The Contemporary Jewellery Exchange 2016

Earlier in the year I was selected to participate in the Contemporary Jewellery Exchange 2016. The exchange has been running for a couple of years now. It is an art project where 370 artists from all over the world were paired and asked to create a unique contemporary piece of jewellery for each other. 

Walking on Eggshells
Bone, Keralfex porcelain, sterling silver
39 x 9 x 1 cm

I was paired with Stephanie Ormon, from the UK, who also works in a diverse range of materials to create jewellery.

Bone detail

When we have completed the project we are asked to wrap it and I chose to use one of the furoshiki cloths created in the class I taught a couple of weekends ago. The recyclable wrapping cloth is made of cotton, shibori techniques are used to create the pattern with indigo dye.

I can't wait to receive my piece from Stephanie!

Diaspora

Queen Anne's Lace is an introduced flower from Britain that can be found growing abundently in Australia and Canada. As an introduced species I see this plant as a symbol of travel with the ability to adapt to its environment. Dried flower heads have been dipped in a porcelain slip and fired, leaving behind lace like structures. Although delicate in appearance, the plant has adapted to both the cold conditions of Canada and the arid conditions of Australia.

'Diaspora' has been selected to be exhibited in BeLonging, an exhibition curated by TACA (The Australian Ceramic Association) as part of the Australian Ceramics Triennale held in Canberra in 2015. Selected artists created commentaries inspired by place.

The exhibition will run from 27 June to 11 July 2015, at the ANU School of Art Foyer Gallery, 2 Childers St, Acton, ACT 2601. 

Hemmed In

Continuing my exploration into creating fences using different mediums, Hemmed In is created incorporating textiles, ceramics and jewellery techniques.

Knitted cotton within fused silver 'gates'

The first step was to knit (with cotton) some panels of fence that are inspired by wire fences.

Knitted cotton dipped in porcelain slip

Next, I dipped the cotton in a high fire porcelain slip and I laid them out on a canvas board to dry. This worked well, but they had a 'front' and a 'back' from being dried flat. If I was to do this again, I would suspend them so that they had two interesting 'front' sides.

Painted with Cone 06 glaze

I wanted to apply gold lustre, gold leaf and decals onto the surface of them (they need a layer of clear glaze to adhere to the porcelain). So once they were fired (one firing all the way up to cone 10) I painted them with a thin layer of clear glaze.

The pale aqua are covered with clear glaze prior to firing.

I experimented with gold lustre, but wasn't incredibly happy with the results because it came out quite a dark copper gold.

I also experimented with putting gold leaf followed by decals that were fired in an enamel kiln at 1500 F degrees for a couple of minutes. The gold leaf remained light in colour and the decals were reminiscent of the blue willow ware that dates back to dinnerware of the 18th century.

Hemmed In

To attach the ceramic knitted pieces to the fence panels I used very thin silver wire to wrap them into place. I was inspired by the rustic and often ingenious ways fences are repaired. 

Hemmed In (detail)

The ceramic panels were dispersed between panels that were fused together with the fine silver wire.

I joined the fence panels together using a method used by the artist Alexander Calder, who whilst well known for his mobile sculptures, was also a prolific maker of jewellery.

He is one of my heroes because of his unorthodox approach to jewellery.

Keraflex experiments

I have been wanting to experiment with Keraflex ever since I heard about it when I first studying ceramics a couple of years ago. It is super thin ceramic that comes in flat sheets (0.5mm or 1mm thick) very much like paper. It is held together with a binding agent which makes it flexible when soaked in water and it provides the opportunity to make ceramic  products which are extremely thin and light.

Recently I have been playing with it. Experimenting with stitching to hold it together to create different sorts of forms.

Stitched keraflex (white bottom left corner)

Above are some samples to see what happens when the form is held together using thread before being fired in the kiln. In this image there are also stitched cardboard and copper samples where I am experimenting with form.

Most of the stitched pieces broke during the firing. But the shards were equally beautiful and intresting shapes, so I attached them to one of my gate like structures. I anticipate that this could be a brooch. 

Despite being really thin, the material is quite strong when fired to cone 10. 

Paper marquette of necklace idea

I also experimented with making cone shapes. With the intention of making a necklace similar to the paper version above.

Keraflex cones before firing

Keraflex cones after firing with gold lustre

I like the white porcelain combined with the gold lustre. But to get gold lustre to work, they need to be glazed with clear first (fired to cone 6). In the pieces above, I glaze only the bits that are now gold, so there is also the contrast between matt porcelain and shinny gold.

I have moved on from the original cone idea, and I am enjoying working with the shards. So I am thinking that these will be broken and reassembled along the same lines as the brooch idea.

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! 

In the studio: Salt of the Earth ceramics

Following weeks in the studio in which all my ceramic experiments seemed to disintegrate I decided to change direction and work with a more substantial and solid approach to my work, aiming to create bowls that appear to be carved from rock hewn from the earth.

Working with porcelain and oxides, my intention was to create bowls that represented layered strata of rock.

Salt of the Earth #1

Due to the extreme thickness of the slabs (about 20 x 20 x 30 cm) the slabs would require a couple of weeks to completely dry before the firing process could take place. 

Of course, I chose to rush this process and subsequently had a disaster where an entire kiln load of my work exploded because I tried to fire it too quickly.

A subsequent firing where the kiln was programmed to dry the clay for 24 hours before the firing process begun was much more successful and the results can be seen in Salt of the Earth #1 and #2.

