Gillian with her Piece, yes we are pretty excited!
Northern Beaches Ceramics students have a strong presence at the 2017 Craft NSW Emerging Artist Award filling 5 of 22 places.
The award is open to emerging artists with experience in their field of five years or less. Multiple disciplines are represented, fibre, steel, cloth and ceramics and more. Entries from Roy Chandra, Nic Crowley, Dana Lundmark, Jennifer Everett and Gillian Hodes all looked fantastic.
A Big thank you to the Craft NSW Gallery committee for a special event and evening held within this wonderful gallery location with over 100 years of history.
To Grace Cochrane for selecting the participants, speaking on the night and presenting the awards.
Congratulations to Roy, Nic, Dana, Jen and Gillian and the Staff at Northern Beaches Ceramics.
The Emerging artist award is open for viewing 7 days per week from 9.30 am to 5pm at Craft NSW Gallery. 104 George St Sydney Australia until July 2.
Congratulations to Northern Beaches Ceramics Students Roy Chandra, Gillian Hodes, Dana Lundmark, Nicole Crowley and Jennifer Everett for your successful applications. The very best of luck to each of you.
The Pittwater Artists Trail launches its 7th season at the Newport Community Centre this month, showcasing original works in media as varied as glass, ceramics, jewellery, eco dyed fabrics, painting and sculpture.
Connect with the Trail artists on Friday 9th June at 6-8pm with live music and special guest speaker Katherine Roberts (Manly Art Gallery & Museum) opening the show, which continues Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th 10am-4pm and Monday 12th 10am-3pm.
Link to Artists Trail Website, Map and list of artists Here
Kara Pryor & Ros Lowe completed their Advanced Diploma at Northern Beaches Ceramics in 2015. Currently participating in the Open Studio Advanced program both entered the Arts & Crafts competition – The Sydney Royal Easter Show this year. Kara entered the Non Functional Ceramics Category with her “red dog” & also slip casting under glaze decoration category with her simple dog design plate. I get the feeling Kara may be a passionate dog lover.
Ros Lowe entered the Functional Ceramics category with her wheel thrown bowl glazed in her luscious signature Lime and Orange glazes. Both glazes are of her own formulation drawing on ash and her Gulgong heritage.
Both Kara and Ros have been awarded 1st place in their respective categories. In addition Kara was awarded a crystal trophy on behalf of the Robbie Pollard family. (Robbie was a ceramic artist from the southern highlands, who passed away last year in tragic circumstances). His sister has organised an ongoing award in the Non Functional category. Kara’s red dog was chosen by the family since Robbie loved making animals.
Here they are above pictured with a variety of prizes.
Congratulations and a huge well done Ros and Kara!
Many of you may be aware of the Flagship new Myer store which opened late last year at Warringah Mall Brookvale NSW. The new direction for the store comes with a fresh approach to product and display with the integration of local artists work within the store.
Myer plan to showcase the creativity of the local area integrating the work of Open Studio Advanced students from Northern Beaches Ceramics. The the first two makers from Northern Beaches to be showcased into 2017 have been Maggie Paradysz and Pamela Pudan. The relationship between Myer and Northern Beaches Ceramics is ongoing, students are pinpointed by Store manager Alexis Pead to develop and submit a body of work for display periods that coincide with the change of season.
I’m really excited to announce that Michelle Perrrett has her wonderful pieces on display within the New Myer. Michelle has created a range of forms which include several of her female torsos, her captivating ceramic mirrors and large vases. Somehow Michelle’s work manages to bridge time. The 20 pieces on display are evocative of a different time and space, this quality is reflected most strongly in the mirrors and the female figures.
Please take the time to visit the store and search out Michelle’s pieces, you will find them for sale, integrated within the display in cabinets or on the walls on the ground level.
“Making these figures I was influenced by female archetypes and renaissance portraiture. Florentine portraits of women represented women of the time with extravagant jewelry and costumes to convey cultural meaning.”
Mirrors Michelle Perrett
“The mirrors are made entirely of clay. They are hand carved and modeled in one piece. The surface treatment used is a glossy silver glaze for the convex mirror and blue dry glazes for the frame area. They are designed to hang on the wall as a normal mirror would.
My first series of small mirrors were inspired by a calming lake in Lennox Head, (Lake Ainsworth) that I used to swim in with my children. The Lake has no access to the sea so is very still and reflective. The water in the lake is black or cola coloured from the surrounding tea-trees and is nicknamed the ‘Coca-Cola’ Lake. These smaller mirrors had a dark reflective glaze that was inspired by the lake and the history of mirrors.
The convex mirror shapes reflect a miniaturized image of the surrounding space. The ornamental medieval, renaissance and baroque frames allude to transitions of time. Figurative images on the frames are characters and stories found in late medieval and renaissance imagery or paintings where dark convex mirrors symbolize ideas about morality and identity. Many cultures invented their own potable mirrors in polished obsidian and metal.
In legend looking into a mirror was not a means of identifying the corporeal self but a spiritual condition. Paintings showing mirrors with skulls kept the subject in the frame of death and human destiny. The symbol of the mirror in myths of Snow White and Narcissus are linked with madness and excess. Later, Freud’s ‘mirror-stage’ analyses identity and the significance of reflection of the body in metal development highlighting that we don’t see ourselves unless reflected.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice steps through the mirror into an alternate world. The magic mirror in Beauty and the Beast allows cinematic-like transformations to the other side of the mirror. The image in the mirror doubles the sense of self and is described by neuroscientists as a moment of disembodiment that tests the resilience of self-perception and sense of self.”
Gold Coast ceramist Larissa Warren has her own unique approach to clay. With a passion for Neriage inspired techniques Larissa creates some gorgeous engaging surfaces. Larissa works in Keane Lumina translucent porcelain. Utilising plaster moulds and slip casting techniques, she combines a variety of coloured clays and rocks such as Trachyte with Nerikomi mixed clay pattern blocks.
“Each vessel captures pockets of recycled stoneware neriage (pattern pieces), slip soaked wool, materials and minerals. Raw minerals associated with some of Australia’s most recognisable clays play different roles in my incongruous clay recipe. They have run amok during firing but are now trapped in stasis, seemingly immovable and permanently suspended on the surface.”
We have the pleasure of hosting Larissa for a one day workshop on Saturday May 27th 2017.
Flying to Sydney from the Gold Coast Larissa will be demonstrating her process and bringing finished work for sale. In addition Larissa will briefly cover her use of the free Adobe Mobile apps which she uses to edit all of her ceramics images, create exhibition invites, edit video, create artist profiles on the web etc.
This is a wonderful opportunity to gain insights into Larissa’s creative process and techniques.
View Larissa’s website here Larissa
Find Larissa on Instagram Rat Bag Studios
Larissa is represented in Sydney by Kerrie Lowe Gallery
and Gallery Klei
When-Join us from 9am to 1pm Saturday 27th May 2017
Where– C Block- Northern Beaches Ceramics- Northern Beaches TAFE 154 Old Pittwater Rd Brookvale
What does it cost– $25 per person payable on the day. All welcome.
Where can I park- Parking is available on the TAFE grounds $8 with a credit card at the gate.
Register for the day via the contact form below. If the contact form is not showing in your email click the blue title link at the top of your email to be taken to the wordpress post.
Please join Northern Beaches Ceramics Open Studio student Katherine Tate for the opening night at Saint Cloche on the 26th of April at 6pm.
Please follow this link to all the information about the Paul Davis Glaze course
Congratulation Northern Beaches students Nicky Crowley, Jennifer Everett, Louisa Hart and Lia Klugman.
