Earthenware Glaze Tests (low fire)

I have been experimenting with different low fire glazes. These glazes are for earthenware with a low firing temperature to cone 04. (1060 degrees Centigrade, or 1940 Fahrenheight)

This is partly because I have been working with found objects from the clay recycling room and these  shapes are usually made from earthenware, the clay utilised by the Introduction to Ceramics students in the studio.

I am interested in both glazes that run or form a drip, and surface texture. 

thickly applied Majolica (left) & Willing White (right) 

My first experiments were with thickly applied majolica and willing white. The test pieces were dipped 6 times and the glaze was about 1/2 centimetre thick. Whilst interesting, the results weren't quite what I was looking for.

Vardis blue over Power Black (left)
Power Black over Vardis blue (right)

Next, I experimented with double dipping of glazes, combining gloss finishes (such as power black) with textured finishes (Vardis blue).

Turquoise and Power black

It was also interesting to see how different glazes responded to being dipped first or second. Depending on this the resulting texture changed.

copper wire (left) steel wire (right)
with Vardis Blue

I then became interested in experimenting with layering different glazes combined with wrapping either copper or steel wire. 

Turquoise and Power black over steel (left)
Turquoise and Power black over copper (right)

Copper wire on bare earthenware (left)
Vardis Blue over steel (right)

Recipes

Roxie Power Black - Cone 04

Frit 3134          25%
Frit 3195          15%
Frit 3249          35%
EPK                 25%
+
BIO                  8%
Mang. Diox     8%

Turquoise - Cone 04

Gherstly Borate  35%
Neph Sye            5%
EPK                    5%
Flint                  42%
Lithium Carb      8%
Super Copax       8%
Copper Carb       3%

Vardis Blue - Cone 04

Neph Sye          20%
EPK                  20%
Flint                  11%
Lithium Carb      5%
Barium Carb     43%
+
Copper Carb       7%

Willing White

Gerstley Borate   35%
Lithium Carb        8%
Neph Sye              5%
EPK                      5%
Flint                    42%
+
Zircopax              10%

Linda Arbuckle Maolica

Flint 3124          57.16%
EPK                     9.4%
Kona F4             14.9%
Bentonite             1.2%
Super Pax           13%
Neph Sye            5.42%
+
Rutile                 0.25%

222 Grips for a Stone (27-35) Melting experiments

The exploration for 222 Grips for a Stone (or mineral) continues. 

I have been giving a lot of thought to the definition of a stone and mineral and it is becoming increasingly broader scope - which is great because I am continuing to find more ways to develop my material exploration.

Glass consists of minerals and I am interested exploring the effects it has when bound by wire and then placed in the kiln.

I started my explorations working in the enamelling kilns, and my first lot of experiments did not heat up enough. The kiln sat around 1500 degrees farenheight and the only result was a softening of the edges of the broken glass. Which was interesting, but not the effects I was looking for.

#28 of 222 Grips for a Stone before melting

#28 of 222 Grips for a Stone 

My next lot of experiments were undertaken in a different enamel kiln where the heat is stronger, and a little more unpredictable. The kiln heated to about 900 degrees centigrade and within minutes my glass was starting to melt. 

#30 of 222 Grips for a Stone detail

With the idea of griping the glass by wrapping it with wire, I was also interested in exploring the idea where the glass also starts to grip the wire, by melting the wire into the glass.

#31 of 222 Grips for a Stone

Ideally I would like to capture drips like rain water. This is as close as I have gotten so far. 

#33 of 222 Grips for a Stone

In this last experiment the glass almost entirely melted away from the wire binding and slumped onto the copper metal below. 

The experiments are taking my work in an exciting new direction and I am looking forward to upscaling so that they are about house brick size. 

sPIN exhibition at ANCA

sPIN is ANCA Gallery's fifth annual exhibition of miniature wearable artworks Australian artists.

Some of my fence brooches have been selected to be displayed in the exhibition. They continue to explore surface (lichen markings through enamel), construction (using beads to explore mesh techniques), and repair (textile techniques to mend broken fences). 

