Fired

Sent from my HTC

I delayed opening the kiln ... first had my breakfast and then read emails and eventually, while I was waiting for my computer to reboot I quickly 'popped' in to look at the beads... almost like I was trying not to make too much of it...?

My first thoughts were 'Nice and shiny!' and then straightaway I noticed the patchy colours... and realised that when the instructions say 3 layers it means 3 layers, NOT 1 thick looking layer.

Blue bead

A lot went through my head when I was doing this....

I thought I should plan my days better ... have a routine... which makes space for creative practice (would this be an example of how to 'live poetically' as advocated by Leggo [2005]?)

I had done some reading (for my D and was about to go home when I realised that, having thought about my routine, I could start with it... so I decided to do something with the underglazes that I had bought last week from CPS (Cape Pottery Supplies) and which were just lying on the floor behind my chair (like the books - from long ago), but if they weren't there I would not have noticed them!?

I then became overwhelmed with all the decisions I needed to make (colours, brushes, which bead to paint...)... so I prepared the bead stand by putting grooves on with a diamond burr. I discovered that the fired nichrome wire snaps when you bend it too quickly, but a slow bend, by hand, doesn't break it!

Then I was overwhelmed by all the colours and I decide to paint just one bead in 2 colours... which ended up being just 1 colour (for today) so I can think about it. (... I did think about the colours when I bought them!... I decided to get turquoise and coral colours, after the Egyptian jewels).

I then decided to use the Silke blue... and now am not too sure about actually using two coloured underglazes. I was really taken by the contrast between the blue decorating slip and the terra cotta clay body at CPS, so I realised that I should make the bead in the correct colour clay to begin with!

Anyway I finished painting it and then scraped the excess colour off as Louise G. said she did with her glazes...

KZNSA exhibition...

So it is done and over... now begins the work. There is so much that I realise now, in hindsight... and I'll work my way through all these realisations and learn from them... I think there were too many varying aspects... anyway ... Here is a panoramic view of the show.

Harbouring Histories

Old girls:) ... This refers to the paper that was used...

All of a sudden I am on this mission to find interesting paper. This morning I found some old books with nice paper for printing on. Two of them are dictionaries and one is a book of logarithmic tables.... lots of numbers to print on... to juxtapose the calculating and the feeling...

Anyway ... in one of the books I found a few well worn pages with some prayers and instructions typed on them. On the reverse it said 'St. John's Old Girls Association (Durban branch) and it had beautifully ragged edges... so that is what the pieces of paper are...

In the meantime the Fine Art and Jewellery department is organising an exhibition inconjunction with the same department from Curtin University of Technology in Perth and the theme is 'Harbouring Histories'. I had already done a print for the exhibition but I think this is a lot more appropriate ... so I'll be submitting it instead...

The middle one... It has connotations of change...  different ways of defining women over time... maybe it should be the other way around though, but no ... women used to be more clearly defined, have more clearly defined roles, whereas now they are defined differently... They still look the same but are defined by what is around them... the connotations and stereotypes...

Jane Eyre print

Close up ... with date stamp

Is it apparent that the image is made up of separate pieces around the face... The surrounding pieces define the face... Is that not how one is defined? by what goes on around you? or is it just women?

Crusader Cross medals

Potent ... A set of 4 crusader cross medals.

I've decided to do sets and series of prints, so I could have lots of prints to sell. So I could sign them 1/4 and 2/4 etc... I find that if I do series of work then there are creative developments that take place that would not otherwise happen, almost as if the restrictions help me focus...

I do have to work out how to pack and store them, of course... Another delicious problem.

Crusader Cross

This design development tries to even out the visual weight of the smaller crosses ... I want the cross not to have a top and a bottom as such, so I can use it in more orientations for printing.

I don't think it worked well eventually. It seemed to have a 'spinning' feeling to it... almost like a swastika.

I think I should print it in two sections, the smaller crosses in the background in a different colour.

I think I tend to look for too many 'easy' options, too many good ideas

Titles and meanings

Listening to the radio ... Freek Robinson ... saying ' by uitstek geskik' (eminently suitable... or just suitable) sounds like a good label/title to use....

even just 'geskik' which is a bit more ordinary and relates to the prints I do that aren't perfect, which would be 'ordinary' kind of awards, like sort-of-awards... where the 'thought is what counts', which is kind-of how women are treated...

this is quite 'thick' it shows the deeper meanings I'm working with... Imagine getting an award for being 'suitable'... sounds a bit Monty Pythonesque

So maybe I could weather (like I've been doing for 'Harbouring Histories) the 'bad' prints even more and then fix/improve/rejuvenate them for actual use... this would add the 'just suitable' aspect to the prints...

It is, after all, the thought that counts (isn't it?) ?!?

Another title/word that I heard on the radio is 'stilstuipe' which means a silent convulsion (I think) ... one of womens' virtues, their ability to have these :-) (thank god for emoticons)

Birds

Possibility? ...

The way the foil works can be quite dense... with decisions regarding posive/negative coming into play.. I never suspected this possiblity... It is very similar to embossing... where I have to decide whether I use the piece of pierced out plate or the hole where the piece was... and whether I use the front or back of the embossing... and now the foil on top of that!!!

Birds - pierced out

The plate ... a close-up of the pierced out birds... Quite beautiful by themselves... it often happens that I encounter pleasing aspect on the way to what I intend... I have now found a way of capturing these moments... In the past they would be lost...

Birds..

Wondering and pondering... Trying to decide how big the birds should be... I often have to make these type of 'small' decisions that I find quite difficult to finalise...

D'fly plates

Here I was busy judging the print before I had made it... But I do play around a lot with all the bits and pieces ...

I usually start quite simple and then the the prints get 'denser' as I start feeling more comfortable, or understand what is happening... and then I often go over the top...

What i'm thinking... Too much?

Shiny kiepersol

Embossing over foil using unsized hand made paper ... Beautiful integration with the paper

D'fly

Combining technology and chance... Beautifully... ! I feel very nervous about sharing this as it could be what earns me a living in future... and I need to make it my own so others can't appropriate it too readily... anyway