Next Sunday the 21st of October, the Tasmanian Ceramics Association’s annual exhibition opens at 2pm, at the Rosny School House Gallery.
You are all invited to come along to the opening and have a glass of wine and some cheese and bickies, as well as admire the diverse range of work created by the members of the Tasmanian Ceramics Association.
I have been fiddling about with various pieces of work trying to get a grouping together that I like. This is what I have come up with so far. It is also a chance for me to practice photographing my work, which is tricky as I am not a photographer and I forget what the various settings on my camera do. But I can tell you that rocks found by the river at Risdon Cove begin to melt at precisely 1260 degrees so that has to count for something.
This is my makeshift photography studio and yes it does look suspiciously like my main work table.
This work, titled “Lament” will be going into the “Forty Years in the Making” exhibition, as it has been about forty years since plastics began to take over the world. The environmental tragedy that is caused by plastic pollution has been about forty years in the making. All the work is made from Southern Ice porcelain, the touchstones are imprinted with marks made from cigarette lighters retrieved by Dr Jennifer Lavers, from the bellies of dead Laysan Albatross on the Kure Atoll in 2009.
This work again references plastic pollution and is titled “Plastication”
This final work is titled Sclerophyll Jug and Cup. Mainly because I couldn’t think of a name and jug and cup will do. I live surrounded by dry sclerophyll forest and the marks on the jug and cup are made from a piece of bark that fell from one of the blue gums on my property. A lot of the trees here are dying a slow death and as I watch the trees die, I worry about the future of this, my country, my place.
And these final two are bowls that are not going into the exhibition but are available for sale from the Off Centre Gallery in Salamanca Arts Centre. I haven’t sold any work at all this month and the prospect of having to pay a full months rent is daunting, so if you want to buy any of my work can you please head down to Salamanca and help me out.
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I adore your work as always. Can you tell me the price of the bowl that is on the top of your Salamanca wares? It is so earthy and organic and quintissentially Australian.
I will email you. 🙂
I can’t get down to Salamanca, but how much is that top bowl?
Okay, how much is the other one too?
I love the pieces titled Sclerophyll jug and cup.
The other one is almost identical to the one I gave you River. I will make you some and you tell me the colours you want and then I will send them to you C.O. D and then all you have to do is pay the postage. x
Amazing pieces, Kim. Wish I was closer so I could come and see them in person.
Thank you 🙂
Your photos look goood. Love the fragility of “Plastication”. Hope the exhibition goes really well. Pardon my colossal ignorance but why are the trees dying? Heart-breaking. Are you still making your everyday cups/mugs/drinking vessels or are you tired of making them? I’d like more, but not if it’s too difficult or will send you batty.
I am not sure why the trees are dying. Environmental stress? In 2008 we were in the middle of a big drought and the trees were under a great deal of stress and a land owner up the road put in a new dam and I think that stress of the drought opened the door for the insects to take more of a toll than usual. But really Jebaru it is more widespread than my small piece of country. The large trees are struggling but at the same time there are lots of saplings shooting up.
And yes I am still making the cups. I have a dozen or so in the studio ready to sell. All white with sky blue streaks. If you want different ones I can make some to order (Easy Peasy). I am about to make some porcelain ones with a bright red streak using some samples of a new slip I was given at the Triennale not sure how they will go yet.
Great, Kim! I’ll be buying three or four if poss. I trust your instincts and what you do, so if there are a few at Off Centre the weekend of 10th/11th November, that would be good. I love mine. It’s my “ah, contented sigh, it’s the weekend” cup. I hope kinder tree conditions prevail and they recover. I still mourn my gorgeous gum.
I can come down and meet you for a coffee if you have time? But I understand how hectic these flying visits are. I reckon that I will only have white cups with sky blue highlights (the skydancer series) in the OC then as I wont be during another firing until mid November. But if there isn’t anything there that you like don’t buy anything 🙂 and we can sort something out later.
You are a true, fierce, spectacular warrior artist. So talented. I just googled Off Centre Gallery but can’t order online.
Can I place an order with you?
(‘Lament’ is one of my favourite words.)
As the Off Centre is a “co-op” with ten artists sharing the space it is too hard to coordinate an online shop Eden, though it would be lovely. Of course you can buy my work just send me an email and we can sort something out. I am also happy to take commissions Eden 🙂
I would love to buy some of your mugs some time too, not sure if you post to Queensland? Lament is right. I had no idea of how bad the plastic pollution was still I started reading your posts. Damn you for enlightening me! I try not to think about it, but it just keeps circling around in there. Back to making my own body scrubs though, since that awful photo of the plastic beads. Sugar and olive oil is every bit as good and a lot more biodegradable.
I have some of the tall cups here at the moment, the ones with the blue highlight. But I wont have any of the others available until December. And yes I post to Queensland 🙂
And as for the plastic, we just have to keep on plugging away trying to raise awareness. Small steps Alison, small steps
Excellent, maybe we could start with two, would you mind emailing me details of payment? I could do electronic bank deposit if that works for you?
One thing I am very glad off, I started using sandwich keepers instead of ziplock bags when jake was about 4 (he’s 15 now). I think of all those thousands of bags I didn’t use. But then I think of all the thousands of plastic things I did use. It is overwhelming sometimes. But yes, if I can cut down every day and tell others what you told me about the scrubs and that great ocean dump thingy (turns out my dh and son did know about it, rather wish I didn’t!), well I don’t know how much good I can do, but I do know doing nothing will do exactly that for the problem.