I heart San Francisco

Howdy folks,


I am in sunny downtown San Francisco on a little sabbatical, pre Christmas silly season. Hopefully this little trip will recharge my batteries enough to get through the next few months. I have some big servings on my plate. Bowerbird Market and then my solo show in November. Then the prospect of working a long and busy Christmas at Urban Cow bringing handmade beautiful art to the people of Adelaide and gift wrapping treasures to go under their Christmas trees. Urban Cow is always epically busy at this time of year as everyone loves to spoil their family and loved ones.


It is relaxing and picturesque here in San Francisco, kind of like an American version of Sydney Harbour on a glorious summers day. The topography has roly-poly hills that make you want run really fast down them and then tumble down into the big blue bay and have a swim in the salty waters. The air is fresh and clean smelling like fresh laundry. I am staying in an art deco apartment which includes gorgeous art deco furniture, oldie-worldy brass fittings and delightful bay windows that overlook the Bay and Alcatraz (drool). There is also a fragrant tree that smells like tropical fruit outside of the window. So far the sky has been soul-soaringly blue and big seagulls (bigger than chickens) can be seen along the wharfs at the end of the street. I strolled along the wharf to see the big fat snoozing sea lions on pontoons sunning themselves and their burps and farts and growl entertained us for a long time. I am completely in love with the retro Americana style fonts on all of the shops here. There are nostalgic cafes and bars that havent changed much since the 1950's due to the rents caps here (property owners cant push their rents up). 


There is a Disney feel to this place and I think Disneyland was trying to create a place EXACTLY like here! It is fabulously stimulating to my artistic mind.


Today we went to City Light's Bookstore and had a flick through some art books and books about various cultures folklore. Chinatown was fun as we strolled the boulevards at sunset. It didn't look anything like China! Every shop was brimming with chintz and sparkle.


So in a couple of days I need to hop back to it. I get creatively itchy from relaxing too much and I crave using my brain and working (I know! What a ning nong!) These days I cant just holiday any more! Must be creative constipation ... ha ha.... I guess thats why my residency in China was such a  fantastic experience as I had a great holiday but made work at the same time.... HEAVEN. 


So I need to get back into planning my Bowerbird Stall soon. I have all of the porcelain goodies prepared but I still need to orchestrate the finishing touches on the tickets and tags. Above is a picture of my owl totem animal that I made on my China residency. It has been such a popular seller. I am down to my last few owl friends, which I am sure will be snapped up at Bowerbird in no time. All the totems need owners to love them.


Have a great week blog friends. Bye for now! 

Tour of the Greenware suburb

This is the greenware shop (in the greenware suburb) that I go to when I need to pick up some porcelain. This is its front door. I thought it was a derelict factory when the translator took us there, and wh en I stepped inside I STILL thought it was a derelict factory, but oh no, its one of the best greenware shops in Jingdezhen.

On the inside you can find rows and rows of handmade porcelain ware, stacked on shelfs.

It was 38 degrees the day I took this photo and the light shard coming through the roof was so hot and crisp, highlighting the teapots so dramatically. Makes them look like suspicious killer teapots.

I like the fact that the brand of this clock is "Money". Time is money... he he... how true!

This is Penny one of our interpreters.

This is the laneway that the greenware shop is on.

A shop that sells larger greenware.

I love taking pictures of doors. This is the door to the clay supplier.

The clay shop. You can see how much less time they spend on merchandising (unlike Urban Cow).

The corner deli where people go to pick up drinks and cigarettes on their work breaks.

Where people live in this town. Mega apartment blocks. China IS the land of SUPERLATIVES.

The main road where we stand to catch taxis from to get back to the Pottery Workshop.

From the kiln this week

Last week I had some fast refresher lessons in ceramics. My new friend Simon Suckling (Brisbane, Australia) who is also a resident here at the Pottery Workshop has been such a great help in answering all of my silly questions.

THANK YOU SIMON!!

Here are my glaze samples... I really like the colours, however the glaze is very runny. The kiln man told me off (in Chinese sign language) when I picked up my goodies because my pieces had stuck to his kiln bricks. My friend Kosta likes these the most. He thinks they are very wabi-sabi (HELLO THAT IS A BIG COMPLIMENT).

Here are some mark making and underglaze stain samples.

Here are some underglaze stain samples... I quite like the results as they appeal to my rainbow obsession, but the application is a bit wishy washy in some areas. Ill keep trying. I will be overglazing with some gold lustre when I can face breathing in those toxic fumes for an hour. China's pollution is bad enough for now.

Well thats it from the kiln this week. Watch this space for more...

The Pottery Workshop

Hellllloooo! Here I am in China living the artistic dream. Life is not always this peachy, but this is why we have dreams and chip away at making them happen. If you dont dream it, it aint gonna happen.

I always knew I would end up making art in China, ever since I read the children's book "The Story about Ping" when I was little girl. Here I am.

I am in an artists residency in a land far, far away. It is exotic, mysterious and the food is delicious here. I have been away from Australia for 7 weeks now. The first 4 weeks was spent travelling far and wide through China attuning my artistic eye to new experiences, eating lots of incredible banquets and breathing in all that is oriental and beautiful. In my travels I went to Beijing, Zhongwei, Xian, Tenneger Desert, Chengdu, Kunming, Lijiang, Zhongdian, Dali, Shaxi and Shangri-la.  Basically I went from the far north of China, down through deserts, mountains, rivers, cities... all the way down to the boarder of Vietnam. An extraordinary trip I assure you, and you will see influence my work for years to come.

For the last 3 weeks I have been here in Jingdezhen at the Pottery Workshop having a crash course in porcelain. The Pottery Workshop is an hour and a half south of Shanghai by plane.

Alas I haven't done any blog entries since getting to China as the Great Fire Wall was too far and wide for this little black duck to fly over, however I have now climbed it and am back. I am not sure where to start- so much has happened, my mind is so full of memories and my hard drive so full of photos! I have 2 more months here so I have plenty of time to fill all the details in about what I have been thinking about.

Being a jeweller (in a ceramics residency) I was shocked at the complexity of the things I needed to learn just to make one little thing!

Here are some photos of the studio here:

My colour test project

My flower project

My workspace

My porcelain greenware