hearts . . .

today there were hearts all over the place in the studio

we made some tools,
and some paper weights . . .

and a couple of clay ornament samples ( still top secret )

all prototypes and tools towards
celebrating a very special event in may
for a very dear friend . . .

more details soon . . .

last day of our little sale

just a quick hello to let you know
today is the last day for our little autumn sale in our online store . . .

to receive 10% off store-wide (excluding postage)
please quote the word AUTUMN
in the discount code area of the checkout

and remember
all purchases for the month of march
go in to the draw for one of the large anthropologie bowls
from my collaboration with them . . .

something i realised i didn't make clear here on my blog . . .
but all my mailing list friends would know about . . .
sorry for the late notice

have a great day,
and don't forget if you are in melbourne town
the best thing to do this weekend
would be to visit the fabulous
FINDERS KEEPERS markets !!!!
details HERE

x

landing in my inbox . . .

so many lovely emails arrive in my inbox every week
and some weeks it is hard to get on top of them all

but when this little photo was sent yesterday
i just had to share asap. . .
( and finally share the one below also )

one of the wonderful things about running this small business
is forming lovely working relationships with my stockists . . .
they feel like friends
( though many i have never met )

one of my stores in canberra is the style emporium
the lovely owner kerist sent me the photo above
of her weekend of making !!!

it is so fabulous to see these little tags being used . . .
we have sent many a pack to our stores,
and sold many online so i hope there is baking and making
going on all over the place . . .

for christmas one of kerist's shop girls ainslee was given
one of my biscuit press's from kerist . . .
and she made the most beautiful batch of cloud biscuits
( image below )
i've been meaning to post this image ( and link ) for a while
so kerist's email yesterday prompted me
to put the two friends results together . . .

thanks for sharing
you gals are great

the view . . .

the quiet,
after a busy day . . .

birds of passage ( warning : personal rambling follows )

just over eight years ago the house i was living in was destroyed by fire
i didn't lose everything i owned, i lost a lot, but not everything
we were lucky in the end . . . and no lives were lost . . .

i had insurance, things that could be replaced were,
things that were lost were lost,
things that were reparable were repaired . . .

there is now a new place to live
new things have been collected
more 'things' from life's journey,
beautiful and meaningful bits and pieces to furnish
my home, physical things, belongings, stuff . . .
i have in many senses of the word . . . recovered

it was a hard year that year,
but in the end,
that year i lost something grater than the home i lived in,
a few months later
i lost a friend who meant the world to me . . .
he still walks the earth
but the loss of him in my day to day
was more than the loss of my home . . .
and it is the bit that still is broken
still cracked, still lost . . .

in the end, despite all the trials that the human condition
can go through, the loss we have seen in our
back yard this year here in brisbane, and in our wider earth
through earthquakes and tsunami's it is the
people that are lost that make our hearts break beyond repair sometimes

all those years ago, a dear friend of mine
painted me a little drawing of a bird in a nest
as a housewarming present for the new home i moved to after the fire

the drawing still sits today
at the entrance to my home
there is a quote under the drawing that says . . .

we are but birds of passage and must build our nests
out of what materials we can find
- lady wilson

i made this into a quote tag a month ago, and although it
isn't the most popular new tag picked by my stockists
it was an important one to make . . .
the words are true i think
the words are how we must live . . .
for we are just that

we are birds of passage

and some days are easier than others
some are harder . . .
today is the later

my prayers go out to the world as it continues to weep


(photo above taken on my last trip out west
of a birds nest in the hedge at the front of my oma's house,
a little nest covered by a tangled and strong hedge of jade )

5 packs in store... and a little sale

finally we have these little tags up in our online store !!!

we are celebrating this by having a little sale . . .
for the next two weeks (offer closes March 24th)
we are offering 10% store-wide (excluding shipping)
to get the discount simply quote the word
AUTUMN in the discount code section of the checkout

if we run low on stock we will replenish asap
promise . . .

hope you like the little photos we took of how the tags look
in situ

thanks to selene for being a fabulous hand model !

and my mum for the beautiful flowers from her garden . . .

mum has given me the most beautiful of flowers through the years
from her garden . . .

i've showed a few
here and here and here and here
and things made from her garden here . . .

i knew the inspiration for the 'from my garden' tag came from somewhere

a great way to end the week

finally, i am so thrilled to reveal the vessels that
i have been working on with anthropologie for the last 18 months !

as i've said before it has been so wonderful working with them
and it was i must say a real delight to see them listed overnight
on their US site . . .

i'll be back next week with lots of other news as am not up
to doing much as this week ends . . .
but in the mean time thanks to all who are spreading the news
and sending emails from around the world about these
and my two poetry books . . . you are making this gal from
brisbane feel very inspired . . .

( above photo taken by the lovely jillian lieboff )

forming words

words are the basis for my mark making on ceramics and so
when i was asked to be apart of the exhibition forming words
i was thrilled, not only be be able to be part of a show
curated by Ingrid Tufts and Sophie Milne, but to also
be able to exhibit my work beside potters that i have long admired

the exhibition runs from 4-25 march
Pan Gallery
142-144 Weston Street Brunswick East

if you are in melbourne town and are interested please pop along
to support this show and the wonderful team at Pan Gallery

below is the exhibition info
and then i thought i would share my artist statement also...

FORMING WORDS

Text on ceramics has a long and rich history, from ancient pictograms scratched on clay tablets to provocative works from the conceptual art movement of the 60s and 70s. Forming Words is an exhibition designed to explore and articulate ideas within this popular movement in ceramic practice.

Ceramic art has the ability to communicate without words, through touch, sight and use, making the decision to incorporate text a deliberate and potentially provocative choice. Eight Australian ceramicists exhibit works that explore how the written word furthers our appreciation of a three dimensional artwork, merging text and form to convey a cohesive idea.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My ceramic art practice has always started and ended with words and poetry. Words are to my ceramic work like any mark, decoration, or design.

As well as being a ceramic artist I am also a poet, and in my current practice it is these words that are used in the creation of my ceramic vessels.

It is important that in both mediums (on paper and on clay) the words are pared back, spaced, and laid out in a way that is both deliberate and happenstance at the same time. Each letter stamped into the clay is applied in a similar way to the organic nature of the vessel, creating work that in its mark and shape, hopefully harmonise.

It is also a deliberate act to colour the text to look inky and brown, occasionally having another colour enter the mix highlighting a word or phrase.

More often than not the poems (although most already existing) find their own rhythm on each pot, swirling, climbing, hiding amongst and along the simple hand built and draped vessels.

A strange thing has happened along the way also… I have found putting the words from the pages of my poetry books to a ceramic vessel has allowed the poems to have a different audience. Someone who wouldn’t normally like poetry in the form of lines on a page are led into it by means of clay. Some vessels need to be moved and turned to read the poem, some people touch to feel the indentation of words. The poem becomes an object that can be held… a keepsake, a message, a story… just in different clothes.

yesterday

the printer delivered . . .

and we wasted no time in putting the packs together
to see how they looked as a finished product . . .
and we were mighty happy

within the next week
hopefully there'll be some in the online store . . .
5 packs of little ornaments
a long time in the making
but hopefully worth the wait . . .

beauty abounds in the broken spaces . . .