Monday morning eye candy from Josie Jurczenia

Here's some Monday morning eye candy from American potter Josie Jurczenia.


I love Josie's loose, slab style and retro 30's/40's feel. This pomegranate vase is in the new Lark books publication 500 Vases, unfortunately with the wrong name! (page 282). So now when you open page 282 and are stunned speechless by the vessel , you will be able to think "Hang on a minute..........Josie Jurczenia!"

Christmas work for studio sale

Studio Sale

Shannon Garson Porcelain and Rebecca Ward Jewellery

20^th November 2010

Maleny

9am-5pm

Launching a range of works from the “Swamp Cartography “ project at this years studio sale. We received a $40 000 Arts Qld grant last year to produce a body of work based around the Wallum areas of SE Qld including glasswork , jewellery and ceramics. I've has been working on a range of teapots and cups using the scribbly gum as inspiration. We travelled down to Canberra Glassworks in July this year and a range of beautiful, sandblasted, glass pendants will also be available at the studio sale.

The studio sale provides an opportunity to catch up with what local artists are doing and be one of the first to purchase work from “Swamp Cartography” series before it begins a national tour starting next year.

If you miss the sale my studio will be open by appointment during November and December.

The brittle, translucent beauty of barnacles

I've been on holiday at Stradbroke Island.
Sea anemones are pretty much my favourite of all the rock pool delights.
The silvery leaves of the banksia.

Artist Jennie Truman has opened up a lovely gallery at Point Lookout. "Drift -handmade treasures from the Pacific Rim" is full of beachside things, handmade porcelain beakers by Jo Armytage, shell mirrors sustainably harvested by Pacific Islanders and figurative ceramics by Monte Lupo. Jennie has restored the old building to it's ramshackle 50's glory including the beautiful, sandblasted mermaid window.
The brittle, translucent beauty of barnacles.

Craft Australia Newsletter

The Craft Australia newsletter this month focuses on studio ceramics.

There are a number of interesting articles including one written by ceramicist Angela Valamanesh on the arts/science crossover and how she has worked in this field. She points out that scientific methods of research combined with artistic methods such as intuition can lead artists in interesting direction. Valamanesh aslo explores the connection in her own work to microscopic images and scientific illustration.

The Craft Australia newsletter is available monthly straight to your inbox should you subscribe and is a valuable resource containing both articles and an opportunity section with grants, exhibition etc.

Molly Hatch- Contemporary American Decorative

This is the work of American ceramicist Molly Hatch. Molly's practice combines making domestic ware and creating amazing, beautiful exhibition installations. Molly's work explores the power of the domestic vessel. She says

"A cup or a bowl is almost universally accessible and navigable as most people use them in their daily lives. For me, the blank cup is anonymous in a manner similar to a blank piece of paper. The three-dimensional surface tableware provides is rich with conceptual potential as a place for drawings and paintings. Interaction is encouraged through the decoration of hidden surfaces—the underside of a cup, beneath a lid or on a handle. "
I've voiced many similar sentiments over the years!

As well as being a great artist Molly is a writer and academic and her blog "stripes and dots" is essential reading for followers of contemporary decorative ceramics and aesthetic concerns within the strange world of modern pottery.