Tasmanian Ceramics Association

Transcription

1 Newsletter of the Tasmanian Ceramics Association No. 296 February 2013 Southern Branch PO Box 82, New Town, 7008 Cosgrove High School, G Block, Main Rd Glenorchy, 7010 tasmanianceramics.com enquiries@tasmanianceramics.com Editor Robin Roberts robin.7@bigpond.net.au Are there elements that make ceramics in Tasmania unique? If they exist, how could they be leveraged to give 2018 a point of difference? The Tasmanian Ceramics Association is now affiliated with Tasmanian Regional Arts FROM THE PRESIDENT The recent bushfires in Tasmania have seen whole communities devastated and numerous friends and colleagues have lost their homes, outbuildings, workshops and studios. The speed that the temporary school at Dunalley was made ready for students is testament to the strong community spirit we have here in Tasmania and in times like these I am proud to be a Tasmanian. The Tasmanian Ceramics Association members have been working quietly towards rebuilding their own communities, offering art works for auction and sorting out working bees for fellow artisans. If you would like some further help from the TCA please me at kimfoale@bigpond.com and I will see what we can do to help you. If you have a community event planned please let me know and I will also share the details on our Facebook page. Last year I attended the wonderful "Subversive Clay" Ceramics Triennale in Adelaide. As well as enjoying all the diverse demonstrations, forums and panels. I also attended a meeting of the representatives of all the ceramic associations in Australia. At this meeting I indicated that Hobart would be very pleased to host the Ceramics Triennale in Whilst it seems a lifetime away, time is already flying, and so high level planning has already begun. We want it to be a fabulous event that stimulates and supports your practice. What sort of speakers and events would you like to see for the 2018 Triennale? Who would you like to see come here from overseas? What sort of speakers and events do you think would draw a strong crowd from interstate? What key theme(s) do you believe the Tasmanian Triennale for 2018 should address? Why? Please your ideas and answers to me, Kim Foale at kimfoale@bigpond.com. As the chair of the Triennale Steering Committee, I am determined that this event will be as inclusive as we can possibly make it and for that to be possible we need your input. Warm Regards Kim Foale ANNUAL EXHIBITION 2013 Mark your calendars members. This year our Annual Exhibition at Schoolhouse Gallery, Rosny, is going to be much earlier than usual running from 3 26 May. Sunday May 5 th will be the official opening and presentation of awards. The theme for this year is Feat of Clay. SAD NEWS We would like to get your input at this early stage to help set the theme for the conference. Any ideas and thoughts are welcome. To help shape your thoughts, perhaps you would consider the following questions: Do you believe the ceramics community here faces similar or different issues to the mainland states? Vale Lilia Margaret Weatherly On December 3, 2012 after a short illness, Lilia passed away peacefully. She was a wonderful potter and a life member of the Tasmanian Ceramics Association. Vale Janet Mansfield Very sad news Janet Mansfield peacefully passed away on Monday 4 February 2013 at Mudgee Hospital.

2 WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS FOR 2013 Feb 26 4 March to hold Sallee Warner Sidespace Gallery Salamanca Art Centre. March for 10 weeks A MONDAY POTTERY CLASS will be held in the studio from 10-1 on Mondays for 10 weeks, starting in March Contact Jude Maisch for details Eve Howard bird sculpture workshop. Date and details to be confirmed. The TCA has the opportunity to hold a cob-oven building workshop next summer with Kate Ogden (details follow). TO HOLD SALLEE WARNER Sidespace Gallery Salamanca Arts Centre Level 1, 77 Salamanca Place Until 4 th March Sunday March 17 Zsolt Faludi workshop at his premises at Glen Huon. 14 April to 11 May FIRED UP 2 Recent work by eleven Tasmanian ceramic artists Studio 2Eleven, 211 Mount Street, Upper Burnie Sunday 21 April Working Bee at Dunalley for Tim Holmes May 2013 'On the Brink' Porcelain sculptures and ink drawings by Anna Williams Lightbox, Salamanca Arts Centre. May 3-26 Tasmanian Ceramics Association Annual exhibition 2013 Feat of Clay Judging by Julie Stoneman and Clyde Selby. Schoolhouse Gallery Rosny. 23 May 2 June In the Detail Ceramics, drawings, paintings and digital images Jill Edwards, Robin Roberts and Bronwyn Theobald Sidespace Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre. May 31 Jenny Orchard at Polytechnic Hunter St Details to be confirmed. 16 August 8 September Stairway to Heaven Ceramics by Christine Crisp and John Watson Schoolhouse Gallery Rosny. August 2013 Sally Warner exhibition to hold This magnificent body of work by Sallee Warner is very special and groundbreaking in a literal, kind of sense. It takes hard work and persistence to mount an exhibition of this size combining clay bodies with special clays dug from the local landscape at Lady Bay, Treasure Beach and Surges Bay. Sallee s work has an inherent beauty in its use and simplicity, which you can see in this exhibition. She revels in this simplicity and thereby she reveals for us a connection to the land, and a love of the objects that live in our homes and hearts. Sallee has been influenced lately by the writings of the Soetsu Yanagi, Japanese philosopher and founder of the mingei (or folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. From his book, The Unknown Craftsman, comes a passage in it where he asks himself, What is the special quality of beauty in crafts? A: The special quality of beauty in crafts is that it is a beauty of intimacy. Since the articles are to be lived with every day, this quality of intimacy is a natural requirement. Such beauty establishes a world of grace and feeling. It is significant that in speaking of craft objects, people use terms such as savour and style. The beauty of such objects is not so much of the noble, the huge, or the lofty as a beauty of the warm and familiar. Here one may detect a striking difference between the crafts and the arts. People 2

