The workshop planned for this weekend has been cancelled. Apologies to anyone wishing to attend. Two other one day workshops are planned through the Tuggerah Lakes Kincumber Community College. Check out the Workshops for further details.
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The artist residency exhibition, Shop 153 opened on Friday night. It was great to see some of the people who donated their fabric items turning up to find them in the final work. The sound was masked by visitor voices, so now is a good time to make your way to the Gosford Regional Gallery and check out the exhibition at your own pace and much less noise. Wendy Abel Campbell, Kath Fries and Janet Meany also have work in the exhibition. Overall it's an impressive variety of work that will capture your interest and offer alternative perspectives on Gosford. I'd recommend the Merrick and Arthur Boyd exhibition too - 2 icons of Australian art and members of the wonderfully talented Boyd dynasty of artists. The 2012 Gosford Artist Residency exhibition opens next Friday - 20th July, running to 16th September. Come on by and see what we've created from our 2 week stint in the Imperial Shopping Centre, Gosford.
Special thanks to all those who donated fabric items to my Passing By project. Make time to view the final work and find your fabric items. I've finally put together a selection of workshops you may be interested in doing. They start at the end of July and run through to November. Here's an overview below. You can find all the details on the Workshops page or download this flyer and schedule.
Well, I didn't get around to the re-firing on Thursday but managed it on Friday. I packed two small boxes with rolled newspaper, sawdust, salted banksia pods, Jacaranda pods and other seed pods (can't remember the plant's name), old rusty nails and rusted flakes from the steel shelf inside the fire and oyster shells, and filled the home fire as tightly as possible with additional rolled newspaper on the bottom and some eucalyptus leaves and twigs around the boxes. Eventually I got it burning and it went REALLY well. I lit it around 12noon and took the pots out around midnight. I managed to get some great colour. In particular, a wonderful green which I think came from the brass bell filings. It was a worthwhile exercise and one I will do again, expecially in Spring when it's raining and cool - saves having an open fire that requires supervision outside. Have a look at the results below. The last pot has been fired 3 times. I'm now happy with the outcome. 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! There are now LoopyRose and bidihomewares pages on facebook. Check them out and 'Like' them.
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. Well, I've been in a creative whirlwind for the last few months. It's FANTASTIC. I don't think I've created so many things in such a short period for many years.
Let's start with the eucalyptus dyeing. Here are some shots of my first dye at home which was way back on 07 August (seems ages ago). I am in love with this process and am starting to get in the habit of popping something in the dye bath at least once every 8 - 10 days. I'm hoping to reduce that to every 4 - 7 days. I'd love to do it every day, but other things have been calling. The plan is to make and sell some scarves for Christmas, plus the gifts for family and friends. I bought an old cream blanket from the Salvos. My grandfather's old camp oven (seen with my great grandmother's jam spoon) was just big enough to accommodate the large rolled & bound bundle. I boiled it for many hours and let it steep for a couple of days. Opening it was truly a wonderful surprise. It has so much depth and detail, it's wonderful. It will become my new winter coat. Hopefully I've have it sewn up in the next couple of weeks. I found some gorgeous musk coloured raw silk in my stash that will be the lining. It's already cut and ready to sew. I must admit that India also inspired me to make such a coat. Se has the most amazing one with a beautiful velvet collar (inspired by Keanu Reaves' jacket in The Matrix). We all get our inspiration from somewhere! |
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
August 2015
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