australian ceramics triennale, sydney, 09

Penny Byrne, John and Janette Were all set for the Long Walk

Penny Byrne, If Only Gay Sex Caused Global Warming, mused Mother Earth

Just when I thought it was safe to relax , I came home to the pulsating vibe of the 'Australian Ceramics Triennale'. And as it was taking place just down the road from me at my old college (NAS), I couldnt find a reason not to go. I listened and watched, albeit a little brain dead, but it was worth hanging around for the Marek Cecula and Takashi Yasuda words of wisdom - "Design is Dead" (ie: as we know it). And of course I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Penny Byrne's pieces in the flesh. She is probably one of my fav ceramic artists at the mo. http://www.eatfrenchbread.com/penny-byrne/ . Thanks Penny.

Printing on Clay Workshop, Sturt Craft Centre.

A week after I arrived back from my long residency in Scandinavia, I was rushed off to Sturt to conduct a five day 'Printing on Clay' workshop. It was a great way to get rid of jet lag!

We spent a couple of days exposing images to screens (using the Gocco and photo emulsion method). Followed by some fun days printing (and maybe one not so fun half day printing decals, foo foo smelly).

I sometimes feel we almost need 10 days to cover all the possibilities associated with printing on clay but we managed to pile in at least eight different techniques during the week. The techniques ranged from Intaglio printing, lino cut printing, monoprinting, to various silk screen printing techniques.

We even managed to squeeze in a decal firing!

Residency @ Guldagergaard, Denmark

Myself, Brian, and Malin posing infront of Malin's Raku fired wall installations.

Malin, Brian, and I exhibited our work in the Apple tree Gallery in Guldagergaard. We added a bit of glamour to the event by dressing in our finest and serving chocolate dipped strawberries. Mmm Mmm.

We spent a full day Raku firing our decal and lustre printed pieces.

Yes, it's Danish flags in dog Poop, a sweet but unusual Danish tradition.

This piece was donated to the ceramic collection at Guldagergaard. It is made up of readymades, fake snow, raw clay mountains, and a raku fired decal printed Moose.

We also experimented with lustre in the Raku firing.

Images for decals were collected from fairytale books, the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Krone Circus, and various street signs around Denmark.

These pieces were inspired by the Danish childrens story writer, Hans Christian Andersen.

Fused together with a few things from my own childhood, signifying the dawn of the computer game era.

Had a fabulous time at the International Ceramic Research Center, Denmark. Spent the month of June working with another ceramic friend of mine, Malin Jansson, www.malinjansson.com. We spent most of the weeks gathering images to make decals with, had a lot of fun in the process, as most of our research was conducted at the circus and the fair!