..and for the Grande Finale

For the Grand Finale of the Ultimate Virtual Teapot Competition I present Yi xing teapots without exception and Australian ceramicist extraordinaire Bruce Nuske.

Yi Xing teapots are still being produced after ten centuries and my favourites are made of a beautiful, fine grained purple clay. These teapots are made by hand in many designs. The traditional Yi xing teapots feature raised sprigs and small sculptures representing "Good Luck" or "Money". There are hundreds of designs from pumpkin shapes through to more formal plain surfaces. The quality of a Yi Xing teapot can be seen in the slightly metallic surface which should make a clear ringing sound when struck lightly and the lid which should fit without room for a single hair between the pot and the gallery. The teapot absorbs the flavour of the tea and it is said that a good quality Yi Xing teapot will be able to make tea after many years by just adding hot water.


Australian ceramicist Bruce Nuske is my final choice. His beautiful/crazy teapots combine an encyclopaedic knowledge of ceramic history and techniques with a whimsy and emphasis on surface design. I love the way Nuske's pots quote from the grand industrial traditions of the Victorians while being defiantly handmade. The surface design references chintzes, Wedgewood and other familiar industrial patterns but on close inspection reveals amazing technical details such as the piercing on this dried leaf teapot.

To find out a it more about Bruce there is a great article by Stephen Bowers here....

teapots continued......

My second choice is the wonderful Jane Sawyer's tactile, warm, heavy pot.  Regular readers of this blog will know that I use one of Jane's pots every day.  The finger marks in the slip give me so much pleasure as my hand washes the pot out brushing against the marks in counter rhythm.

The other pot I own is a Phil Elson teapot.  Phil is also an Australian potter and this teapot is just perfect in every way.  The pouring is particularly lovely as is the shape which manages to be both contemporary and classic.

The perfect pot of tea

Last night I had the honor of being the judge of the Maleny Teapot Competition!  The judging of the Functional section really got me thinking about what it is that I care for in a teapot.  I always have tea first thing in the morning and since I've had children it is mostly WAY too early.  The pot has to have a soothing quality to the handle.  Nothing about the way it works must jar me or make me feel as if I am about to drop the pot or hot water on myself.  The colours must be harmonious but also intriguing because, of course a cup of a tea is also essential in the afternoon.......

I don't mind a single drip in the pour as it is often the fault of the user rather than the design but I don't like more than one drip.  I like a teapot that when full is easy to lift with one hand.  

Making tea is such a lovely activity for me, my favourite tea a mixture of English Breakfast and Broken Orange Pekoe is drunk alone, with milk and Tasmanian Leatherwood honey staring out the window into the trees and thinking my thoughts.

Here I've compiled my dream competition I'd love to judge these pots  but it would have to be one of those unsatisfying competitions where everyone is a winner.

My first selection a Malcolm Greenwood teapot. Malcolm Greenwood is a Sydney based potter. His functional ware combines form and function. Malcolm's pots are designed to be integrated into life and exude calm and a quite authority.

Coming up....

I have a few things on the go and few coming up. This is the time of year where the quiet desperation in the studio (about not making enough work) is contrasted against the madness of exhibitions, markets and gala events.

I am part of a group show at the Noosa Regional Gallerey called "Flora"
Anna Varendorff, Barbara Hart, Carole Roberts, Cathy Keys, Dean Phipps, Justine Newport, KT Doyle, Liana Kabel, Melissa Harvey, Paul Hamilton, Shannon Garson, Zaishu. This show runs until the 27th of September.

On October the 31st and November the 1st Rebecca Ward and I are sharing a stall at the Finders Keepers Markets being held in the wonderfully gothic Old Museum Building in Brisbane.

Also Spring Fever, an exciting clay event will run on the Sunshine Coast from the 15th-19th of October. I'll be demonstrating along with Fleur Schell, Vipoo Srivilasa, and Jim Robison from the UK. I can highly recommend this kind of event as a great way to add to your skills, purchase pots direct from the makers and meet people.

There are heaps more but I've got the computer blues so I'll post,link and image when I'm back on track.

brave old world

We have been having computer troubles. In fact for the last week or so we have been computerless and it drove us nuts. We threw away the cumbersome old paper phonebook thinking "Who would ever need this hideous old thing, we can just google numbers" As a result on Saturday I had to ring Mum and get her to find the number for directory enquiries in her paper phone book, which she just couldn't locate! Anyway I've entered the brave old world and now own my own tiny, little computer. It's a bit like owning your first car (something I have not experienced) Now I have to actually take the responsibility of learning about how to care for this mysterious machine, to keep it running smoothly. As with the car I can visualize this machine becoming an integral part of my artistic practice. I hope it doesn't take me as long to learn how to use it - driving took about 20 years.

forked sundew- on the road to Poverty Point

DSCF6850, originally uploaded by shannongarson.

On the weekend jeweller Rebecca Ward, Fizzy D, Sweet Pea and I went up to Tin Can Bay. Rebecca and I were awarded an Arts Qld grant to do a huge collaborative project on the wallum swamps of Moreton Bay and SE Queensland. This was our first research trip and the wallum is such an inspiring place. To really see the wallum you have to get down on the ground. Amid the tangles of grasses shot through with melauca seedlings there are tiny, jewel like plants, such as this carnivorous Forked Sundew. We found these on the road to Poverty Point at Rainbow Beach.

So for the next year or so Rebecca and I will be taking field trips, taking photos with the end of a national travelling exhibition, accompanied by artists talks and workshops and a film edited by the wonderful Phoebe Hart of Hartflicker films.

We have set up a blog as part of this project here....