Australian Vernaclar

I once read a comment that said the novel is the best way we have of talking about ourselves. I believe that art is another way we have of talking about ourselves. (Given the poor, unintelligible quality of much contemporary installation and video art this says a lot about human self knowledge!)



Contemporary craft in Australia illuminates and articulates our identity. Traditionally "The Bush" (as everywhere not in the city is known) has been a place of harsh landscapes and heroic sweaty, masculine types subduing or being beaten down by the unrelenting climate and isolation. Contemporary craftspeople are articulating the bush as a lyrical, poetic place of stillness, contemplation and subtlety.



Tania Rollond has been exploring landscape and memory for many years in her beautiful ceramics. Her latest work is a series of bottles. They reference human/nature interaction in their poetic titles such as "Bottle - An Autumn Crossing" and "Bottle - Rain & Light, Coming and Going" I love how Rollond has abstracted the landscape creating a meditation on our place in the land. This work is like a membrane, a conduit between culture and nature. Through Rollond's bottles the bush is redefined as a place of inspiration, and mystery not the be subdued or fought against but to be marvelled at. Rollond says that her work "do(es) not directly imitate nature, but parallel(s) its dynamics."




David Neale is based in Melbourne and has been exploring plant forms and nature in his jewelery. I love the sense of composition in these brooches. They remind me of Matisse's paper cut works from very late n his career. Once again nature and culture are bought together in an intelligent, non- didactic probing of the human place in the natural world.

Nightime in the Studio

magnolia drawings in kiln, originally uploaded by shannongarson.

Working into the night to finish the work for the show opening next Saturday. I have poor light in the studio and no light in the kiln shed. Packing huge porcelain bowls by candlelight certainly adds a frission of danger to the already slightly nerve-wracking process of firing!
Will there be any hidden hairline cracks in the rim exposed in this trail by fire?!!!!

I love how the candlelight makes the drawings on the pots look like Renaissance etchings.

In the Making

Craft Victoria is currently running in a "Month About Making". A celebration of the handmade.

This event includes an exhibition that I am part of. "In the Making" exhibits the work of 130 members of Craft Victoria and is a great snapshot of contemporary craft in Australia. From Helen Braun's tender ball of twine made from fragile lunch wrap....



.....to Simone Braund's beautiful spiral slab porcelain to......



.....Felicity Peter's chrysanthemum ring.



This exhibition encompasses the diversity of practice and ideas that Craft Victoria supports. You can see the whole catalogue and read the makers statements here.

connecting

I watched Denton last night and he interviewed Matt Harding. Matt is an ordinary, nice guy who started an internet phenomenon by videoing himself doing a daggy dance in exotic locations as he backpacked around the world. Matt's dancing got onto the blog scene and his video received thousands of hits on youtube.

This video is so moving, as Matt danced his funny dance around the world people began to join in. Watching people from all walks of life running and jumping up and down and laughing their heads off is unexpectedly life- affirming. From Buddhist monks to kids in Rwanda, what Matt has done is show us that we are all human, and in this big mess together.

This weird idea achieves the goal of all artists, to transcend barriers, to move people because they are human regardless of race colour or creed. Sometimes the art world is so busy staring up it's own fundament searching for meaning in the darkness it encounters there, examining the cultural waste like medieval soothsayers finding meaning in chicken guts that we forget that fun is inspiring, laughing is inspiring, movement is inspiring, the simplest idea can be meaningful.
Have a look...........

Head Cold

I have had a cold for the last week which- due to ignoring it has turned into an infection. The worst thing about all this (apart from the physical discomfort) was the fact that I felt guilty the whole time because I really have to get downstairs and make some work.


This is my bed -where I wanted to be all day

I felt bad about the cold but also about the fact that the weather has been freezing and I just didn't really want to go down into the dungeon and stick my hands in rapidly cooling muddy water for hours on end. I felt like such a wussy whinger that I was relieved in a way when it turned out to actually be a real medical problem! (albeit a slight one)

Sometimes running your own studio is like being back at uni. Every time you try to have fun you have a sense of guilt that you should be home studying.

Potters Alert!!!

Emily Murphy writes a really good pottery blog and has reviewed some revolutionary new tools.
Bison turning tools are made from tungsten carbide and apparently NEVER GO BLUNT!!!!!!!!!
They are quite expensive and can be fragile IE must not be dropped or they will crack but these Bison Tools sound fantastic. Emily reckons she has used the large loop tool for four years and it just needs sharpening now. You can send them back to Bison for sharpening.

So for throwers of porcelain particularly these tools could be very good. I'm always trying to eke out the life of my tools way beyond the point where it is beneficial for the pots or my wrists for that matter- next time I get a big cheque it's a Bison Tool for me.