ceramics all day & night
Hello everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I’ve been busy since Boxing Day making new work for an up and coming exhibition. So, please save the date and if you would like an invite please send me an email request. Thanks, Anne
Our little man, Miami sadly passed away the Wednesday after the long October weekend. We arrived home from our holiday on Sunday 19 October to receive the news from my sister.
Miami spent his last few weeks with “Granma and Pop” and was valiant to the end. Sadly, his arthritis and nearly 17 years of age had wearied his little body and it was time to go to sleep.
He is in our garden outside my studio window and surrounded by flowers. He was my best friend and while I was searching for the love of my life he would stare the potentials square in the eye and if they got a ‘smile’ (snarling with a sneer) I knew he was thinking ‘fat chance mate!’ Adam passed with flying colours and Miami soon realised he had double the attention he had always wanted. More pats, more food, more walks – anything he could try and get from this tall skinny man!
We always joked that Miami refused to die. He had a great life – living in doors 24/7, visiting cafes, running around the lake (when he and Mum were both fit!), road-trips to Sydney to see the girls (Kim/Rachel/Helen), staying at various palatial homes (Diane/Kristine/Mick & Mer, Granma & Pop), living with two gorgeous flatmates (Megan/Lisa), endless hugs from nieces/nephew, my Aunties/Uncles, friends, children/teenagers, sleeping on our bed, pretending not to be sleeping on the couch even though he was, being groomed, clipped and styled by Marion, cared for when Adam and I travelled (Cath/Ella/Kathy J/Rachel P) and most of all simply being my faithful companion all day every day for nearly 17 years. He will be sorely missed.
Miami’s newest friend Rachel Purdy sent a beautiful email and I’m sure Miami would have given it the paws of approval:
Oh Anne 🙁 I cried. I’m so so sorry to hear this. He was a very special little boy and friend and I know he was so much more than just a dog to you and your family. I have a lump in my throat writing this because i know how awful it is losing a pet. Just like any other member of the family.
He was a very funny and enthusiastic puppy and his name suited him perfectly. I think of a sunny, exciting, happy and busy place when I hear the word Miami. How suited 🙂 and as awful as you may feel that you weren’t there, he wouldn’t have wanted to leave had you been there. Now he can sleep easy, comfortably and free of any pains.Goodbye little Miami man!And lots of love to you my lovely Anne xoxox I’m sending all of my loving energy to you wherever you are ❤️
Hello everyone,
In case you live or are visiting Canberra and wanted something different to do then visit FORM Studio and Gallery where I’m part of a group show exhibiting ceramic works. We are hosting an afternoon tea all day! this Sunday 23 February.
Yes, come and have a complimentary cup of tea and a decadent slice and meet some of the artists featured in ceraMIX. For more information please view this flyer:
Afternoon tea_ceraMIX_FORM_flyer_final
Thanks, Anne
It all started with “Check this” in the email header Adam sent to me 31 January 2013 while I was still in Denmark.
An advertisement for a gorgeous house in our favourite Canberra suburb – Watson. The first thing I saw was recently refurbished studio/workshop and as soon as I saw the photos I went “OMG! This is exactly what I want!” After I madly clicked the photos, I recognized the sellers (one was my current work boss and the other I used to work with), and emailed Adam to hotfoot it to the Open inspection. All I can say is, thank goodness for the Internet, Skype and patient sellers who waited till I got back to Australia and made our offer less than 20hrs of me getting off the big silver bird from Copenhagen! Jet-lag, heat-waves and blindness to the bright summer sun (after weeks of diffused light from the snow) is the perfect combination when making a rather large purchase!
We are now the proud owners of a very beautiful home in the leafy tree lined suburb of Watson. Check it out – Wade Street, Watson.
I’m so excited as I now have a real studio to make ceramics, a garage to place a kiln which I’ll be kiln-sitting till Meredith wants it back (how kind is she to make such a generous offer). Meredith wants to be a potter and of course, the world needs more makers/creators/artists! Anyway, there is a house attached and Adam so can’t wait to play in his man cave (oops! garage). He has already decided how he’ll deck it out, so be warned when you come to visit!
