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Thanks to my family and friends for all the support I've received RE 'Mapping Place' at HarbourSculpture. Yesterday afternoon/evening's Community Launch Party was terrific despite the wind and cold. So interesting to see the sculptures in different light situations with beautiful Sydney Harbour, the Bridge, and city skyline and the grounds of Clarkes Point Reserve as a backdrop. The HarbourSculpture committee have been great, putting in countless hours to organise and coordinate a successful exhibition. Thanks also to all the volunteers for facilitating the event. Thank you to Anthony Bond and Macushla Robinson (exhibition curators) for awarding me one of 4 stipends for my work, Mapping Place. And a huge thank you to J Steel Australasia for sponsoring the stipends. Your generousity and support of the arts adds to community vitality by broadening the way we see and articulate the world. Thank you. One last thank you to Deckhouse who provided a marvelous opening night on Thursday evening. The food and wine were absolutely delicious and the service, faultless. I'd love some more melt-in-your-mouth tandoori lamb cutlets and those incredible macaroons! Below are a few images of the work in situ. These pieces (27 in total) are handbuilt using several clays (not combined) to obtain a variety of textures - Keane's Special K & Toast & Feeney's BRT. The layered, painterly surface is a combination of terra sigillata, iron, rutile & manganese pigments, blue slip, paper resist & tissue transfers under dry and stoneware clear glazes. They were raw fired to cone 9 in oxidation using electric and gas kilns. Luckily they all survived. I'm really happy with how they sit so well into the environment; how the leaf patterns echo the fallen leaves surrounding them; and the colours reflect the earth, sky and water. There's still time to catch the exhibitions - Internal (finishes 23 July) and External wraps up next Sunday 27 July.
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 Don't miss a visit to Clarkes Point Reserve, Woolwich to take in the sculptures along this beautiful Sydney Harbour foreshore reserve. Can't make it during the day? Then come in the evening until 10pm when everything will be lit up for your pleasure.
Catch the ferry, enjoy a wintery walk along the harbour with views of the Harbour Bridge, plus breakfast, lunch or dinner at Deckhouse where you can view the internal exhibition, open between 9am and 7pm daily. Keen for some fireworks? Bring friends & family & join the Community Launch Party on Saturday 19 July for food stalls, a bonfire & fireworks. Mapping Place (3 of 25 pieces - right), my new ceramic work, is one of the 80 sculptures on show.  Termite Mounds, 2012 Found out yesterday I've been awarded 2 x 1st prizes at the Sydney Royal Easter Show for my ceramics. This is very exciting, especially since this year the Royal Easter Show is featuring ceramics at the CLAY ON DISPLAY stand! Want to come and check out the Arts and Crafts Pavilion? Go to Hall 3, Sydney Olympic Park. For more details check out www.sydneyroyal.com.au/arts On TUESDAY 26th March at the CLAY ON DISPLAY stand - some Central Coast Potters Society members will be showing off their creativity with clay. Pop in and say hello. Winning entries. TERMITE MOUNDS, 2012 (image above) - 1st in Atmospheric FAT QUARTERS, 2012 (image below) - 1st prize Non Functional Thanks to Steve Cummings for his beautiful photographs. Contact Steve at www.lightplay.com.au  Fat Quarters, 2012 See my previous two posts for more info on Termite Mounds and Fat Quarters and please Like my facebook pages to keep up to date with other news.
Some friends & I managed a paper box firing on Saturday 19 November. We were very lucky with the weather - no total fire ban. For safety we did the firing at the Central Coast Potters' Society. We placed the boxes inside the pit kiln and covered it overnight. There was some success but not as much colour or intense black as last time. It's all a learning process & I was happy just to be doing it. We experimented a little with different materials in different boxes - we fired 7 boxes in total. Some of the materials included orange peel, seaweed, salt, powder from a ground-back brass bell, salt soaked string and banksia pods, local oyster shells, eucalyptus sticks & leaves, sea grass, sawdust, banana peel and cobalt. There were some unremarkable results with a few exceptions - see photos below. The cobalt solution had little effect unfortunately. The one pot I dabbed it on showed a slight tinge of blue. The seaweed gave some light browns but nothing dramatic. Some of my pots took on colour from the brass powder which was great. Tip for next time - stack the boxes in a smaller space to increase the heat and burning time and allowing more burning time before covering. Today I'm going to re-fire some of the pots in a box inside the enclosed fire that heats the house. The weather is still cold and rainy, so it'll be good to get a bit of warmth into the house, as well as do a firing. Hopefully the results will be more interesting.             Yesterday I had the great fortune of being introduced by a friend to a new shop in Surry Hills - smallspaces. Sarah O'Neill's relatively small shop has a beautiful collection of simple, elegant & very special pieces.
Some of the wonderful things that caught my eye include washable, reusable paper bags, some stunning, large handcrafted ceramic pieces & soft stools made from old Kanthas. I was lucky enough to have some textile items with me & she purchased a couple of eucalyptus & metal dyed fabric runners. For some special gifts or personal purchases, check out smallspaces at 674 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, just down from Cleveland Street. You can contact Sarah on +61 2 8399 3144. Her website is in development. Happy shopping & let your friends know! At the last minute I decided to enter the Gosford Art Prize and low and behold, ... one of my entries was accepted!!! I am VERY excited about this. Last Friday was the opening to a full gallery crowd. It was wonderful to see so many people interested in viewing an exhibition, supporting the artists and seeing who won. It was a great night. Of 616 (a record number) entries only 165 were chosen for the exhibition - quite a job for the gallery and judges. It was encouraging to see many of the accepted ceramics entries from members of the Central Coast Potters' Society. The pots I entered were (description from left to right, front to back) ... 1. Keane's Porcelaineous clay with alpaca fleece, paper kiln fired with eucalyptus leaves, salt, copper oxide and sea grass. 2. Keane's Special K clay with clear glaze, raku fired. 3. Keane's Stoneware clay, paper kiln fired with eucalyptus leaves, salt, copper oxide and sea grass. Well done everyone. I thought the gallery did a terrific job of displaying the works too.  The Grey Area |
Kylie Rose McLean
I love creating, turning my ideas into reality, being challenged, and immersed in realising an idea. In these moments I am absorbed, inspired and wrapped in my own world. It's wonderful! Archives
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