Fence Study #3

Copper, sterling silver, enamel

2015 

8 x 5 x 1 cm

$150

Fence Study #5

Sterling Silver, glass beads

2015

5 x 7 x .5 cm

$150

Fence Study #2

Sterling silver

2015

8 x 5 x 1 cm

$150

The exhibition's OPENING EVENT will be from 6pm-8pm Wednesday 24 June and the show will run until Sunday 5 July 2015. 

ANCA Gallery: 1 Rosevear Place Dickson ACT 
Gallery hours 12-5pm Wednesday to Sunday

Pioneer Landscapes on exhibition at Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre

Pioneer Landscapes is a selection of works created in response to my Artist in Residence at Hill End, NSW in 2013. 

Lichen Bells 2014

Silk, fine silver, enamel

Image: Art Atelier

Steel String Wood Necklace 2014

Materials: steel, cotton, wood

Image: Art Atelier

The impact on the landscape by the pioneers was evident by the scarred earth, colonial architecture and forest re-growth. I was fascinated by the bush fences in various states of disrepair and the decorative picket fences of the townships which clearly delineated ownership of space by the early colonial settlers. Despite the impact on the Australian bush by the pioneers, the resilient nature of lichen covered all surfaces. The texture and colour of it captivated me and I noticed that it grew on trees, rocks, fences and even on the sealed roads. 

I commenced a new body of work in 2014 which explores the materials and construction methods used to create these fences whilst incorporating ideas of regrowth and regeneration through the symbolism of lichen. 

Pioneer Landscapes at Craft ACT : Craft + Design Centre
Image courtesy of the Gallery

Pioneer Landscapes at Craft ACT : Craft + Design Centre
Image courtesy of the Gallery

Pioneer Landscapes at Craft ACT : Craft + Design Centre
Image courtesy of the Gallery

The experience at Hill End had a lasting impact on me and it continues to inform my work  Master in Fine Arts (MFA) degree at NSCAD (Nova Scotia College for Art and Design) in Halifax, Canada.

For more images of the exhibition please visit my Facebook page. 

Fence marquettes

My studies of fences in the Australian and Canadian landscape has resulted in some of the following experiments.

Woven copper, enamel
Inspired by fences in the snow

Copper Fence
inspired by the old fences in front of Colonial Buildings

A progression of the above idea
Potentially a brooch

Silver with copper rivets & knitted silver wire.
Inspired by a wire gates at Hill End

Steel wire, silver wire, glass beads
A progression of the above idea incorporating beads
and experimenting with a different netting technique

Sticks and copper wire
Experimenting with a different netting technique

Copper and cotton
Experimenting with a flat sheet and bending it
The thread just happened...

Copper
More experiments with bending a flat sheet of copper 

Noel Guyomarch Workshop

Our Advanced Technique jewellery class had the fabulous opportunity to participate in a workshop with Noel Guyomarch. Noel has one of the most interesting contemporary jewellery galleries in Montreal, Galerie Noel Guyomarch, and he is an avid collector and supporter of contemporary jewellery.

Memory vessel: Pearls of Wisdom. Knitted copper wire
15cm high x 6cm deep

We were asked to bring something special that we treasured. I haven't really brought many souvenirs from Australia with me, with the exception of a beautiful blue bolder opal ring that I wear religiously.

Example of boulder opal

Noel asked each of us why the item was important and then we had to translate these ideas into another object.

For me, the ring is important for many reasons. The opal is from Australia, so wherever I travel I always have a bit of Australia with me.  It is my birthstone. It is also made from water, something Australia doesn't have much of. What makes it most special though was that it was a present from my Nan.

With these thoughts in mind I started making a vessel to contain memories. I just happened to have a collection of faux pearls on my desk and they made their way into the container too. Inevitably it became known as Pearls of Wisdom.

My work bench is known throughout the jewellery department for its collection of interesting bits and pieces, and I have a collection of marbles which I would like to make another container for. This vessel will be all about 'losing your marbles'!

