a corner of my home

a corner of my home
where some things i treasure reside . . .
a musical dancing couple inside a dome from an old whiskey bottle
inherited from my grandmother
&
ceramics and paintings
that tell the stories of my travels,
and friends, and loves . . .

the music dome plays - ' fascination '
( from the 1950's film love in the afternoon )

bush life

as i've said many times before i come from a wonderful and artistic
family, a family that has always encouraged my creative spirit

above is one of my most treasured things . . .
a small vase made by my mum in the early 70's
it is the perfect size for violets, and the perfect colour match too.

on showing my mum the post i did about
the cushion covers she once made, she told me
she made them, somehow unknowingly at the time,
as a homage to her heritage
and then she read me a passage from a book called Belle of the Barcoo
( by Jan LeStrange )
a book about the women and families from the barcoo region in
central queensland. . . where generations of our family resided

The harshness of bush life was an incentive for many women to improve the standard of their homes, no matter how humble. The following extract from a manuscript by Mrs Rose Scott Cowen shows how one woman coped with the problem of home improvement.
Mrs Tatten, had her mail exchange hut artistically decorated with drapes, and mantels on the fireplace, tablecovers and cushion covers all done in what was called splash work, which as far as I can remember was of leaves and bush ferns and creeper leaves that she collected in the bush round and about and placed in delightful designs on unbleached calico and then with a nail or tooth brush dipped in ink and rubbed over a comb, splashed or etched out the pattern of the leaves on the material. It was very effective and in such a spotlessly clean room the effect was delightful.
Many of these beauty starved bush women made all sorts of clever decorations for their bare little homes using the seeds of trees or plants stuck to thin strips of cardboard or wood to frame pictures of their families or the coloured illustrations that came with Xmas numbers of the paper.
pages 61-62

this particular passage connected
us all together somehow, the women of the pioneering past,
my mum and her talents, my oma (grandmother),
my artistic pursuits, and those
of the women (and men) around this country and world
that still strive, even in small ways, to make parts of their homes
beautiful no matter how much or little they have . . .

upon having been read this,
it reminded me that a lot us (of course not all) have sooo much at
our disposal in this crazy contemporary world
to make our surroundings beautiful, and indeed have dialogs about
it also, in forums like blogs and magazines
in ways i suspect never imagined by the woman in the passage above
BUT
the intent, the desire to create and decorate is still the same.

it humbles and inspires me too. . . to live more simply and beautifully in my home
i hope you like it - and my rambling makes some sort of sense . . .

( today )

i listen for just one sound among sounds,
among so many clocks just one:
the tired, gentle,
whispering and ancient movement
of a great, pure heart...

- pablo neruda

( photo: out the window facing west, on the way to the willows last month )

scenes from the studio

this past week . . .

sneak peak

every year i create a new christmas bird ornament
and here is a little sneak peak of this years bird
( well, their back wings anyway )

i'll show you the finished product in the next month or so . . .

finally . . . clouds

i'm a bit of a cloud watcher so my cloud brooch range,
although having been around for a few years now,
is still dear to my heart . . .

i've had so many requests for my cloud brooches of late
( must be the time of year in the southern hemisphere )
i'm sorry it's taken so long to get them in the shop !
so a big apology to all those who have asked . . .
finally they are listed . . .

find this design (pictured above) and other little floating clouds
HERE

a sweet visitor

my friend momo visited yesterday
to spend some time in the studio and have a go at making
some bits and pieces with clay. . .
i have never done much teaching ( i suppose that's what i was doing )
but shared a few techniques and began what we
hope to be regular time spent together creating . . .

and in conversation and explaining how clay :
moves, works, surprises, breaks, bends, molds, forms
it surprised me how many tricks of the trade
have seeped into my knowledge bank of this amazing
and addictive medium . . .

i suppose years of learning, reading, working, experimenting, making,
conversing with other potters, and listening to clay gives you this,
but it also reminds me how much i still don't know !
( just like it is with life it seems, there are metaphors everywhere )

and although i live with the knowledge instinctively everyday that
clay is a being in itself. . . it was nice to talk about it
to someone that is being introduced to it for the first time . . .

i felt i was loving it all over again through sharing the beauty it is,
and explaining that though we may try and tame it
ultimately it sits in the hands of time
and process
and practice
and skill
and experimenting
and firing
. . . and
. . . and
( insert so many more words here )

it also let me have some time to play with
different clays that i don't always use
techniques that i haven't used for a long time,
and create new bits and pieces
without thought of exhibition, sale or production,
which, with the establishment of this as my living, sometimes
gets put aside more than i'd like

so it was a inspiring morning with my friend momo
who made some delightful things indeed !
( will be sure to share some images of finished work down the track )

AND, by the way if you are in town,
last night at fusions a fabulous exhibition opened featuring many
of my fellow local potter friends who i am great fans of . . .
mel has made a lovely post with all the info
so i'll direct you there . . .

words in clay

you lie at my feet playing leapfrog with my dreams
( as the truest eyes i've seen in days
reveal themselves to me . . . )


poem from : count me the stars
vessel : just made, sitting on my studio table this afternoon

blog thanks . . .

some lovely and inspiring blog sphere friends
have let their readers know about my online store of late . . .
such kind posts were written by my friends pia and lisa . . .
amongst many others so i just wanted to say a big
thank you to you all !

and for those of you who don't know yet pia has
the sweetest book just released ( above )
here is a post she did of where you can buy a copy . . .
i dream of getting to paris one day and pia's clever eye for detail,
amazing sense of style, and passion for all things beautiful
has pushed me one step closer to that happening . . .

a new friend in the studio

there's a new studio helper at paper boat press HQ
the lovely maria joined my growing team of studio assistants last week
she has already proven to be a great asset and
fabulous company too . . .
this of course is very important when working in this environment
because although we work hard
it is important to have a good and inspiring workspace
full of conversation, music, a shared meal . . .

i've been so lucky over the years having some amazing people
sharing this space
it makes the travels in this work-life so much brighter . . .
and it not only allows me to keep on top of the orders for the
production side of my work, it in turn
frees up time for the parts of my work that need solitude . . .