Andrew Walford Exhibition this Weekend

It is always interesting to visit Liebermann Pottery at The Old Gasworks, and this weekend is even more attractive as Andrew Walford on of South Africa's most revered potters has an exhibition running until Sunday. Don't miss it!

Workshop by Ruthanne Tudball in Bryanston

Samsara

I urge you to make every effort to see this beautiful exhibition!

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.

C S A National Exhibition

Undoubtedly one of the major events on the South African ceramics calendar is the National Exhibition hosted by Ceramics Southern Africa. This exhibition opens today at the Pretoria Art Museum cor. Francis Baard (Schoeman) & Wessels Streets  Arcadia at 11:30 am and runs until the 21st October.

At today's opening, awards totalling R30,000 will be presented by Daphne Corregan, an international ceramic artist from France, and new Fellows of Ceramics Southern Africa will be announced.
 

During the run of the exhibition on Saturday October 13 Three well known personalities will present a panel discussion on ceramics at the Pretoria Art Museum 
 At 10.30 a.m. Ronnie Watt, who has one of the finest collections of reduction fired ceramics in South Africa, will speak on Collecting Ceramics., and, withMichael Bernardi, Art Auctioneer from Pretoria, will discuss buying ceramics on auction.For the ceramists and artists who work in clay Michael will also give advice on selling their work on auction. At 11.30 a.m. Eugene Hön, from the University of Johannesburg will conduct a walkabout to discuss the work on the Exhibition. On Saturday October 20 at 2.30 p.m. I will lead a walkabout and discussion. Ceramic artists, potters and sculptors from all parts of South Africa have had their work selected for this exhibition and it is certainly not to be missed 

Walkabout at Southern Guild Exhibition

There will be 2 walkabouts at the Southern Guild exhibition at the Everard Read Gallery, Jellicoe Ave, Rosebank (TEL. +27 (0)11 788 4805) on Thursday 6th September at 3:00 pm and on Saturday 8th September at 11:00 am. Don't miss this really exciting show or this opportunity to hear the curator's observations and impressions. 

New Show at Kim Sacks Gallery

Kim Sacks Gallery requests the pleasure
of your companyat the opening of

TRAVERSING
An exhibition of ceramics by
three women who have a creative connection to Denmark.EXHIBITING ARTISTS

Clementina van der Walt – Priscilla Mouritzen - Kim Sacks

OPENING: Saturday 15th September 2012 - 10am to 5pm
PREVIEW: Friday 14th September 2012 - 10am to 5pm
The exhibition will close Monday 8th October 2012.

Clementina, Priscilla and Kim will conduct a walk-about
and a discussion at 2.30pm on the day of the opening.

Refreshments will be served.TEL: 011 447 5804 MOBILE: 083 377 9076
WEBSITE: www.kimsacks.com EMAIL: kim@kimsacksgallery.com
ADDRESS: 153 Jan Smuts Avenue - Parkwood - Johannesburg
GALLERY HOURS:
Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm - Saturday 10am to 5 pm - Sunday 10am to 2pm
And any other time by appointment – and with great pleasure!
Secure parking on the Property

A Feast of a Month

August has been an incredible month for the ceramic community of Gauteng. Feast or famine the saying goes and August has certainly been a feast of a month.
Firstly 2 shows at the Everard Read Gallery and Circa. Southern Guild at the former and Wilma Cruise's The Alice Diaries at Circa. How wonderful it is to see ceramics playing a major role in exhibitions at fine art galleries. Both these excellent shows deserve to be seen. I was fortunate enough to attend the walkabout at Wilma's exhibition which gave me further insight into her work. It is rare to see exhibitions of this calibre and I urge you to see both if you are in the area.
Also this month at the Kim Sacks Gallery we had the pleasure of Wendy Gers, renowned ceramic historian, hosting a session of Small Talk. These informal get-togethers are held regularly at the gallery and are an opportunity for conversation and debate.

Daphne Corregan: the workshop

Over and above this was the selections for the Ceramics Southern Africa National Biennale and I had the privilege of attending a workshop presented by the visiting award judge Daphne Corregan. What an incredible day. I loved seeing the intuitive way she works and her obvious love for the clay and the possibilities it offers. What a month this has been, and what a joy to be a part of it.

Why Mentorship?

How do we find our voice? I believe it is when we are doing what we truly want to be doing that we discover our ‘voice’ through our work. But there are so many things that block us from doing this. Not trusting ourselves, and also a lack of clarity about what we are making. Worrying about what others think and not seeing things through.

I am now in my third year of running ‘The Mentorship Programme’ and I can honestly say that I am astounded by watching the transformation that occurs in the participants and their work.

The Mentorship programme is not a practical class, but rather an opportunity for discussion, assessment and feedback. By dealing with the blocks we have to experiencing our creativity through simple processes and also by regular critique and debate it is a continual and rewarding joy to observe the confidence and enthusiasm growing in the participants and seeing it reflected in their work.

The Mentorship Programme runs over a period of 6 months and is run as a three hour session once a month. The cost of the programme is R2100.00

The next Mentorship Programme in Johannesburg starts this Friday, 18th May At 9:30 am and there are 2 places available.

For those who cannot get away for the morning sessions I will be running an evening programme starting on Thursday, 31st May at 6:30 pm

If you are interested in participating in either of these please let me know and I will send you a questionnaire and booking details and full dates for the programme by return. You will need to complete the questionnaire before commencing the programme.

