3 Makers - Many Marks

One of my pieces for the exhibition 3 Makers - Many Marks opening Friday 21 04 2017 at the Association of Arts in Pretoria at 18h30. Also on the exhibition is work by Gaby Snyman and Nici Brockwell.

More Monochromatic Work

As I continue working with my new bone china body and the monochromatic surface treatment I am really excited about the results I am getting. Just out of the kiln is this piece, whiter and more translucent than ever. I am so excited with these pieces and cannot wait for the next firings.

A New Clay Body

It has been quite some time since my last blog post. One of the main things that have occupied my time is developing a new clay body. I have been working with Bone china for some time now and the kaolin that I used in the body was no longer available and as a result I have been busy with numerous tests trying to recreate the body I had. I opened a firing today and I am really thrilled with the result. If anything, I think it is better than the previous body I had. The translucency is exceptional as is the whiteness. To say I am happy is an understatement!

A detail of a piece from the last firing showing the translucency

Something Different

Looking to broaden my palette, a piece using cobalt and barium chloride giving strong blue and a wonderful dark blackish brown.

Kalk Bay Modern

Some of my most recent work can now be seen at Kalk Bay Modern in The Cape.

Decorated and Ready for the Kiln

Spent most of the afternoon decorating work with wax resist and soluble salts. This is one of the decorated pieces before being placed in the kiln and fired to 1260^oC. Always a tense time as so much can happen during the firing. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

White on White

A new example of my white on white work. Bone china with applied surface treatment.

New Explorations

I have been experimenting with mixing small amounts of oxide into my soluble salt solutions, producing results that I find to be very exciting. Below are 2 examples from a recent firing that I am particularly pleased with.

 

Images from Current Exhibitions

Here are 3 images of my work on the 2 exhibitions mentioned in my previous post. Thanks to Pamela Schroeder and Eugene Hӧn

Bone China with trailed surface. Image: Pam Schroeder

Bone China with painted soluble salt decoration. Image: Eugene Hӧn

Bone china with wax resist and layered application of soluble salts.
Image: Eugene Hӧn

Three Openings This Week

There are usually not many ceramic exhibitions on at one time in Gauteng, and to be a part of 3 openings in one week is quite a feat! Last Saturday saw the opening of 'Four Ceramicists' at the Kim Sacks Gallery which I featured in my previous post and it will run until the 5th January.
On Friday evening the 'Black and White' exhibition opened in Pretoria, and yesterday was the opening of 'Translucencies' at Art Afrique at Legacy Corner in the Mandela Square. It features the work of 7 ceramists using porcelain and bone-china as their preferred medium. It will run until Sunday 2 December.

Here are 3 images of my work on the exhibitions

Four Ceramicists at Kim Sacks Gallery

Black & White at Association of Arts

Translucencies at Art Afrique

Testing Testing Testing

I love coming up with new ideas and testing and developing them into my work. I have been carrying out a number of new tests recently using the soluble salts in new combinations and I find this particular one quite exciting and it opens many new opportunities for development.

Corbrik National Ceramics Exhibition: Last Days

2012 COROBRIK NATIONAL CERAMICS EXHIBITION

Pretoria Art Museum cor. Francis Baard (Schoeman) & Wessels Streets Arcadia

An image of my work on the exhibition by Pam Schroeder. 

The exhibition ends on Sunday, and on Saturday 20 October at 2:30pm I will be conducting a walkabout at the exhibition

The Pretoria Art Museum charges an entry fee but is waiving this for people coming for the walkabout on Saturday. Don’t miss out.

CSA Regional Exhibition 2012

On show at the Ceramics S A Regional Exhibition at Museum Africa, Johannesburg. 

My work, pierced bone china, on show at this year's regional exhibition hosted by Ceramics Southern Africa at Museum Africa in Newtown, Johannesburg. The piece at the back of the group is by Sandy Godwin. The exhibition runs until the 25th May.

Looking Back at 'Andrew Walford & Friends'

What a wonderful week spending and sharing time at the iStore Sandhurst with fellow exhibitors at the show 'Andrew Walford and Friends' The opening was well attended as seen by the images here. Ronnie Watt opened the exhibition, and it was so wonderful to reconnect with old friends and to make a number of new ones.

Ronnie Watt: the opening address

A great turn out at the opening

Some of the work on view

Recent Work

A selection of some of my recent work 

A New Direction

When I first started working with Bone China I pierced most of the pieces. I have decided to revisit this work but instead of only drilling I am now also cutting the work. Quite different from my work with soluble salts but definitely a direction I want to explore more. Let me know what you think.



The Watercolor look

I am posting these images of what I call the watercolor look. I have had  positive feedback on my new work and yet there is something about the ethereal quality in these that I find really successful.

Exhibition Time Again

It's all happening.
'David Walters and Friends' at WHAG, which I was once again honored to be part of, opened in Kimberley 2 weeks ago.
I am looking forward to tomorrow night's opening of the C S A Gauteng regional exhibition at the University of Pretoria, always and exciting event.
This weekend in Johannesburg, together with painters Rudi Trap and Andre Naude I am  the third part of the exhibition '3 South African Artists'.
It is really wonderful to have all this happening at this time and for those of you that might not get to see the exhibitions here are 2 images of some of my new work for these shows.

A Time of Transition

I cannot believe that it is over 3 months since my last post. Although I may not have been blogging  I have been doing what I enjoy the most, and that is experimenting. Still using the soluble salts I have come up with a new method of applying them in combination with wax resist. I think the results are quite different to my previous work, and I really like them. I have included 3 images and I would really appreciate your opinion.

My Casting Process

Here I am showing the casting process I use to make my Bone China vessels which are later decorated with soluble salts before being fired to vitrification. Thanks to Eugene Hon for the images.

All my moulds are one piece drain moulds made from a paperplaster mix. Instead of the conventional Plaster of Paris spare I use a wide adhesive tape which I place around each mould before casting

Before each session of casting the slip is well stirred and then passed through a small sieve to remove any lumps and to ensure thorough mixing

The slip is then poured, again through the small sieve into the moulds, where it is left to cast for 60 - 90 seconds

 Once the cast has sat for the required time the mould is emptied

And the adhesive tape removed. After draining inverted for about 10 minutes the mould is set upright and the top is trimmed after a further 10 minutes. The pieces are left in the mould overnight and removed the following day.