So, that’s our little bit of news for 2013. As soon as we’ve moved in, I’ll let you know and of course, please come and visit us and watch us renovate over the up-and-coming months. Who needs reality TV renovation shows when you can see it in the flesh! Although I have to admit I did become a bit addicted to Channel Nine’s The Block when I got home from Denmark. Josh/Jenna and Phil/Amity have already provided some great design ideas. Bring on retro Danish design and a very worried husband 😉
Oh, and if you know of anyone that needs to buy a gorgeous 2 bedroom townhouse in Jerrabomberra please tell them to visit our home we are selling. It was my bachelorette pad when I bought it in 2001 and while we have both enjoyed living here for the past 18 months we are keen to move closer into the city and walk/bus/bicycle ride our way @ the inner suburbs of the Inner North.
When I first arrived at the Ceramic Center and spied this chair in my room…all I could think was…how do I smuggle it home!
It’s a cute sitting chair and I imagine long ago dainty women would sit in a room and sew beautiful handkerchiefs by hand. As for moi…she can’t sew, knit or anything that involves the delicate textiles art form. But drawing and capturing my favourite chair…well I’d be remiss not to do this before I leave.
So here are three photos. The original chair, my pencil drawing and then the final drawing. I use pro-marker pens and couldn’t help but purchase a box of 12 new pretty colours. It only cost 149 DKK (@$25 AUD). Back home the same set costs $119 which makes me wonder why some businesses charge so much! I don’t mind paying but geez explain the inflation…Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little drawing and a change from photos and writing.
I’m so excited at finally having my work put in two of my favourite design shops – Handsomeandpretty in Canberra and Made by Others in Moss Vale – two beautiful outlets with amazing owners.
Firstly, Handsomeandpretty….well I’ve known Jen since I started selling my ‘hobby’ ceramics at the Kingston Bus Depot Markets (KBDM) way back in 1998. I had a full-time job and was practicing my hobby in the evenings. Jen had a shop called The Hive and it started at the KBDM, where she stocked my ‘sushi’ and ‘fertility’ sets, and then she moved to bigger and swankier premises in Braddon. Jen would have been the first person in Canberra to really showcase local artists work in a trendy shop. For some Canberreans…shopping outside of the Mall or the Canberra Centre was considered unheard of. She was the trendsetter of boutique art + design shopping. Anyway, several years down the track she sold The Hive to concentrate on becoming a silversmith jeweller and imagine my delight when I found out a few months ago she was opening a new shop back in the stomping grounds of Braddon. Even nicer was she was keen to look at my work and take a few pieces on for her new shop. OMG…me being Anne had to think long and hard as I honestly didn’t think I would be selling my jewellery till 2013. Admittedly, I didn’t have the confidence (or the time) to invest in marketing my own work. The irony is that I was happy to help other artists market their work! So, the good news is Jen will be stocking some of my pendants (note images are above are indicative of pendants available) and please if you can support local business…pop into Lonsdale Traders and check out the industrial warehouse concept that will change your view on shopping. It’s quirky, cool and is going to put Canberra on the map! In fact, it’s so cool that hot off the press today is a fabulous article, Transformation into a hipster hangout, in The Canberra Times today (27 October 2012).
Now, to my faithful friends in Moss Vale at Made by Others. I first met Anna and Ursula exactly this time 2 years ago when I was finishing my first semester at the ANU Canberra School of Art. Hubby and I had gone to Bowral for the weekend and as we whizzed past the main street of Moss Vale my shopping alert radar went up as I spun my head around 90 degrees and told him to pull over! Why? I saw a gorgeous shop and we must stop! Talk about funny….well it was beautiful and had lots of artworks from ceramics to scarves to prints and dresses. The story goes…
I got chatting to the owner Anna and once she realised I was studying she was keen to see my work – I happened to have some photos and Anna said to keep in contact. Well, I kept in contact with the occasional visit, showing her the latest work and once I graduated and they saw my final exhibition pieces she said when I was ready with packaging etc to come and see them.
Well that happened about a week ago (2 years later…) and I was thrilled that Anna, Ursula and Kate (one of the customers providing her insight into my pendants) loved my works. It was great watching them pick and choose while I chatted away to Ian who was studying painting. Anyway, they have take on a few of my works and please if you can support an interstate business….pop into the main street and check out the coffee/hot chocolate/tea and scrummy cakes available while you shop in style, have a chat and meet new people.
Oooh…did I mention I was excited? Yeah…I’m grateful to have such wonderful supporters of the arts/craft/design in Canberra and NSW.
Potters marks are a unique identification mark which are found on the base, side or front of ceramic works.
