I love it so much!

Cup and matching saucer.

Well, this is the plate that goes with the cups.

It's been a cold morning here in central Victoria. I think now that it's the afternoon, I can find some strength to go and do some work in the studio. then light the fire to fend off a cold evening.