Meteoric – pots from the belly of a wood-fired kiln

It’s been really quiet here, and that’s because I’ve been gleefully up to my arms in clay and sand for the past 3 weeks, assisting in a wood-kiln build at Gaya Ceramic Art Centre in Ubud, Bali, and then making pots to fire up the kiln with!

With other participants, under the instruction of experienced wood-kiln builder and ceramicist Gyan Daniel Wall, I got to heft, chisel and mortar in raw clay bricks to form an anagama kiln that was essentially a large clay vessel to hold pots, flame and fire. We had all the fun, and Gyan and the Gaya boys did most of the hard work If you’re curious about the process, here are some pictures from Gaya Ceramic Art Centre’s facebook page.

Among 7-8 potters over the course of 5 days, we managed to fill the Gayagama with a load of fresh (and in many cases still wet) pots. And then we started the fire.

The pots that emerged from three days of intense firing were remarkably different from that of a gas firing. Instead of applied glaze, they were gifted with a natural finish by wood ash settling and subsequently melting at high temperatures. They were burnished by flame that traveled and squeezed in between a cargo of tightly packed pots. They bloomed with white sparks and grew organic textures, with a vocabulary of rust, orange peel, toast, moss, iron and gray stone. Crystals formed onto, and carbon infused into parts of the clay as it vitrified. Imagine the pleasure of opening the kiln and bringing out surprise after surprise.

I brought back many of the pieces I made…

The cup above has become my favourite water mug of the moment

More pictures of the inside of the kiln and some great work by all the potters who participated in the workshop here.

Little Red Market is Tomorrow!

There is so much to pack! *faint. I’ll be bringing two special new prints for viewing and you can order your edition there and then (they’re big and slightly precious, so I won’t be bringing stock). Looking forward to a day out!

Swimming in the Deep

Here’s what the latest poking, prodding and denting have brought forth.

White Diamond Espresso Cups
sizes range from 2 inches high – 2.5 inches high
capacity 1-2 shots of espresso

I’ve already chosen the two I’m going to keep! Most tragically, the Bialetti stovetop espresso maker’s gasket has, after 6 years of good service, disintegrated into a sticky mess and I can’t test one of these to see how it works. And Amazon won’t ship the replacement parts here. WHY NOT, AMAZON?  These cups were patiently textured, triangle by triangle, for a seemingly geometrical but actually not mathematically sound pattern. Cute and perky, there are 4 of these available!

RM40 each

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Rattan Weave Long Platters
9 in x 3.5 in

More of the rattan weave, because it’s beautiful! This time, I’ve shaped long platters with a generous lip so you can use them for food with some gravy. Or stick to sushi rolls and yakitori. Three glazes combine for textural travels. Note: They wobble.

RM60 each
2 available

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Wandering Elephant Plates
6.25 in diameter

You’ve probably seen these before, but wait! These are bigger! With a beaten textured base! Same same, different size. Something about elephants makes me happy…

RM40 each
4 available

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Large Rattan Weave Manta Platters
10.5 – 11 inches across

The way the edges curl up remind me of manta rays. The rattan is like from grandfather’s rocking chair, but in reverse, they read out as x’s and o’s. These platters look beautiful just sitting about on a coffee table. One is half green- a delicate light light green- and half white. The other is all white. For some reason, the white plate was really difficult to photograph… maybe the light? – I’ll try again another day.

RM110 each

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And finally, some random fish that swam in with the tide… They’ll need some retrofitting before they’re ready for real… wait and see!

and more fish from mooncake molds, just for fun:

Why do I make so many fish? Maybe it’s because a fortune teller once told me I was like a fish swimming in a river. Eventually I’ll reach the sea.

Celestial Glaze – New Cups

There’s a new blue glaze I’ve been dipping stuff in lately, and it is alternately puke ugly and then celestially beautiful. I’m showing you the beautiful ones…

Above, a generous espresso cup with faceted hand-textured surface.

Below, a pair of blue tumblers. One of them is quite normal looking. And then, the other on just one side has an amazing drip that just sets off the blue to perfection, with hues of green, orange and brown in the mix.

Pot Destash: Hamster / Frog Homes Giveaway

Would your hamster like a bespoke home with high ceilings and rounded walls? Rounded walls are so ‘Faraway Tree’! Or is there a homeless frog in your garden who would appreciate some shelter?

These pots were meant to be ‘bird lanterns’ but the birds flew away, leaving behind a pot that looks useful but has had me scratching my head ‘what to do’ for ages (could they be table legs? or fern pots? noooo). So to solve my problem, I’m giving them away for free (one a person) to you if you have a use for one. You can come pick them up from my studio in the KL suburbs, or choose to pay for postage and I’ll ship them to you for a fee of RM15 to cover shipping and handling. Just leave a comment here to reserve and we’ll work it out from there!