3 hang their pictures high up on the walls, but they place their objects for everyday use close to them and take them in their hands. Influential friends and potters like Ben Richardson, and the recent Tasmanian Woodfire conference in Deloraine, which was a special revelation for her, have contributed to Sallee s thinking. She experienced first - hand the integrity and depth of meaning in ceramic that sources and uses local materials. WORKSHOP WITH ZSOLT FALUDI, AT GLEN HUON Sallee has become quite an alchemist over the past little while, opening herself up to the serendipity of experimentation. As you will discover, not one of these pots are alike, and all lovingly crafted with discovered local southern clays. This stunning exhibition design takes us on a journey of exploration and discovery of a distinctly Tasmanian nature. Apple wood ash, Pine Ash and hardwood ash from her stove has been combined with local slips and shinos, and brushed on to form glazes. A labour of love, of exploration and playfulness, as well a timeless integrity exudes from Sallee s bowls and cups. Objects that aspire to be born, not just made. From this work we can see what Sallee values most, but also what we all value the most. Do you not see the subtle colours of the rocks and trees, the sand and stone, the ocean reflecting the sky? Do you not hear the merriment around the table of a beautifully prepared meal? This is a beautiful family affair, from the plinths built by husband Pete and beautiful photographs that tell the story by daughter Molly. Excerpts from the opening talk by Sara Wrigh.t Tuesday 26 th February Zsolt Faludi The Tasmanian Ceramics Association is holding a workshop with professional ceramicist and teacher Zsolt Faludi at his home and studio 785 Glen Huon Road, Glen Huon on Sunday 17 th March from , the home which he now shares with his partner Nanna. This demonstration workshop will include clay making from local clay (and using it for building), throwing, turning, lids and handles, surface treatment and glazes. It is an opportunity for participants to watch and learn from a very experienced and skilled ceramicist, who has been working with clay since his apprenticeship in Hungary with master potter Janos Dugar in Since migrating to Tasmania in 1984 Zsolt has held many solo exhibitions, participated in many group shows, taught extensively and is currently teaching at Polytechnic ceramics in Hunter Street. From he was head of SVPA, University of Tasmania in Launceston. He has won many awards and prizes and is represented in many private and public collections. Following the workshop all are invited to partake in a pizza party, using Zsolt s home-made pizza oven (those who want to join in this can bring favourite toppings or other dishes to be cooked in the oven such as pumpkin, other veggies, or cake (More details for participants later). Zsolt said of the workshop: My grandparents (on my fathers side) were small farmers back in Hungary. They ran a humble operation on a small 3

