Japanese brushes

Japanese calligraphy brushes. The quality of line obtained by these brushes is beautiful, very clear and the bristles hold the water without letting it all soak into the surface as soon as they touch the clay.

Terra Sig Mutant

The sugary terra sig glaze experiment can't just sit in the studio going hard. I've given it a new job and things are working out really well. The scraffitti leptospermums used to work in a loose variant of mishima with pure terra sig, but with the sugary glaze/terra mutant the line seems cleaner. I think it is because of the addition of the clear glaze, the pigment is gathered up when the glaze melts and settles into the scraffitto line. this enhances the clarity and scratchy qualities of the lines and the slight shine the glaze gives the inlay attracts the eye making the drawing stronger and more coherent.

Formulating Terra sigilata- classic jazz style

Formulating terra sig from Sarah's throwing terracotta.
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup dried clay
1 tsp deflocc



After listening to Gershwin's "Night and Day" sung by Sinatra there were three distinct layers. after "Fools Rush In" the middle layer is forming a distinct chocolatey ribbon
Chet Baker's "Wee Small Hours" brings the first test. Seems a little thick, add a splosh more water.

Stir around. The Terra sig is the thin consistency or organic, pouring cream, there are a few bits of rubble down the bottom. The sample goes onto raw clay with a soft, satin sheen.

Conclusion- Semester 1

CONCLUSION

I am really excited about the final work from this semester. The final pieces are a good platform to launch me onto further work. The way the vessels work with the other elements including the unfired work opens possibilities to continue with using these formal elements of composition to create work using thrown pots. I intend to bring more of the bush combings into the installations and explore the possibilities for displaying vessels in the natural environment. I also intend on exploring paper-making to create yet another element using bush-combings within an installation. The Japanese concept of placing shrines and stone lanterns in gardens as an accent to the environment is very intriguing to me in the context of the thrown vessels and the Australian bush. Diaries and maps continue to capture my interest as a way of talking about place and time. Next semester I intend to draw out this aspect of the research and continue creating ephemeral works with permanent elements both within a gallery, context and outside in the environment. The photography will also be an area for continued exploration and skill development. I feel that the photos could become a more integral part of the work rather than function as a supplementary resource

In reflection the initial Study Plan was more an overview of the complete body of work I’d like to make during the entire degree than a breakdown of investigation for one semester. I learned to set more specific goals for both the working process and the reading I’d like to accomplish throughout the semester. This was a very challenging semester for me. Working alone in the studio and trying to earn a living through the arts has involved formulating a way of developing new work that is very personal and (now I see!) somewhat secretive. Revealing my working process had been unexpectedly painful and nerve-wracking, a bit like a magician showing the audience where the doves are hidden. I’ve tried to make the final unpacking and actually seeing the work in the flesh as beguiling a process as possible. There is a place in every presentation for something beautiful to appear as if by magic.

lbj

Tiny bowl with what is known in birding circles as an LBJ’s (!) Little Brown Jobs. Tiny, almost indistinguishable brown wrens and insectivorous Australian native birds. They dart through the canopy eating insects and are very hard to spot.

bush stack

Initially I thought that my trip to Kyoto would provide an opportunity to really explore the use of the visual journal and refine my ideas about keeping field notes.As is so often the way with art and travel Japan led me to something else entirely.The travel journal became a practical document for jogging my memory, and the travelling bought me an awareness of a different aesthetic. I began to notice the Japanese approach to combining materials.This built on the ideas I was developing from Reijneder’s master class about building up artworks composed of many different elements.The use of natural materials to enhance manmade objects is very refined in Japan and I became aware of the way architecture, gardens, food, and pots were created to exist in dialogue with their surroundings.This resonates with my philosophy that art should be part of the world rather than apart from it.To create a pot designed to enhance the smell of the air coming through an open window or, a table to lead one’s eye to a beautiful mountain on a far horizon seems to be reinforcing the idea that art and life exist in symbiosis.

Brush box and lines

Final work. Collected from Brush box forests and walum areas of Stradbroke Island.

“Lines”

“Marks”

2 bowls embedded with Brush Box flowers and drawn brushbox leaves.

Little brush box fragment with copper oxide and brush box leaf.