If you have any further questions related to the Mentorship Programme do not hesitate to contact me

Ceramics SA Gauteng Regional Exhibition. You are invited

Click on image to read more clearly

I am an Artisan

I have recently come across a  beautiful new book titled 'The New Artisans' by Olivier Dupon.
To quote from the back cover, "Profiling over seventy artisans who use craft techniques to create stylish, whimsical, desireable objects, this book features hundreds of one-of-a-kind, handmade wonders from all over the world."
I unreservedly recommend this volume to anyone interested in contemporary crafts. Not only ceramics but furniture, metalwork, lighting, jewellery and other disciplines.
I must add that I love the word 'artisan' to classify those of us who work with our hands, and for me the word fits better than any I know.

Wonderful Weekend, this one past



The view I woke to each Morning

This past weekend I was in KZN as a guest of Andrew and Leanda Walford.  I was there to present a workshop to the local branch of Ceramics S A and was fortunate enough to spend the weekend in the Walford's home. What a luscious part of our country this is! It was a privilege to spend hours talking about ceramics in those beautiful surroundings, enjoying food out of his magnificent work and just generally throwing ideas around. Andrew will be running a workshop at his studio in a few months time and I cannot urge you strongly enough to be there. He is, in my opinion, a national treasure and I felt honoured to spend time in his company, as I am sure you will.


Ceramic Collective at Market on Main. Photo Colleen Lehmkuhl

Also this past Sunday was the opening of Market on Main. What an incredible turn-out there was to the first day and I am sure this is going to be a truly worthwhile venture. A group of us have got together to form 'Ceramics Collective' an mix of local ceramists currently comprising Colleen Lehmkuhl, Dale Lambert, Elsbeth Burkhalter, Hazel Sherman, Julie Lovelace, Karen van der Riet, Michelle Legg, Sandy Godwin and myself, with a shared vision "to create a destination for those interested in fine ceramics made by hand for the discerning eye."  'Ceramics Collective' will be at Market on Main every Sunday so make sure to get there soon!

Batch

I love discovering new books and I find this to be a particularly beautiful one. Really wonderful to look at and at the same time a great book to read, filled with personal stories and insights from a variety of makers, including a number of ceramists the book also contains a highly informative 'behind the scenes' section.

I quote from the cover "In a retail environment where product design is becoming a cloned marketplace, Batch celebrates those products which have a story behind them and which have a high level of care and finish, which make them stand out in a crowd."
I consider this new publication a truly remarkable and rewarding find. Highly recommended to all makers and collectors of fine pieces.

The Social Network

This blog focuses mainly on ceramics, my own and sometimes that of other ceramists. This post is an exception.

I saw the movie The Social Network this evening and I thought it was brilliant. In fact I think it is probably as close to flawless that a movie gets. Superbly scripted by Aaron Sorkin, of The West Wing fame and excellently acted by Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Arnie Hammer and Justin Timberlake in this superb ensemble piece directed by David Fincher, who is probably best known for an earlier masterpiece Fight Club. It is the story of Facebook told in a brilliantly edited, and extremely witty work which never falters. I have nothing but praise for this movie and my reason for posting it here is just to urge you to go and see it. If I have seen a better film in recent years, I cannot remember it.

Days of Miracle and Wonder

So much time has passed since my last blog entry and so much has happened since then that I really need to think about where to begin!

The selection process in the Western Cape

Firstly I was privileged to be asked to be the traveling selector for the Ceramics Southern Africa's National Exhibition which was held in the magnificent setting of the Grande Provence in Franschoek.

The magnificent surroundings at Grande Provence

Some incredible work was submitted for selections in all regions and the process went well and resulted in what could only be called an exceptional exhibition.


An general view of the CSA National Exhibition



Part of my entry on the National Exhibition

On my return from the selections I was greeted with news of a parcel in the post. I have been working with soluble salts on bone china for some time now and ever since I first heard of it I have been trying to get hold of a copy of the book 'Water Colour on Porcelain' by Arne Ase, which has been out of print for a number of years, but miraculously thanks to Facebook and a friend to whom I will be forever indebted I have finally got a copy of the book. It is overwhelming and inspiring, with enough information to keep me going for quite a while.
The day after returning home from the selections I was off to England to attend a workshop with renowned ceramist Sasha Wardell in Bradford-on-Avon. I have been a longtime admirer of Sasha's work and through her book 'Slipcasting'  she had unknowingly been a major contributor to the development of my Bone China work. 

One of Sasha Wardell's beautiful pieces

When the opportunity arose to participate in this workshop there was no option for me but to attend. The workshop was absolutely incredible. Information and methods were shared freely, I got to work on a potter's lathe and also to work with real English Bone China and as a result I found myself looking at mouldmaking and slipcasting in a whole new light.

Turning a form on the lathe

It was so inspiring to be a part of this workshop which I am sure will impact my future work.

After the workshop it was off to London for two days. One of these was spent at the new ceramic wing at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Part of the display at the V & A Ceramic wing

It seems ludicrous to call it a 'wing' as it comprises the entire sixth floor of the museum. This was truly an experience over which I will never get! Seeing works that I had hitherto only seen on the printed page or computer screen was phenomenal! So much work. Far to much to list, but to see Bodil Manz's magnificently proportioned cylinders, Edmund de Waal's incredible installation of over 400 pieces placed way above the viewer (about three floors) and also to see the work of legendary names like Ruth Duckworth, Colin Pearson and Walter Keeler was almost to much to take in. This was an experience that words can never justify and to say I was moved by the occasion seems trite, and yet I cannot ever remember being this effected by ceramic work.

A bird's eye view of Edmund de Waal's incredible installation

I shall be forever grateful for this experience and I can only hope that that which inspired and overwhelmed me will show in some way in the work I am yet to produce.