being human

I've been watching a documentary called "The Choir of Hard Knocks" . It follows the work of an opera singer, Jonathan Welch as he forms and records a cd of songs with a choir of homeless and disadvantaged people in Melbourne. Jonathan saw the idea in a Readers Digest magazine, secured sponsorship and donated his time and expertise to this wonderful program. Apart from being a great philanthropic venture "The Choir of Hard Knocks" is a documentary about the power of art.

The documentary follows some of the singers, exploring their home lives (what little some of them have) and following the difficulties they face through illness, poverty and struggles with drugs and alcohol getting to rehearsal. When these people arrive and begin to sing it's as if their secret, inner selves are coming out through their voices. If you closed your eyes and just listened you wouldn't know that the beautiful, innocent young girl was a single mother, battling addiction, with a care worn face and nervous manner, some of the old ladies sound just like they are singing along to the church organ ( You know those voices that carry the whole congregation and pick the mumblers up to a higher level?) and will go on to scones and tea afterwards. This alchemy captures the power and vulnerability of being human.

I think this glimpse of the human condition is one of the most valuable things an artist can bring to the world. Great artists manage to capture this vulnerability and passion in every genre. The drawings of Cy Twombly....


food of Thomas Keller....


The rough delicacy of a Simon Reece teabowl...

Excellent Jewels

Anna Davern, Melbourne jeweller, excellent jewels- cool blog.

pink magnolia blossom

pink magnolia blossom, originally uploaded by shannongarson.

A bud from the secret garden.

sticks and stones

Yesterday I saw part of a great documentary called "Being Here - The Art of Dan Horgan" on Californian gardener, landscape designer, artist Dan Horgan. Horgan responds to the landscape by making cairns and drystone sculptures from local rock, sticks, stones and sand. He creates sensitive, beautiful, ephemeral works. One scene of the documentary showed a beautiful silvery green olive grove planted years earlier. His work is similar to the work of Andy Goldsworthy.


I love the way these two men draw attention to the rugged untamed landscape by creating a man-made object. These sculptures respond so directly to their materials and over time gradually , or violently erode leaving ....the landscape.

Over the years I have been very inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and in fact the "Nest " series of bowls that I wrote about in the previous blog were partly inspired by Goldsworthy's "Midsummer Snowballs"

I loved everything about this project from the collecting of snow in the deepest winter and creating huge snowballs filled with rocks, wool, and sticks through to transporting the huge snowballs to a frozen food factory which was the only place big enough to store them until midsummer! Eventually these snowballs ended up on the streets of London and I love the stories of what happened to them, one got kicked to bits by drunks, one was in the way of stall holders at the Spitalfields markets and was gently lifted from place to place until it disapeared.

Tinker, tailor, potter, designer....

I am in an exhibition called Queensland New Design which opened last night at Craft Queensland in the Valley in Brisbane. As an artist I am really pleased to be part of this exhibition . It is often overlooked that artist are designers. In the art world good design is spoken about in terms of composition, color , line and form. The artist combines all of these elements , refining the concept until, with these simple ingredients the finished piece articulates the idea in the clearest way possible.

“This first-time event marks the great ‘unearthing’ of our State’s design wealth and the future of innovative design in Queensland,” Craft Queensland Executive Director Chetana Andary says. Highlighting new designs and tapping into the hottest local design talent, the QND program is set to showcase eleven ‘best of the best’ hand-made objects from the state’s simmering design scene."

This is the publicity blurb for this event and it is kind of a funny place for my work to be as it highlights design particularly the type of design which heads towards being manufactured in bulk. When I went to the judging for the shortlist one of the judges asked me" if I had considered getting my works manufactured in China." At the time I was so shocked I just said that was not where I saw my practice going but what I really meant was I think it is unethical to get your work manufactured in another country simply because the people there will work for very low wages. It is also environmentally and socially unsustainable to ship work across the world and back again.

Manufacturing my work in the community I live in strengthens the both the community and the artist. I buy my clay from a local business and, should I ever become prosperous enough I will be able to employ local people. I think it is really important for artists to manufacture within their communities, it leads to a greater understanding of what artists do and makes a rich, textured community where productivity leads directly to local products and local profits.


Am I an artist or a designer? A potter or a ceramicist or a ceramist!? What do we call ourselves and how does it define us?

Magnolia Project

DSCF0966, originally uploaded by shannongarson.

I have started a new project. It is based around an amazing garden with a magnolia orchard. This morning I packed Sweet Pea , a pram , my camera, sunhat, notebook and assorted bits a fabric which the well- prepared mother should never travel without for wiping up unexplained and inexplicable messes, into the car and drove to the lovely secret garden. It has been planted for the future when all the magnolia will grow in to wood and ther branches will combine creating a dappled , twisted canopy of blossom.

autumn

pomgranate 2, originally uploaded by shannongarson.

Autumn, pomegranates, the leaves are finally changing colour......my favourite season.

udderly delicious

Fliss Dodd from "Udder" has started a blog. Fliss makes wonderful, weird and sweet toys. Welcome to the blogosphere!