4 farm growing crops and keeping farm animals; had veggie garden, orchard, and a vineyard: moreover, grandpa was an absolutely brilliant beekeeper. It was a fantastic place to hang out for a city kid, and I spent many Summers there. Now strangely after all these years, I find myself aspiring to practice ceramics akin to the life I experienced on the farm, to work with clay, for lack of a better word in a humane way, and to let being and practice merge into some sort of organic, creative whole. I hope to give you a small sample of my (our) aspirations and to demonstrate what I (we) have been hoping to achieve. BOOK IN FOR THIS WORKSHOP by phoning ( ) or ing Jude Maisch. (jude@judemaisch.com.au) by Monday 11 th March. Cost $40 members, $55 non-members payable on the day. Enquire for directions and car pooling. Bring lunch to share. consultancy, while at the same time developing his studio at Potter s Croft. Tim said recently that the fire has had him now decide to move on from his building work and get back into pottery. He said that a working bee with the TCA would be great and we would be disassembling his old wood kiln and stacking the bricks on pallettes. WHEN: 10.am late afternoon on Sunday 21 April. WHERE: Potter s Croft, Dunalley. (When travelling from Hobart on the Tasman Highway it is on the left before you drive into Dunalley township, on a corner, overlooking the water). WHAT TO BRING: Old clothes, boots, gloves, a mask, some tools for cleaning bricks. It may be a good idea to mark your tools so you don t lose them. Food to share and drinks. CAR pooling is a good idea. DUNALLEY WORKING BEE FOR TIM HOLMES ENQUIRIES: to Jude Maisch jude@judemaisch.com.au Let Jude know if you will be coming along. WOULD YOU LIKE A COB OVEN? Tim Holmes Tim Holmes and his family recently lost most buildings in the January fires which swept through Dunalley. Along with buildings was his collection of woodfired, work from potters world-wide that many of us saw at the sticky-beak tour several years ago. His early Tasmanian woodfired collection that he showed at Woodfire Tasmania in 2011 is also gone. Tim, before establishing The Potter s Croft had a studio and successful pottery at Garden Island Creek. Several of us in the 1980 s, myself included, were lucky enough to have him as a TAFE teacher at Rosny College. For many years he has been putting his desire to get back into woodfiring on hold while pursuing his building Cob, one of the most environmentally friendly building methods in existence, has been used to build homes and baking ovens for centuries. Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, straw and water, similar to adobe. It is fireproof, long lasting, and relatively inexpensive. The TCA has the opportunity to hold a cob-oven building workshop next Summer with Kate Ogden. This will happen only if there is sufficient interest. The 2 day workshop requires 10 people ($100 each) as participants, who will learn how to build a cob oven, and a host who will have the oven built at their property. Kate Ogden has worked in natural building for the past 5 years. Having been introduced to the concept by a natural building collective The Mud Girls, BC Canada. Kate is currently working on a straw bale house and recently completed a small cob cabin, which she calls home 4

5 (Tasmania). Kate has also built ovens, benches and a combination of both for community-based projects. For more information contact Jude Maisch (jude@judemaisch.com.au) (ph ) IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BEING A HOST/RECIPIENT OF A COB OVEN OR WILL BE INTERESTED IN THIS WORKSHOP PLEASE LET ME KNOW BEFORE MAY, AS IF THERE IS INSUFFICIENT INTEREST I WILL LET KATE KNOW. jude@judemaisch.com.au THE COSGROVE STUDIO Notes from the Studio For all your pottery and ceramic supplies (large variety of clays underglazes, raw materials, corks, tools, brushes, etc). Full range of heavy duty and ceramic kilns. Please ring for a quote on bulk orders direct from the manufacturer. Service is our number one priority Come and get your hands dirty! The studio is open for all members to use, offering a borrowing library, slab roller, small kiln and a light airy place to work, also our wonderful collection of ceramics to inspire you. The keys are at Derwent Ceramics (just check Denis hours. See ad in this newsletter). If using the studio on the weekends, or after five you will need to use the alarm just inside the door. Off Centre at Salamanca Arts Centre (77 Salamanca Place) also has a set of keys. They can be contacted on Cost is $5 per day or $3 for half a day. Firing your work attracts further charges. So... please make use of this facility and enjoy. Enquires can be made to Sallee Warner A MONDAY POTTERY CLASS will be held in the studio from 10-1 on Mondays for 10 weeks, starting in March Both wheel work and handbuilding are covered, together with a range of decorative techniques. No order is too large or too small (we can post up to 30 kg anywhere in Tasmania for $5.50 including GST). NEW CATALOGUE OUT NOW Phone Fax tony@microtech.com.au Derwent Ceramic Supplies 16b Sunderland St, Moonah Ph Clays, glazes, underglazes, tools, kilns (& furniture), pottery wheels, firing service, books and videos to borrow Open: Monday, Tuesday & Friday 9.00am 5.00pm Wednesday 1.00pm 5.00pm Closed: Wednesday mornings & Thursday 5