in the sun

when we started learning how to throw clay onto the wheel, our teacher mr j baffingly said to us: You have to stop looking at the clay.

not that any of us beginners have quite got to that stage yet, but slowly, we have come to realise that if your hands are in the right place, applying the right pressure, you could even potentially throw a pot with your eyes closed!

mr j also says: I'm teaching you to make a canvas.

no matter how perfect or "individual" your pot, the choice of glaze or other finish is make or break. we have a wall of beautiful glazes to choose from, but we also had the opportunity to play with Japanese washi paper.

very kool!


Listening: lovely summery 60s pop sounds of "Volume Two" from She & Him and the new Teenage Fanclub album "Shadows", ah!

PS: Don't forget to subscribe to the 3RRR radiothon!

pot luck

Mount Sturgeon

we recently spent a long weekend in the Grampians National Park with ms k and dr jp, the latter now firmly ensconced in adelaide ("ït's ok").

we stayed in dunkeld, a sleepy township not quite half way between adelaide and melbs. we were well chuffed to hear that this is a well beaten path: a local told us that Maggie Beer used to drive down from the Barossa Valley to meet up with Stephanie Alexander, from Melbourne, at the Royal Mail Hotel.

it's a beautiful part of victoria: we were rewarded with clear skies and stunning views on our walks.

On top of Mount Sturgeon

we wandered into local artist Anne Fleming's gallery on the main street and admired many of her beautiful pots and drawings. her work is elegant and simple, beautiful!

it was so inspiring that i've since been taking pottery classes. after a couple of months, a few pots came out of the kiln:

not quite as delicate as fleming's, but a good start and plenty of room for improvement =)

ps: i couldn't resist posting this pic too: you will find this shop on columbia road in london, past the flower market

passion

yesterday, had a great afternoon catching up w ms j, who has just dropped the ex from ex-pat, returning home with hubby in tow.

everything's good, but we have both been feeling a bit stretched at work. how do we let ourselves burn our time into the 9-5s (or alarmingly, the 8-7s) and then wonder how we don't have time for our passions?

which begs the bigger question, what would we be otherwise doing?

of course, we didn't solve this problem, but plan to do so in future cake sessions =D

winter woollies

after the last few sunny days, i've decided that being a winter person is not the go. there are small green buds emerging on the tree outside our bedroom window, even the tree is impatient for spring.

so, as we brace for a week of cold and windy melbs weather, i was dismayed to find moths had chewed on a few of my favourite woolies! eek!

how's this for a potential fix: woolfiller is a dutch company that sells felting kits to mend mothball munched holes in your loved woolies.

ingenious!
and no, i wish this was one of my repaired items, this is an example from the woolfiller website - don't you love the splashes of colour on the grey cardie?