Although there was some cracking in these pieces (probably due to the porcelain clay body rather than the firing process), I think it adds to the work and the idea of erosion. The pieces were fired once, skipping the bisque firing, in a reduction atmosphere. I really like how carbon has been trapped in the clay, turning it from pure white to a delicious grey. 

Salt of the Earth #2

Displayed with the ceramic landscape bowls are my Basket rings.

In the studio: slip casting and a change of direction

I have spent the past couple of weeks experimenting with different ways of making, and decorating  slip cast bowls.

Bowl mould circa 35cm dia.

Various methods of decoration included painting coloured underglaze directly onto the plaster bowl mould (above) or onto a flat slab, which was then transferred to the bowl mould (below). A layer of cheese cloth was embedded in the slip which provided strength whilst transferring the clay slip from the flat slab to the bowl mould. The cheesecloth then burns away during the firing process.

I also explored different methods of colouring the slip and ways of layering the colours into the moulds.

Unfortunately the results always ended up like this:

Breaking whilst drying in the mould, breaking during the bisque firing, and the one that made it through to the glaze fire also shattered.

I decided that the universe way trying to tell me to work in a different way, so I have changed my direction completely, and have started to make bowls in a much more solid form.

Geology slab bowls roughly measure 20 x 20 x 30 cm

The idea is that they look like they have been roughly hewn from the ground, with a bowl hollow carved into the 'rock'.

This then led to the idea of creating strata layers within the rock-like slabs. I added red iron, raw sienna, and yellow ochre to the clay.

The result is a much more substantial bowl, and Im excited in the direction my work is taking.  

Fingers crossed it survives the firing. Next, to experiment with glazes that replicate rust!

In the studio: making clay and casting moulds

I have been learning to make my own clays from scratch. This is a very exciting development because I generally buy my clays in big blocks that are ready to use. So far I have made a white porcelain clay for throwing and a white porcelain slip that both fire to cone 6.

Mixing the clay bodies

 I have also been creating complex (for me anyway!) four piece moulds of food tins.

Four piece mould of a small tin of tuna.

Four piece mould of a larger tin that contained ravioli - I think. 

The tins are a confutation of my exploration of the themes of pioneers. I am particularly interested in the notions of isolation, communication and what the first settlers were reduced to eat in new and inhospitable countries.

Watch this space as my ideas progress. Exciting! :)

Blue and White Ceramics in their new homes

Ive just received some more images of my porcelain wares in their new homes.

Below are images from Vicki who just happens to be the editor for a prominent Australian magazine dedicated to ceramics. 

Image by Vicki

My 'CrabApple Tree in Blossom' vessel is on display in her office (middle vessel). Behind it sits the accompanying card made from an off-cut of lino print from my time in Hill End.

Image by Vicki

How very exciting that my ceramics have ended up in such a wonderful place!

More blue and white ceramics for Pozible

December has been spent making, delivering and sending out pozible gifts (lino prints, tea towels and ceramics) for my supporters. 

Left over bits of my lino prints for the gift tags.  

Notice my handy assistant, Kochira the cat, keeping an ever watchful eye on me (and the fish) in the background! 

I wanted to get the ceramic gifts out before Christmas, and consequently forgot to take nice pictures of them. I only have one of them lined up in my studio.

Thankfully I have received pictures from some of the recipients - and its lovely to see the ceramic vessels in their new homes.

Image: Bel and Shane

Image: Josie

Image: Liz 

Image: Murray

Im still collecting images of the gifts in their new homes. If you were one of my supporters Id love to see how your gift looks in its new home.

Blue and White Porcelain Ceramics

Some of you will know that I have been inspired by the writings of Australian author Miles Franklin who is well known for her novel My Brilliant Career, which for the most part is set in Goulburn, NSW. 

Crabapple Tree in Blossom

In April 2013 I partook in the self guided tour of Goulburn and observed many of the buildings she wrote about in her novels. 

Domestic Interior with Antiques

Indeed, it was her descriptions of pioneering Australia that set me on the path to further research Australia's history that led me to the Artist in Residence at the historic gold mining town of Hill End, and then internationally to explore pioneering history in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. 

"The two towers of the office rose like sentry boxes which in the long main street that ran empty in the moonlight to the south"  

Further images from my Hill End residency:

In the studio

Life in a slab hut

Textures

Fences and gates

Goulburn Post Office

So inspired I sketched imagery of Goulburn's historic buildings incorporating text from 'My Brilliant Career' that was published in 1901. 

"I bought a ticket at the Goulburn railway station"

 These sketches have recently been applied to porcelain ceramics using scraffito and mishima techniques.

Goulburn Railway Station

Earlier in the year I ran a crowd funding campaign to assist with my travel to Halifax, Nova Scotia to participate in the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design's Summer residency.

"I borrowed every book in the neighbourhood and stole hours from rest to read them"

 One of the rewards for my crowd funding supporters was a porcelain ceramic vessel an image relating to my residencies. 

The Music House 

"I love the organ music and the hush that pervades the building" 

So some very lucky people received these 'one of a kind' porcelain vessels.

St Saviours Cathedral

 The shapes are inspired by pioneering bushmen's mugs, which were fashioned from recycled tin (which would've originally contained food) with a wire handle added.

"I left the train and went to the Commercial for the remainder of the night"

The Commercial Pub, Goulburn.