little vases

My journey in ceramics of the last few years has come to an exciting point this week, I've started adding my little vases to my Etsy shop. I didn't want to sell any ceramics until they were perfect in my eyes and something I wanted to share with the world.

To see my vases and buy one of your own you can go to the ceramics section of my Flowerpress Etsy Shop.

For those of you who follow my craft wanderings you will know that its been a while now since my first steps in this craft (how funny are those lumpy first pots!). I've been practicing and learning this skill since 2013, an itch I'd been wanting to scratch for ages.

The impetus was a blog story about a working ceramicist. I loved watching the process of her work and as my crafting has always been about making beautiful pieces to live with everyday, the idea of crafting my own ceramic pieces just seemed like a wonderful thing to work towards.

And it is, I love it!

What I didn't know when I started that process was that ceramics has a hugely steep learning curve. Much of it is complex and can only be learnt slowly by trial and failure. I went into it at a sprint, only to learn it is a marathon.

I like that too. I like the idea that the skills are hard won, my appreciation of ceramic work has grown so much as I explore all the processes involved.

Throwing on a wheel is hard. I'm often reminded of the idea that 10,000 hours of practice brings mastery in a skill. I'm slowly whittling away at that number, and enjoying it more as my skills increase.

It feels good to have earned a modest skill at throwing pots. It feels hard won.

clay journey

My blog voice is rusty.

I have been back to this space many times, trying to craft a post, to get the machinery moving again. But the longer you stop the harder it is to start again.

So please accept this photo heavy post about the part of my creative life that is getting the most attention and taking the most of my time - Ceramics.

I want to document this part of the journey before I travel on further. You can see how I ended up here by using the #clay tag which I've added to all my ceramics posts.

Its all about clay at the moment, which you will know if you follow my instagram @flowerpress, or definitely if you've seen my new clay themed account @flowerpressclay!

There is something about the meditation of throwing in particular, the slow journey to improve at this very difficult skill that is consuming all my creative brain.

And it can't be rushed, so I'm learning patience along with my practice.

After a few weekends at the wheel I have a big batch of thrown pots now sitting waiting for decoration and to be fired. But this post records some of the pots I've made so far this year, before I rush off to that next batch.

As you can see I've tackled handles, and found them not quite as scary as I thought. There's something wonderful about the shapes they make and the magic of their strength.

I've also experimented with different styles of decoration too, wax resist, mishima, crackle glaze, underglaze and pooling glaze.

I promise another blogging in the not too distant future.

kiln

Last year I had a rush of blood to the head (a bit like that other time) and I bought a pottery kiln!

If you've been following my clay adventures you will know that I fell hard for this new craft a couple of years ago when I took my first class and I've been trying to learn more ever since. (So funny to look back at those first pots, perhaps I have improved lol!).

The kiln wasn't expensive but what I didn't realise at the time was that I didn't have the right power to run it and it wasn't going to be as simple as plugging it in.

I hit a steep learning curve, wasn't sure how to fix it and then our renovation came along all the clay gear was packed away while they dug a big hole in our back yard.

Fast forward to this year and the moment I've been dreaming of finally came the other day. My kiln was wired in and I can finally fire my own work.

I'm very much a beginner, and there is so much to learn. But its really nice to have control over my own little experiments. I love that.

On the first day I plugged my little kiln in to its shiny new powerpoint, put some not so precious pots on the shelf and base of the kiln to do a bisque fire and turned it on.

I was hoping to fire to 1060c. Things started well, it turned on quite happily and the temperature climbed steadily for a few hourse. But then to my disappointment it stalled at 1000c and wouldn't budge. After a couple of hours I turned it off, disappointed but hopeful it had done enough to bisque fire the work.

Then disaster! Turns out the temperature gauge was faulty. The kiln had actually gone way past 1000c - high enough even to melt clay! The next morning I opened the kiln to devastation. All the earthenware pieces had melted into a glassy kind of substance and stuck like cement to the fragile firebrick floor and shelf of my precious, long awaited kiln.

You can imagine my feelings, but long story short, it was fixed. Turned out it wasn't too bad and with some advice and help from a few generous and knowledgeable people the kiln was fixed. Phew!

I now use pyrometric cones to keep an eye on the temperature which I look at with my new fashionable kiln sunglasses. In future I'm hoping to have a controller attached which will mean I won't have to manually turn up the heat every hour and the new temperature gauge might show the right temperature.

I've managed three successful bisque fires and one glaze load now. I've taken pots through from raw clay to finished piece, all in my own space. That blue bowl with the leaves was handbuilt, bisque fired, glazed and then fired again here. There's something really wonderful about making something from scratch. It makes me so happy.

I've set up my pottery wheel in the new garden shed and put a workbench in there too.

Combined with the handbuilding course I've been doing with Cath Fogarty from ChinaClay I am reinspired, out of my creative rut and looking forward to lots of potting and playing next year.

the clayer

I'm often surprised looking back through my photos to see the little bits of making I've managed to sneak in to a busy period even when it feels like I get no time to create. Often its only when I make my year end mosaics I realise how much I've managed to cram into the year.

My blog is a nice record for those days when it feels like I've got nothing done, it helps me see that somehow I always manage to squeeze a little bit in!

The last few months have been no exception.

In February an online course I'd booked into on a whim last year suddenly came around. I'd signed up to an online Clay decorating course called The Clayer, with the lovely and inspiring Diana Fayt, something I'd been wanting to do for a while.

But then I wasn't feeling even slightly prepared when it came due!!

Luckily the fact that my pottery wheel was stored away for the renovation didn't matter as Diana's projects all used handbuilding. This is something I hadn't done much of in my short ceramics career, so it was good to start with her detailled videos to guide me.

