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

Four Ceramicists

On Saturday 17th November at the Kim Sacks Gallery I will be share an exhibition 'Four Ceramicists' with Carolyn Heydenrych, Lisa Firer and Louise Gelderblom.

There will be a walkabout at the exhibition opening at 2:30 pm conducted by Carolyn Heydenrych and myself. 

                                       

One of my pieces on the show.

Ground Xero at Art in the Forest

It has been some time since I have had new work on show in the Cape. I have few pieces on this group exhibition curated by Anthony Shapiro at this beautiful venue.

The exhibition opens on Saturday October 27 at 11:00 am. If you are in the area it will be great if you can be there.

click on image to enlarge

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.

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.

Image Transfer Workshop

There is an exciting trend to use transferred imagery in ceramics these days, either on its own or in combination with other methods of decoration. I have been exploring methods of image transfer on ceramics for some time and will present my New Image Transfer workshop this Friday, 29^th June from 9:30 -12:30 at The Pottery Studio, 24 Old Kilcullen Road, Bryanston.  I will cover ways of transferring images onto the ceramic surface and this could open avenues for you to explore in your own work.

Methods shown will include a lithographic printing method and a new process using negative imagery with slip and underglaze, which allows you to transfer images in any colour of your choosing, which I think is the most exciting of all!

I will also discuss the making of ceramic decals using laser printing.

The cost of this workshop is R350.00

If you have any queries or wish to attend please contact me at johnshir@gmail.com 

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.

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

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

Andrew Walford & Friends

Click on image to enlarge

Don't miss this exhibition. A really exciting mix of work and Andrew will be demonstrating at the opening at 12:30 on Saturday 17th March, at the iStore, 1 Sandton Drive, Sandhurst. Opening address by well-known collector Ronnie Watt. It would be great to see you there!

Recent Work

A selection of some of my recent work 

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.