NSW government has singled out Fine Arts and Ceramics for funding cuts, effective 2013. Let your voice be heard and get the politicians to wake up to how this decision will impact the future of arts in NSW and Australia. TAFE provides hands on, industry linked tuition and training from a broad range of experienced industry professionals. Access has been for all students, providing our diverse communities with educational opportunities. Loosing support to these areas of the arts through TAFE has a flow on affect to all areas of the Australian arts community.
More info through these links https://www.facebook.com/SaveArtInTafe National Association of Visual Artists (NAVA) Sign the petition and download, print and sign one here (the written ones have more weight) Write to your political representative. Get the word out and effect change now!
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The fabulous weather on Saturday, although a little chilly early on, set the scene for great results from the pit and raku firings at our annual Open Day. We managed 15 or 16 firings in the two raku kilns with many successes. The pit firing is always surprising and achieved great results. It will be interesting to see the cleaned pieces. Thanks to Barabara and Narelle we were spoilt with delicious organic sausage sandwiches. There were also plenty of yummy cakes and biscuits for morning and afternoon tea to fill in the gaps. We had some very interested visitors who purchased and rakued some ceramic pieces to take home. They were fascinated with the process and delighted with the results of their pieces. We were impressed with the fabulous results from Anniss' children's pottery class. They had the opportunity of rakuing some of their pieces and enjoyed seeing them come out of the kilns. Check out the photos below - a snapshot of the pit preparation on Thursday last week and some of Saturday's results. Particular thanks to Fay for her pit prep, Marienne, Claire, Anniss, Dean and Jean for running the raku kilns and everyone else for helping out. Together we had a great day - always enjoyable to experience raku firings with others, to work together and share unexpected discoveries. You may even see some of our member's work from this day, in the Gosford Art Prize. Stay tuned. On the 11th of August the CCPS Workshop was abuzz with activity at the Cameron Williams workshop. 15 participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
The day began with a demonstration of simple steps for centring on the wheel, then Cameron began throwing his trademark large forms in various shapes and shared his very simple method of making very large platters. One interesting technique was the use of latex as a texturing tool. Using a tree trunk as the mould, Cameron painted latex onto a section of rough bark, then pressed a piece of chux onto the latex, finishing with another coat of latex. This was left to dry then removed and during the day.pressed on to the various forms thrown. The latex/chux can be used many times to simply achieve an interesting surface texture. Cameron is very giving with his knowledge and patiently answered the many questions. He left us all inspired to get on the wheel and start throwing. (Thanks to Anniss Seymour for the details of this post.) It's time to get your ceramic pieces ready for the Gosford Art Prize.
Register online this year at http://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=28412 Drop off dates - September 13, 14, 15 & 17 between 10:30am and 3:30pm. LATE ENTRIES NOT ACCEPTED. More info on our events & social activities page. Our Christmas exhibition is already in the making (22 November - 06 December) but here's a little from our May exhibition this year. No reputations were literally soiled during this exhibition but we certainly turned the soil enough to create the most successful exhibition and sale to date. 20 members presented pots in May this year at the Gosford Regional Gallery's Studio Gallery. A diverse range of pots and ceramic items exhibiting many styles were inspired by a garden theme. We were lucky enough to have Councillor Vicki Scott open the exhibition. Her comment, "Without the arts community there is no soul" rings true. We have a wealth of talented and very creative people on the coast, many of them members of CCPS. A talented young guitarist, Micah Blik entertained us at the opening. Something from a past event this year.
Saturday 28th June was a special day at CCPS. Judy Barrett, our oldest member still potting, generously shared her time and some of her fascinating life story and gave a demonstration of her pottery wheel skills. Judy has been potting for 45 years. She trained under some of Sydney's first potters and knew most of the key people involved in pottery in Sydney from the early 1960's. During our interview with her she mentioned, Velma Boos & Gary Booth who trained with David Leech in the UK. She was around in the early days of the Ceramics Study Group and was part of the experimenting and learning taking place in the Australian pottery scene at that time. Over almost five decades Judy has witnessed the many, many changes that have occurred in Australian pottery. Before pottery, Judy studied at the University of Sydney between 1944 and 1949. In this time she obtained a Bachelor of Science, studied an Honors year and completed a Masters in Biochemistry. Later she travelled to the UK and carried out her Phd studies at Redding University. She is an accomplished and quite remarkable woman. Judy has made pottery her life. She brought up her family from sales of her work and still pots today. Here are a few images from the day. We're taking a break from classes until August 16th. However, our next workshop is a full weekend exploration of printing and dyeing using eucalyptus leaves, as well as reusing materials in creative and inventive ways.
Check out Kylie Rose McLean's workshop - a step away from ceramics but a wonderful opportunity to expand your skills and get those creative and inspirational juices flowing! Don't forget to book in for Cameron Williams' workshop on 11th August. Sunday the 15th of April proved another fabulous day for Raku. 17 potters from CCPS came together to stoke the fires on their self-made Ikea Pedal Bin Raku Kilns for the first time. With great anticipation and excitement 16 kilns were set up, reduction bins lined, kindling attended to and plenty of pots glazed. We were blessed with perfect weather and lots of space to experiment. The first kiln fires were lit by 10:30am. As the day moved on it was apparent there is much more to this kiln than just building it. This wonderfully portable, cost effective and fuel efficient kiln requires careful attention when building up to temperature. Some of us suffered from fire feeding frenzy and others from fire neglect. This highlighted the need to be sensitive to maintaining the kiln's temperature. Running the kiln alone, especially with so many other distractions, takes great concentration. Having a dedicated stoker is an advantage. However, many pieces turned out beautifully and we saw some great results with glazes and reduction. Some of these pieces will be displayed and on sale at our Soiled Reputations exhibition opening Friday 4th May @ The Studio Gallery, Gosford Regional Gallery. It was a wonderful day to share experiences with other potters at a group firing. We look forward to building on our techniques on Saturday 2nd June when our next CCPS Raku firing is planned. A huge thank you to Anniss and Marienne for their organisation of yet another successful even. Here are some images from the day. It's been a while without posts but over the next few weeks we'll be uploading info and images from some events we've had over the past 6 months.
In the interim, check out this great Radio National programme on a potters colony in India. In a city of more than 16 million people, the need for functional and ceremonial ceramic objects is endless. But being a potter, or Kumhar, in India is not a choice. In a world of traditional hierarchies and castes which dictate the lives of millions of individuals, families and communities, it’s a life that you’re born into. Find more information about Sandra Bowkett and Ann Ferguson. A reminder of our drop in day for all those wanting to get their hands into some clay - newcomers and members alike.
From 11:00am to 2:00pm on Saturday 03 March, 2012 we'll have the doors open for anyone interested in playing with some clay or simply wanting to check out our facilities, join the membership or enroll in a class. If you make something on the day you can have your work bisque fired, and if you're interested in returning later in the year for our Open Day, you can join in and see the stunning results from the Pit Firing. Members free, Non members $10. Drop in for a fun few hours, meet some members and get to know what you can get involved with at CCPS. |
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