First Canada clay creations

 I am thrilled to have found a place to make with clay, just 5 minutes' walk from my new Toronto home at Parkdale Pottery. There is lots that is different - I am learning to adapt to a new studio after 17 years with Kim Sacks. And it is just wonderful to get my hands in clay again!

These two mugs were the very first items completed - brought home last night! 

Previously my son gave me a gift voucher for a session at Clay With Me and here is one of the items that emerged from that session:

Three sources for clay creation

Yesterday was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate 17 years with clay at Kim Sacks Gallery Makers Space in Rosebank, Johannesburg. There was a wonderful light in the space and it was filled with lovely people, for all of which I am truly grateful. 

When the opportunity came for a walkabout to share some of my learning from those 17 years, I acknowledged three primary sources for what I've created. In some way, it's about me, the clay and something beyond us both.

The potter's intention

For me, this began with simply enjoying playing in the mud. I was also drawn to find a place of grounding, calm and deep breaths. When I started with Kim Sacks School of Ceramics in the night classes, I was relatively wound up by my then day job as the CEO of high-tech services company Praxis Computing. 

And the cruder form of the potter's will shows in some of my early creations. There is lots of pushing and shoving and prodding to get something to happen. Over time, this has become far more sophisticated as my heart, soul and hands align to create the subtleties of pleasing and practical forms.

And I began to realise I could partner better with the second source of creation: the clay.

What the clay wants

This clay, that has been primordial earth for thousands or perhaps even millions of years, comes with its own wisdom. It is striking at first how malleable it is. But with more experience and more listening to the clay, I found it has fairly strong desires of its own. With a bit more skill and grace, the hands of the potter can allow this form to emerge in partnership with the clay.

I also recognise that what happens in the studio is but a brief moment in the life of the clay. And as my own hands get more sensitive I feel the desire of the clay emerging. Yet there is more beyond both me and the clay.

What is wanting to emerge - beyond both potter and clay

Now I can perceive more clearly that the two of us, potter and clay, are merely midwives and midhusbands to what really wants to emerge. And the vessels that grow under my hands have their own life, their own character and their own direction.

24 June 2023: Deep Breaths Exhibition

At yesterday's exhibition it was wonderful to have so many of my pieces chosen by our friends and guests, to bring beauty into their homes and their lives. And to acknowledge that the space in which we work, and the people who work with us in the studio are also hugely important in the substance and form of what emerges. 

The environment and the people matter a lot, and I acknowledge Kim Sacks for the masterful way she curates the space and attracts fine people.

  

How the character of jugs emerges

 I am constantly amazed and enthralled by the way the nature and character of a jug emerges during its process of creation. I mean, take a look at these vessels that I have just thrown:

6 Jugs in the first phase of emerging

I don't know about you, but I think they are rather gawky. If they have a character it feels a bit dowdy almost?

And then:

• Trim the bases
• Cut the spout in a single plane
• Add a handle

And I am amazed by the characters that emerge!

The same 6 jugs a week later

These are the very same six vessels in the same order, a week later. I feel like each one has its own unique character. The ones that looked most gawky now have a nonchalance and pride in their difference, don't you think?

Of course there is still more to do in their baptism of fire that follows.....

Refuge from the pandemic

 Kim's oasis in Yeoville has been a wonderful quiet refuge from the ravages of the COVID pandemic. I am grateful to have the opportunity to come here for some quiet alone time, breathe freely and make beautiful things.

Maybe the quiet space helped a few larger bowls to emerge:

 

The joys of glazing

 I have been blessed with wonderful outcomes from glazing. Here are a couple of examples:

This glaze called Timoku does wonderful things in the kiln!

And Kim got me experimenting with random brushstrokes of wax to break up the glaze in unpredictable ways:

And then I am still inspired by Howard and Maureen Minnie's kind of swoosh from the 1980s. Here is one of my explorations:

Praying to the kiln gods

Trying out some new things, like white glaze over porcelain slip, and new colours for jugs - here they are waiting for their final firing, praying for good outcomes...

p.s. Kim says they are kiln goddesses

... and it looks as though I didn't manage to take photos of all of these even though the gods and goddesses of the kiln did smile upon them. Here's how the one on the left of the above group came out:

Bigger and more open vessels

Over the last few months I've been exploring some more open shapes in bigger vessels:

Lime green - for XC

Finished bowl

For C and V

Raku!

Thanks to the wonderful Kim Sacks for making it possible for my experiments in flower-petal wrapping of vessels to be Raku fired last week. Here are the results:

Work in Progress

23 August 2015 update: Yay! All the tall vases survived bisque firing! Now to glaze them - whew! Quite a lot to hold.

Earlier stages

One of my more recent vases - inspired by Kristina (in background) to try turning it after joining four cylinders together to make it.

Some of the tall vessels in various stages of drying before their first firing, accumulating to get enough to fill the kiln:

And my ugly ducklings - hopefully to turn into quirky jugs inspired by hornbills:

Returning to jug and bowl

While my long process continues - building enough tall vessels to fill a kiln for firing - I've been taking time out for other pieces. Here is a jug and some bowls:

Three brown bowls

Back to the simple basics with these three brown bowls. The glaze is called "Freckles" and the dark spots come from some manganese crystals added at the last minute without much intention to fully dissolve them in.

Glad these will join another matching bowl in Enny Ndlovu's collection.

Repurposing gives new life to old ceramics!

Thanks to my son Temba for this piece of inspiration...

... and a few more jugs for the holidays!

Definitely the most fun this year has been jug-making. Here are a few more for the end of the year:

Stacking to make vases ... is it bamboo or what?

Building tall vases by stacking two or more cylinders on top of each other is fun - and risky, as several attempts have cracked during firing. Here are some that survived:

And here is one in the making:

Coffee set

So here's another coffee set based on the matt black cylinders, with bright lime and cyclamen insides - and a sugar bowl inspired by the late great Braamfontein restaurant Narina Trogon:

"When I grow up - I want to be shiny"

Some recent ceramics and their earlier, earthier days:

After glazing - my favourite from the 2014 jug series

Same jug before firing

My biggest bowl in various stages:

The finished bowl

After bisc firing, before glazing

Unfired, during wax resist - washing away the chocolate slip between the waxed portions

Earlier efforts - a study that didn't quite make it all the way

Other people's pottery that I like

Here's a link to some lovely stuff: http://www.pinterest.com/ykceline/ceramic/ Thanks to Kim Sacks for the tipoff.

Long-lost products of hillside garden claying

... so two years later, I found three unfired mugs wrapped in plastic in my garage. Dry and extremely brittle of course! Amazingly two survived the trip to the kiln and firing:

Here's a link to their genesis

Abundant jugs - fresh out of the kiln - with some quirks...

Wow, I am grateful for the way these jugs came out....colours, quirks and all! As Kim always says "say a prayer to the kiln goddess!"

This one went to live with May in November