New in September 2021
There is much excitement anticipating our markets re-opening late October or early November. At the moment I have added all the markets we have requested to Market Dates.
The on-line Cataglogue for Sculpture on the Farm is now available. My entry, The Wave, is cat no 086.
New in August 2021
The main difference that COVID lockdown has made to my life is the lack of markets: I miss the easy comradery of the stall holders. I also miss my weekly pottery workshop. Lockdown did, however, give me a chance to re-build this website. I certainly find it easier to navigate, more relevant to viewers and generally, less busy. I hope you do, too. I always say I love learning more than anything else, but JOOMLA 4 (web building open source software)????
I have been working on two main areas: soft drink bottle art and experimenting with CosClay.
The recycled soft drink bottle pieces were for submitting to the "Waste to Art" exhibition that is opening on 23rd October. My pieces will be exhibited in Toronto library. Here are a few examples of the new pieces. You can see more in the Recycled menu.
CosClay is a synthetic moulding material somewhere between rubber and plastic. I tend to push the limits of material with which I work and the thin pieces of small figurines were too fragile for the rough and tumble of the markets. I had stopped making them because of the damage. CosClay, on the other hand is flexible when thin, and rigid where thick. It can be used with an armature and the "figure" posed after curing. As you can imagine it has it quirks but I am building up my knowledge. Here are a few of the trials
New in July 2021
My largest ceramic sculpture, "The Wave" got accepted into the Sculpture on the Farm and will be on part of their on-line exhibition. Pity about the exhibition being cancelled due to COVID. The online catalogue is now available. The Wave is Cat no 086.
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Our markets have had a bit of bad luck with gale force winds (or that is what it seemed like), rain or COVID lockdowns causing cancellations. I have taken the opportunity to re-string some pinched petal necklaces. I have found that customers find that necklaces using the petals as beads are more compatible with today's fashions. It isn't as straigtforward as it sounds as the colour blending is critical and the shape of the new bead that separates the petals has to work with the petal shapes. I did about 8 necklaces: here are a few examples using the same petals with different colors and shapes. I found short barrel beads were my favourite and they became basis of a series of winter chockers. The chokers are low key but still bring a bit of color into a drab winter outfit while sitting softly on the neckline. I made some to go with 2021 winter colour trends but others I just played with colour gradations. I am wearing one day and night at the moment.
Also for the market, I played with a few new shapes for soft drink bottle earrings.I think I had blue on the brain! They are interesting but I think a geometric shape with an intricate pattern of holes is my favourite.
During July, I exhibited 2 sculptures at the Hunter Wetlands Centre in Shortland, NSW (Newcastle). The theme was "Unfurl - sculpture and ink in the Wetlands" and was a collaboration between The Hunter Sculptors and the Newcastle Printmakers . My entries featured the drosera spathulata, a carnivorous plant that lives in the wetlands. The plant, at twice life size is held in a ceramic hand. The other ceramic sculpture features 5 enlarged fronds of the sun dew which sold to a local artist during "set up". I had to make 400 beads for the "dew" spots! Both sculptures are about 35cm in their largest dimension.
At the same time, in July, my sculptures, "The Gossips" and "Four face totem" were on show at 'NOT EVERYONE LIKES PRETTY WATERCOLOUR FLOWERS', a Group Exhibition at The Hunter Artisan Gallery & Cafe 48 Melbourne St East, Maitland. The gallery is open 9-3 on Thursdays to Sundays. A really nice spot to have a light lunch and view the latest exhibition. Nikki, the owner, is passionate about giving new or local artists a chance to show their work.