The following marks belong to: Australian artists Greg Daly, Janet DeBoos and American artist Nicholas Bivens:
As you can see each has a unique way of painting, writing or stamping their name/initials.
While I was studying at uni it never dawned on me to write my name on the bottom of my works. I suppose I was in research mode and the last thing I could think about was signing my works. In fact, it was difficult to sign my pendants as they were very fragile in the early stages of producing. I was so worried about the design holding up in my wash/wipe method that I feared breakage was miniscule millimeters away…let alone trying to sign on the back! It wasn’t till I met Xanthe from X Gallery that she came up with a round sterling silver disc to put on the back of my fired pendant and stamp my initials on the back. I was so excited that I could finally make a mark. Well temporarily on my body adornment work…
This year, I’ve been experimenting and making new forms – small bowls and tiles. When I laid eyes on an edition of Australian Ceramics I came across the Potters Marks page – there wwas a series of photos showcasing potters and their marks. From initials, to hand written signatures to stamps and drawings I realised I could do anything. I doodled away in my scrap book hoping to come up with something…it took a while and then eventually I played with my initials AM and then thought PM as in potters mark. Then I thought mmmm AM PM…as in the time….twee?? Well, as I’m a lover of words I realised that all I ever do is think about ceramics – almost 24hrs. I moved the initials around and hubby (in his eagerness to be right as always) suggested:
….P
A M
Hey presto, I liked it…now all I needed was the letters and lucky for me, hubby had a set of beautiful old steel letter stamps in a neat blue box which had been handed down to him. I loved it! Something old but breathing new life not only for my work but a real potters mark. So here is my attempt:
Its rough but its early days and I’ll get lots of practice over the coming months. I’m rather excited at having a potters mark. I feel privileged to join the many artists around the world that have made their mark whether it be ceramics, glass painting, sculpture, textiles, print making, or photography (just to list a few). BTW – if there are any potters out there that can help Judith in “our new project to make the marks used by Australian potters easy to find on the Internet” visit her blog at Australian potters’ marks.
This little promo appeared on my face book page yesterday courtesy of We Love Indepedents and I went yes! We so need a marketing campaign in Canberra encouraging people to spend local, think local and realise that there are small business owners out there in your local suburb that need your support. As the ad says “It takes YOU to start the trend” – so I thought okay…I’ve got a blog and can let you know my experience of working for a local business.
I work for a local chic boutique – Style Emporium – located at Ginninderra Village on the Barton Highway, Canberra – for map see Visit Canberra. Now, I can hear a groan or two as you might think “Oh! isn’t that some old tourist attraction?”. Yes, it does have tourist attractions but it also has some much needed shops that give you that fabulous feeling after devouring a lemon curd cupcake Cherry Seed, a BLT toasted in the oven Sweet Copper, touching beautiful materials and all things art & craft (Mimosa Interiors), gleefully holding miniatures, gifts and all things nice Thumbelina and generally experiencing a more relaxing way to browse, shop, and feel good about supporting your local businesses. The local ACT Government announced in June this year a Four-year $20 million investment to support Canberra businesses. I hope they stay true to funding”… A social media ‘Buy Local’ campaign, encouraging consumers to support local businesses, $20,000 over two years…”.
So next time, take the time to see what’s in your area, let your friends, family and colleagues know and start a worthwhile trend!
I finally bought some new promarker pens and finished this drawing I drew of Honeymoon Lake. I didn’t have the right greens and luckily ‘moss green’ and ‘pine green’ came to the rescue so that I could colour my drawing on a chilly Saturday night in Canberra listening to Bryan Ferry croon….
The views which inspired me to draw…
The pencil drawing…
The result…I know I still have lots to learn re: perspective, sight lines, differentiation between trees/leaves etc but its such a relaxing activity and gives me a break from the computer!
In February this year, our local Canberra CityNews garderner, Cedric Bryant alerted readers to a new breed of violas ready in time for Autumn saying ‘…new Viola Blue Porcelain with petite, clear, true blue and creamy-white flowers is a must…’. Well, of course moi had to go rushing to her nearest nursery after she got back from Seattle and Rodney’s ordered me a tray of these unheard violas! Well…look at my first viola:
In hanging baskets outside our bedroom and in terracotta, blue/white pots near the kitchen and I’m loving them!
Now onto the next project…to buy or not to buy delft wallpaper with porcelain plates! Can you believe it!
Or maybe the doona cover…it does come in blue too…or will Adam do a major runner 😉