The main opening measures around 2.5 inches wide, and the pots are 6-7 inches high. They could also be bird houses for small birds (finch or canary size).

And if I don’t get the chance to wish you in person, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s been an amazing year and I’ve got a fuzzy warm feeling that the next one is going to be even better. For me and you and everybody yeah! (someone take the coffee away…)

Inkypots @ Jaya One this Saturday!

One last market outing for the year! I will have prints for sale (including the new whale one), and inky-potted plants as you can see above. Jia Mayne (aka Sis) will be joining me with her ceramic hedgehogs and miniature christmas trees. And playing in my head is ‘o christmas tree – o christmas tree’ this morning…

Burnished by the flame – three raku vases

These vases have been up on the bookshelves for more than a year and I’d forgotten about them until spring-cleaning! I made them in Bali, and carried them back with something like 25kgs of excess baggage. They were part of a precious cargo, none of which I’ve sold (some I gave away, and some broke)… until now.

Cluster of Three Black Raku Vases

Mysterious free-spirited lashings of copper, gold, orange and green are captured on the surface of these organic bodies. Two have been dented and pressed after forming on the wheel for asymmetric interest. One even has a little scratch where a bird perched while it was drying! These vases would look beautiful in bright surroundings. The white of the background really shows them off. The tallest vase measures 24 cm high, with the shortest at 13.5 high. Note that over time, the black parts may fade, especially if exposed to sunlight.

RM360 for the set

Less than perfect but ready for a home.

This December, I’m potting in more ways than one. The clay kind and the gardening kind of course. All inspired by an encounter with a clumsy cat resulting in bird bowl and bird vase with no bird! It would have been a pity to just throw away the pieces, so I got a ceramic drill bit and made holes at the bases of some of these and got to planting them with a variety of succulents. Other pots with no holes are now home to water plants

 

Repurposed Pots with Plants

Making use of pots with small defects which would otherwise be smashed and gone to pot heaven, these pots have been given new life with a variety of plants living happily within. All less than perfect but ready for a home with a heart. All one-of-a-kind. Prices range from RM40 onwards.

 

ps. look at those beautiful new white walls! and that slatted light gray table… I’m so happy with the new coats of paint in the studio. It’s made all the difference to me.

A little nudge to self…

Be you, be true, love what you do. Ayeeeee. The studio is in shambles right now, as painters move stuff around painting the entire house, and I’ve carefully so carefully moved most fragile stuff indoors. Taking this time to mend the broken legs on a cabinet, and renew a gnawed timber table (the work of two energetic and hungry puppies from a year ago. Thankfully they are past the chewy stage!), paint white a shelf that was sticking out like a sore thumb in black, and do up a poster wall. This is gonna be one of the pieces up there, just so I remember.

Looking at these words, I’m realising that ‘love what you do’ is much deeper than it seems. Because it’s when I make pots with full diligence and attention to detail, step by step with no hurry and a smile in my head… that’s when they are good. And it takes love to do that. Where does this love come from? Perhaps it is simply a desire to do right. Right now. The right way. And love is there.

The Blues To Me…

The blues to me is like being very sad, very sick, going church, being very happy. There’s two kinds of blues. there’s happy blues then there’s sad blues. Don’t think I’ve ever sang the same way twice. Don’t think I ever sing the same tempo. One night it’s a little bit slower the next night it’s a little bit brighter. That’s cause i have ‘feel’

– Billie Holiday

I transcribed this from the prelude to ‘Fine and Mellow’. What do these pots feel like to you?

A new crop of windy blue pots…

Malapascua Winds – Three Cups

I picked up a little prickly seed pod on the beach in Malapascua, Philippines. Did I mention the crazy beautiful powerful sea there? It’s still in my mind. All I wanted to do was sit and watch the waves and sky. On these cups, I used my fingers to track the pod over the lower halves, resulting in a trail of tiny dots for texture. Some black slip for extra colour and a matte blue glaze complete the piece. The matte on some pieces is kinda rough, so these cups may end up holding plants instead. They measure 3.5 inches across.

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Three-Colour Blues Bird Vases

It’s the familiar bird vases, but in new blue tones! Matte blue overlaps with shiny dark blue to produce a frothy blue, with a splash of brown thrown in for extra tonal depth. Measures 5 inches tall without the bird, 6.25 tall with the bird.

RM100 each

SOLD

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Blue Touched Mugs

Large cups to hold lots of water… the way I like it When glazing, I gripped the cups at the base and submerged the piece in glaze, leaving negative areas where my fingers held them. These were touched with a clear slightly greenish glaze for extra interest. Some of the bases have a swirly blue texture too. Sizes vary between 3.5 to 4 inches in height. Again, some of these may be too rough (because of firing method) for use as mugs, so I’ll go through them and some may turn up with plants in the future.