End of Semester Summary

My first semester in the MFA program for studio was with Professor Gary Markle. Gary is the Head of the Fashion studio at NSCAD and he has extensive experience working in New York in fashion, film and sculpture. He was the ideal professor to work with given my interdisciplinary nature and desire to explore ideas across a range of materials.

Lichen was the launching point for a series of investigations and I represented shapes found within the lichen using paper, the lids of tins and enamel (a whole blog post was written about the enamel necklace here). The pieces also continue to reference my interest in pioneers and the isolation they experienced.

Continuing to explore my interest in women's domestic objects I made some thimbles and experimented combining porcelain with crochet and gold lustre.

Continuing to play with domestic kitchenware I was interested to see what happened when you filled the void with rocks, thinking about sense of place and your ties or attachments to a geographic location. 

Living in Canada enables me to objectively look at my Australian history and heritage. I am interested in how our ties to the past inform our present and I am exploring this through the imagery of cameos, chain and branches.

This final piece is still in the middle of being created. Originally a porcelain tea cup, it has been broken and pieced back together. All attached by a silver chain. Here I am interested in the notions of sentimentality and how we place such importance on fragile objects. 

All these ideas seem quite disparate at the moment although I am hoping to distill their essence in my next semester next year. Its going to be quite the journey! 

Limited production pieces

Our last assignment for Jewellery 2 was to create a limited production line of jewellery. 

The intention for this project is to give us an idea of what it is like to create production pieces, starting with  designing a prototype - and then once the design had been tweaked - we then had to make 9 versions of the design.

Prototype of my pendant design

One of the great things about our Professor, Pam Ritchie, is that she encourages us to use materials not always associated with jewellery. So, inspired by my current love of lichen, I designed a pendant that incorporated found wood and copper discs that were covered with a green patina.

I was a little apprehensive at having to make 9 identical pieces, however once I got into the swing of things, I realised that there was a method to making on a larger scale. And I really enjoyed it.

Along with developing the prototype I also had to undertake some experiments on how to seal in the green patina so that it didn't rub off on the wearer. I started off with a clear matt enamel spray on the domes, but I felt that they needed to be shiny so I then experimented with a clear enamel.

I was having so much fun with the design that I also created matching earrings.

Here are the pendants all lined up waiting to be attached to handmade copper chain. They turned into an army of stick insects!

I totally forgot to take a picture of the pendant attached to the chain before I handed them in, so Ill have to share that with you in the new year when I get the marked pieces back. 

Lichen Brooch and Burdock Hair Pin

Along with learning enamelling, I have also been continuing to learn and improve my jewellery making abilities with Pam Ritchie. Pam is an amazing artist who often incorporates unusual materials in her work, such as plastic and found objects and she encourages her students to do the same.

Our first assignment was to make a pin back. Rather than just make a pin back, our class all decided to make an interesting pin back.

I had picked up a beautiful piece of lichen earlier in the week. Given my love of them and their relevance to my work, I thought I would include it in my pin back.

This is what I made:

Brooch with living lichen
3.3 x 6.3 cm

Pin back detail
before the lichen was attached

And our first major project was to create something that was inspired by an image that was chosen in class. The image I chose focused on communication, and also hair. So I decided to create a hair pin, in reference to Geisha. This was the final result:

Fine Silver Hairpins
containing burdock seed

Initially the pins were designed to be empty. But the wires seemed to loose definition when pinned in the hair. So it was decided that they needed to contain something.

Dried burdock seed hair pin

I stumbled across some burdock in a vacant block of land in the middle of the city, and thought that these weeds would be perfect. I see weeds as a metaphor for pioneers, or settlers.

Dried burdock detail

I was also amazed at just how sticky these seeds were. They stuck to my fingers and even plastic (just like velcro)

Green burdock hairpin

 The green seeds were less sticky.

Green burdock detail.

An exciting development with this discovery is that seeds contain so much information. So I see these hair pins containers for information or communication. Originally I was thinking about Victorian lockets and how they do this.....  Im really looking forward to exploring this concept further.