January snow fell…
After the kiln been out of action for a while and my home & meditation workshops keeping me very busy over the winter months I returned to clay to see what my hands would create leaving my mind outside the studio! New Shell like curled forms with holes in to weave wool and thread once glazed appeared this week.
Made from croxton clay for stoneware, maybe the thread will weave into each of these to create a set of symbiotic patterned relationships
The Shells colour experiment with different oxides at a high temp stoneware firing didn’t work as well as I hoped (see first photo) so Ive re-glazed them with different north sea tones and hoping they work this time (second photo)..
2 process firing will hopefully give them a different edge and depth like the unpredictable ocean!
The last few weeks have been crazily hectic with many new exciting doors opening in work and play! So again I have missed a few blogs & playing catch up..
All I can say is ~ Go and explore!
The Ilkley Art Trail started on Saturday with 30 different artists exhibiting a wide variety of art work all over Ilkley, Addingham and the Moor ~ its on all week (at selected venues) and this weekend ~ The sun is shinning autumn warmth all around, perfect for a day of walking, art and inspiration!
http://ilkleyarttrail.blogspot.co.uk/
Vicky Nolan (Textured Oils) and I (Ceramics) enjoyed last weekends buzz and meeting all our visitors at our venue which is a friends office space at the back of Piccolino’s, find us just of the main central car park, venue 15, there is bunting up outside and we are open this Thursday to Sunday 10am-5pm, so if you are about & free, pop in to say Hello, cuppa & cake too!
I havent been blogging much this past month as been all house build consumed, trying to catch up & found that I haven’t posted these 7 new piece’s that are currently in the kiln being bisque fired, then glazed next week in a stoneware spectrum.
They are made using left over slip smudged clay which I used for the badger stone set, when I shaped the 7 piece’s I instinctively thought of our 7 physical chakra energies, ancient marks / patterns, the movement of the earth spiral and yin / yang male / female energies.
I plan to make a sculpture with these mixing ceramics, wood and metal ~ referencing the four (western) and five (eastern) elements ~ fire, metal, wood, earth, water..
These are also connected to be starting back after the summer at the Happiness Centre in Ilkley. Where I lead a free Sunday eve weekly Chakra Journey meditation at 6.30-7.30pm ~ all our very welcome for inner Peace & Love
From the depth’s of the Ocean they came to the Yorkshire shore… collected from a summer’s trip to Robin Hoods Bay where we played in the sea, waves, sand, collected shells on walks & hunted for fossils.
New croxton clay imprinted wall plaque’s made a few weeks ago and now dried, ready for bisque firing next week and hopefully ready in time for the Ilkley Art Trail starting on the 6th of October.
1 badger stone inspired, cup and ring mark, stoneware glaze test piece popped out of the kiln this week with experimental volcanic texture and lovely shades of green, heather, and grey.
2 more to follow soon I hope..
On Monday Geoff & I fired up the BBQ kiln for Raku III ~ all but 1 of my pieces broke in the progress, I didn’t mind at all, it was meant to happen, shattered fragments of memories, of life, of time, of the energies…
Taking Geoff’s excellent advice, I photographed them placed on rocks that he had collected from a old unused mine on Baildon Moor, fragments of earth. I am thinking about displaying them this way for the show, i’ll go and collect some suitable ones from the dis-used quarry and also leave a few of my fragments as a gift in exchange…
& on the way home I stopped to photo the last firing (the top 3) on Baildon Moor ~ a family walked by, then stopped near and scattered ashes for their dad, it was a tearful, beautiful meeting, he flew with the butterflies & heather. They asked what I was doing & I explained that the pieces were about energies, the moor, the sky & the divine. His music filled the air, played all day & will every time they visit…
The one that didn’t break is called “Spirit” ~ RIP
Rainbow Raku! Sparks from all the spectrum…
Geoff & I had a shorter day of Raku on Monday due to the school holidays, still it was exciting experimental fun again, seeing what effects can be produced by slight variations of fire time, paper reduction, and glazes…
Next day booked in a few weeks, we may try re-firing a few that didnt look as hot as these and add pine neddles and alcohol!
The Stoneware Storm Energy wall pieces came out of the kiln last week & I again forgot to blog about them, finding it hard to be online with my house turning more & more into a wreck every day before it is built to our vision… like a storm, destruction causes chaos, then after comes the calm, regrowth and transformation!
These are for the Ilkley Art Trail ~ Inspired by the beauty of Ilkley Moor, the rocks, fell tracks, ever changing skies, rain, bracken, earth, the energy that is on fire up there, all the many animals, and the every flowing River Wharfe and all the beautiful streams and waterfalls falling down into her waters…
This is a inspiring info about the mystery of the moor http://dreamflesh.com/essays/wharfedalegoddess/
