Wednesday 28 November 2012

Just a quickie!!

Happy Thursday everyone! I have had a full week of running around, a lustre firing, wrapping, packing and posting finished orders.... And with only two more sleeps have to organise the suitcase for our USA road trip... EEEKKKK!! So this is short and sweet this morning... I wanted to show you the results of the lustre firing, I use Duncans bright gold and fire to cone 019 or
 683 degrees celcius and I love the results! What do you think?
 








 
Anyway I must run, those suitcases will not pack themselves... If only it was a matter of just clicking our fingers!!
 
As this will be my last Blog for 2012 I do hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas with your loved ones and are kept safe and sound in this Festive Season... May good fortune be with you for the rest of 2012 and certainly for 2013! Wishing you all participating in markets lots and lots of sales!! And May God Bless you all...........
 
Mudcolony is open and everyone has been frightfully busy, don't forget to have a look to see what everyone is doing!!
 

Thursday 22 November 2012

Candle Holders,Tea Pots and Pendants...


 Christmas is coming fast and the last couple of weeks has been just a weeee bit hectic... Our interstate move, finding a new place to live, finding a new school and unpacking and then unpacking some more. It felt like it wasn't going to get done. I had a few orders to complete and my Mum, Dad and brother came for a 2week stay with us. Which was wonderful! So in between touring our new area here in the Adelaide Hills with my family I made a promise to myself to do a couple of things each day so that I kept my self on track.  So below are the pieces that were completed and in a green state, they have been bisque fired and are now in my little kiln awaiting for that switch to be flicked tomorrow morning for their glaze firing.... So my fingers, toes and everything else possible will be crossed for a successful glaze firing...

Below are my candle holders that have been incised and carved....









 These are my newly painted pendants. My Dad painted 3 double sided pendants with his landscapes, I just loved sitting with him and painting together...


 


I felt like a little bit of colour on my new Funky Tea Pot....
And I love it!!


Even it's bottom had a little bit of attention and detail added... :)

Something a little different with the lid....

And my nature inspired tea pot....

 
 
I have really enjoyed working on these new pieces and I do hope the new owners will be happy with them.....
Thank you for visiting and please
Don't forget the Mudcolony link is open and everyone has been busy so pop on over and have a look see!! http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/
 

Friday 2 November 2012

All systems go...

The excitement of opening the kiln after working on new ideas and pieces will always keep me wanting to create more...  Even before knowing whether on opening it will be a success or a failure, my mind is forever thinking "what next?"...

So my interstate move has come and gone and I am finally set up with my work area organised and my little kiln plugged in and in working order! (Enter big sigh of relief here!)... It has been wonderful being able to sit at my wheel again and get my hands dirty.

In my last post I talked about our road trip interstate to our new home and along the way I designed pendants that were inspired by the gorgeous landscape along the way. I was able to bisque fire and glaze these pieces this week, the first firings in our new surrounds. And my little kiln did me proud...  And along with the fact that it was all experimental for me with the glazing process of the pendant as it was a first ever time I had worked with Nichrome wire for the purpose of suspending the pendants for an all over glaze finish. The thoughts of whether the wire rods would slump and the pendants would all slide together and end up as one large joined mass was a major concern. But to my delight they stayed in place and the glazing was a success!! I was so excited!


Set up of the pendants on the nichrome rods before
loading into the kiln...

Loaded and ready...

 Underglazed handpainted butterfly...
 
 
 
Transfer butterflies...
 
 Underglazed outback pendants...
 
Handpainted Pendants...
 
And here are a few Bud Vases...
 
Hand painted dragonfly Bud vase underglaze...
 I'm thinking some gold lustre will be nice on this one...

 Hand painted butterfly underglaze... Gold lustre on this one too...


Hand painted Cherry blossom...

 
Fish bowl, cesco deep blue with sgraffito....
 
It's so nice to be back at it again!!
 Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!
 
Mudcolony is a blog where other Potters share what they have been up to in there studios come and visit and see what everyone has been up to.... http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/
 
 
Face Book Link -  http://www.facebook.com/anniejeanspottery
 

Saturday 6 October 2012

Are we there yet??

 

 
Are we there yet, are we there yet?? Yes we sure are, we are here in the Adelaide hills after a fantastic road trip across the Nullarbor from Perth WA, and it is so gorgeous! Rolling green hills, wild flowers and views that take your breath away! And as my pottery has been packed away I have had to find other means to keep my hands in it. So I decided that pendants might just be the little project while on the road that I could have a go at... So I had my trustie notepad and pen in hand and I started sketching designs and as we drove the more I was inspired by the wonderful country we live in. The wild flowers of Western Australia onto the roads and the colour of the outback and the Nullarbor Plains, the sunsets and sunrises and the gorgeous blue sky... Simply stunning in my opinion...

Firstly wild flowers and butterflies, dragonflies and swirls...

Then the colours of the outback, the strangly trees with outstretched
 arms reaching upwards to the stunning blue sky!


 
The gorgeous orange red soil that surrounds the tall lanky trees
and Boab trees (also known to many as the Bottle Tree) is so vibrant, and
the stunning blue of the sky contrast to create an unforgetable picture!
Even the road we drive plays a part in the landscape...
 



So finally after the drive to Adelaide I had a chance late last night to
play with my clay and underglazes. So i strated rolling and cutting
some shapes to then go ahead and paint my ideas...

 
And here is what I came up with so far...  So now
I'm hoping that it will not be to much longer and I
can bisque my new pendants and  then clear glaze them...
And that will be in between unpacking and organising
our new house... :)


I'm off to check out Mudcolony come and have a look too and join in and share what you have been up to!!  Here's the Link... http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/ 

Thanks for stopping by... Take care...

Facebook Link : http://www.facebook.com/anniejeanspottery
 

Sunday 9 September 2012

It's nearly time!!

Well here we are two weeks out from our move from Perth Western Australia  to Adelaide South Australia... We are all sorted, our house sold yayyyy and we are just awaiting to finalise with a Pick up from the removalists in 2 wks and hand over of the house keys to the new owners and we will hit the road for the drive over. Around the lower WA coastline and around the Great Australian Bight across the Nullabor and into Adelaide. We have driven most of this before and we loved it. Places that you would never get to experience if travelling in a plane. The awsome coastline of the Bight, the whales and their calves in their natural environment is truelly something to be seen. And the drive along the longest and straightest strip of road in Australia where there is nothing but wide open space and the sightings of big Red kangaroos, Emus, wombats and Camels in their own natural environment... It sure is a sight to see... The vastness is sometimes hard to explain, but in a strange way I find it peaceful. The colours are so vibrant and I can totally understand how many artists are inspired by it and use it's colours and textures and forms within there work... Which leads me to my own work and hoping that all of this does not take to long so that I can have my hands back into my clay and back to creating again which I love so much. It brings so much joy to me and I am missing it very much at the moment as it is all packed away... So I have been looking at my photos of my favourite pieces and thinking about what I will next create, what I can better and new ideas to try when I am all set up again... So below are a few of my favourite pieces I would like to share with you....


I love the pieces when they are still green...


Candle holders...

Tea Set and all sorts...

Hand painted salad bowl...


That first glimpse into the kiln, the gloss just makes you want to touch and hold it...

Turquoise carved salad bowl...

Hand painted bowls...

My first Lustre firing....

My first ever Tea Pot...


I love Tea cups and swirls....

Lotus design Tea set...

Lotus cups and saucers...

And last but not least cup cakes and cake stand....

Thank you for stopping by and please pop on over and see what everyone else has been up to at Mud Colony....
http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/

Face Book Link -  http://www.facebook.com/anniejeanspottery