Green Tea

The other category that appealed (see previous post),  “Green Tea: an eco-friendly teapot”, is tailer made for my entry in  last year’s teapot show.

“Green Tea”! Get it? Bob Brown really is God’s gift to caricaturists

So I started on “Green Tea V2” only to hear the devastating news last Friday that he is retiring from politics so my entry will be passé before it’s even finished!

Not that I am a big fan of the Greens you understand. In fact, as one of my friends put it

 “Shame that Brown spoilt your plans (But then he has spoilt a Nation’s prosperity and hopes- so are you surprised?)”  

Oh well, at least I still have Julia, another caricaturist’s dream. Now just if can I come up with something on the carbon tax………………….!

Current ceramic work !

Well I am updating this blog out of sheer boredom:( Not that I don’t have anything to do! I do!

However, once again it is persisting down in Sydney, about 100mm fell yesterday, so nothing is drying and I don’t mean the washing although that is going to become a problem soon if this weather keeps up.

No, it's my ceramics that aren’t drying. I was planning to use the two week Easter holiday from TAFE in making my entry for the Sydney Teapot Show which is held every year at the Inner City Clayworkers Gallery in Glebe. Each year there are nominated categories that you can enter. This year, two categories appealed to me, “What the Dickens: A teapot reflecting the world of Charles Dickens” and “Green Tea: an eco-friendly teapot”.

I had a look on the web and there are any number teapots for most well known Dickensian characters so I thought I’d do something a bit different, after all it does say that the categories can be interpreted in any way you wish.

So here is my take on Uncle Scrooge Mcduck. Work in progress!

I’ve finished the actual making but I want  him to be brightly coloured with underglazes which I can’t apply until he is at the bone dry stage and, with this weather, he’s just not drying out!

I know, from experience, that it takes ages to apply underglazes well and, once TAFE starts again, I’ll be pretty busy so I’m hoping for some sun! Soon!

Success !

Last week I entered the Pittwater ceramics award and, to my complete surprise, won third prize in the tertiary student section with my “Porcine Sundae”.

It is intended to have a meaning on two levels. Firstly a reference to the use of junk ingredients in fast food, namely the use of pork fat in cheap icecream, and secondly, what you will turn into if you eat too much of it!

Currently on exhibition!

This picture is of one of my rabbits currently on exhibition in the Atrium gallery space at the Department of Education, level 2, 35 Bridge Street, Sydney. You can catch him there until Friday March 30th!

New directions!

Well I guess all things come to an end but, I must say I will miss Hornsby TAFE ceramics department. I have been there for seven years, longer than I have stayed in several jobs!

However I am looking forward to investigating other forms of sculpture. It has to be said that ceramic work seems to have a stigma attached to it in the Fine Art world and does not fit comfortably into contemporary sculptural practices. It is generally acknowledged that there is a hierarchy in the Fine Arts, with painting at the apex, followed by sculpture, with ceramics somewhere down the list but a hierarchy also exists within sculptural practices. I am not sure what would constitute the apex but certainly marble carving and bronze cast work are right up there while ceramic sculpture again is way down the list.

I find this somewhat ironic since most contemporary bronze work is first modelled in clay, at which point the sculptor’s active involvement in the artistic process ceases and the work is handed over to be professionally cast in a foundry.

Having said that however, I have to admit that ceramic sculpture does suffer from some specific “challenges”, the main one being that it is restricted in size both by the nature of the material and the size of the kiln, unless made in multiple pieces and joined, something which is not always possible or desirable. This restriction in size is particularly problematic when designing outdoor sculptures where a certain size is necessary in order for the sculpture not to be dwarfed by the surrounding environment. Surface finish, as protection against the weather, is another consideration for outdoor ceramic sculpture, less so in Australia where the climate is fairly temperate. In extreme climates, with sub zero temperatures, outdoor ceramic sculpture is not a viable option.

So I am looking on this year as a voyage of discovery in the world of sculptural media and I plan to update this blog with my findings!

Watch this spaceJ

Sculpture by the Sea 2011

I went to see Sculpture by the sea at Bondi last week (in the rain!) and was blown away by “Toads on Tour” by Hannah Kidd.

I honestly thought that it would get the people’s choice prize it was attracting so much attention. Well, I voted for it but it didn’t so I thought I would post the images I took of it as a tribute.

Great aren’t they!

I’m also really taken with the technique, using scrap metal riveted together not least because, in sculptural terms, it is relatively cheap.

Although I love working with clay, I have always wanted to be able to cast some of my stuff in metal but the cost, even for “cold casting” is just prohibitive so maybe this would be the way to go.

Another sculpture, “Two dogs in a house on a boat in the water”, by Daniel Clemmett, also used a similar technique to achieve quite a large sculpture with great success and greater size is also something I would like to achieve.

Not sure what happened to the dogs thoughJ

Proposal for HIDDEN 2011

This picture is of the work that I proposed for HIDDEN, the annual sculpture exhibition that is held in Rookwood cemetery. This year it was to be situated amongst the graves in a very old part of the cemetery.

The sculpture that I proposed was intended to be interpreted on more than one level, the central element being a headstone in wood bearing the epitaph, R.I.P., not however as in “Requiescat In Pace” or “Rest In Peace” but rather “Rabbit In Peace” surrounded by ceramic rabbits,  the meaning being that rabbits are at peace in Rookwood, not in the sense of being deceased but rather that Rookwood represents a beautiful peaceful haven for all sorts of wildlife in the middle of urban Sydney.

The headstone has at its base a reclining rabbit reminiscent of the reclining effigies seen in churches from medieval times but lying on the grass thus introducing an element of ambiguity.  Is the rabbit simply resting?

Surrounding the headstone, climbing it, leaning on it, peering over and around it, will be other rabbits, unquestionably “alive”. Additional rabbits will be frolicking in the grass surrounding the headstone thus embracing the viewer’s space as a celebration of the continuation of life. The idea was that the spectators would be free the rearrange the rabbits adding a kinetic element to the whole sculpture

 Unfortunately my proposal was not accepted but I still liked the idea and completed it anyway :)