Decoration though is something I've experimented with and it was nice to have Diana's weekly inspiration videos to fuel my making with Mishima, painting and sgraffito.

Due to my basic lack of time I decided I would concentrate on small tiles rather than the footed platters Diana used. That way I could get a few ideas on clay quickly. Her idea of tracing designs from sketchbooks proved a great way to rediscover and play with sketches from over the years.

About now I am really feeling the lack of a kiln and I'm hoping this year is the one I finally get to play with my own. I haven't had a chance to fire these pieces or do the painting techniques that need bisque fired pieces.

And I didn't get round yet to her ideas about stamping clay designs, something I'm really looking forward to that because it will combine two of my favourite crafts - ceramics and hand carved stamps!

Please excuse the ipad and iphone photos. My poor little camera is finally at the Camera Doctor. I've been missing it a lot .

2014

Its one of my annual New Year traditions round here to look back over the last year's creative efforts. Its so interesting to scroll back through my Flickr account and see what I've been up to.

I'm always surprised to see how much I've actually achieved over the past twelve months. It really helps combat that feeling that I'm not getting anywhere!!

In the case of 2015 the last quarter of the year was consumed with renovation which made getting anything done harder, though ironically at the same time I took on a market, some new designs and more workshop teaching including my Finders Keepers spot, and spent a week away looking after my Mum. Somehow it all worked out though! Whew.

Its very exciting for us that this year, when we return from holidays it will be to a bigger house, with more space to do our thing! And when I get back I won't be sharing my workspace with builders. Nice as they were, that was a bit exhausting. So double yay!

We still have lots of work to do to finish the renovation, but the builders and the structure they've made are just about complete. We are still walking around marvelling at the extra space and light, pinching ourselves really, and looking forward to time alone, to enjoy it, to make it our own again. I can't wait to get the garden back to its old self, or rather its new self, with level changes and different aspects. Its going to be fun.

Some of you will have been following along on instagram, but I can't wait to share some pics on the blog.

2015 will hopefully bring a wired in kiln of my own, and more time to play and experiment with clay. Looking over my mosaic I can see how much this new making consumed me this year. I had so much fun exploring the different possibilities for decoration, finding how my style translated to ceramics.

If anything it has reinspired my other making, I love the way my textiles and clay complement eachother. Both are so tactile and usable in my domestic world too. Love, love, love.

This was the year of cheese too! Sadly the domestic restrictions have put a damper on my cheesemaking, but I'm hoping the new year will see some more. It was a delicious pastime, easy and worthwhile. A new larger kitchen will make this easier.

In 2014 we were blessed with lots of new babies in the family and I made two baby quilts, one for Sid, one for Astrid and a baby wrap for Zoe. Little Frankie arrived too late in the year/renovation, but I haven't forgotten him!

My other great breakthrough this year was in clothes making, and pattern drafting. I haven't even blogged or photographed my last make, a Fancy Tiger Crafts Sailor top, but I did wear it to my Finders Keepers workshop, also unblogged. Hopefully I can catch you up on all that stuff in the New Year. I think I need to sit on a beach and think about what my goals and plans are for next year.

Thanks for reading this far, and for spending time with me in 2014, I wish you a Happy and Creative New Year. Here's to a creative 2015!

(To see what I made in other years here are the links: here's 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008.)

mold making class

A couple of months ago I finished glazing my second batch of pots and drove them out to Homebush Pottery for firing. As you may have seen on Instagram I got there only to find out they had moved to Brisbane. Boo!

I was in a tizz for a while, disappointed and wondering what to do, but then I remembered that Blackwattle Pottery Supplies which I'd visited once before has a firing service too. Its in Ingleburn, a much longer drive from me, about twice as far, but they are so nice there that its always worth the trip.

I'd noticed on their site earlier in the year that they run a few specialised ceramics courses too. And you know I love a craft workshop. I was really interested in learning about mold making which I'd been stalking on youtube so it seemed like fate when my last batch of pots was ready the day they ran the biannual mold making course again. I booked in straight away.

You may not know but lots of ceramics you use every day are mold made. Its one way of producing multipe items the same. And you can make a mold from just about anything, so it opens up even more wonderful possibilities for making.

John and Amanda run Blackwattle Pottery and between them have decades of ceramics knowledge. What they don't know about ceramics isn't really worth knowing. They are also the nicest people and really generous with their skills and knowledge.

There were three of us in the class and we spent the day making molds. Amanda showed us one of her molds and poured it with slip first up. Its a wonderful process which relies on the plaster molds to draw the water out and solidify the liquid clay slip.

After that we brought out the objects we'd brought along to mold and used different techniques to set them up. I took along this little vintage glass milk bottle to use as my mold and we set it up in a little wooden frame using right angle cottle boards. As you can see the other items used different setups so we got to see a range of techniques.

At the end of the day I came home with a couple of molds and lots of new thoughts and ideas in my head. It was really inspiring.

Of course because of our renovation (week 6!) I have no space or outside areas to experiment at the moment, but I did manage to use my mold a few times to make these little ceramic milk bottles. They have been fired once and are now back at Blackwattle for a final glaze firing.

Hopefully they'll be ready for my stall at the Etsy run markets at The Rocks Village Bizarre. This event looks like lots of fun and sees music, magic, shows and markets running from November 7th till 19th December in the magical surrounds of The Rocks.

My stall is the first week, Friday November 7th and I will finally be selling a few of my little ceramics. I'll also have tea towels, prints, cushion covers and more. The markets are on the corner of Playfair and George streets in The Rocks and run from 6.30pm-10. A great chance to kick your Handmade Christmas shopping off with a bang! It looks like there will be lots of fun stuff happening alongside too, so I hope I might see you there.