The Lismore installation of Trading Place opened on September 12 to a capacity crowd at Lismore Regional Gallery. Of course we shared the opening with the other fabulous exhibitions on at the gallery at the same time, Hiromi Tango's Art Magic: Remnant, Australian Printmakers Auditory Visions, and Miriam Salomon's Still Life: Varying Domesticities, and it was standing room only!
It was a really great afternoon spent exploring the "rainforest" and catching up with some good friends and fellow artists. Among the traders on the day were North Coast artists Annique Goldenberg and Heather Matthew. Their enthusiasm for the concept was heartening and their swapped artworks make a great addition to the Trading Place collection. A big Thank you to everyone who came along and supported us at the opening.

3 Trading Days to go
There are now only three trading days left in the exhibition. they are Thursday October 8, 15 and 22. If you want to participate make sure you come along to the Lismore Regional Gallery on one of those days between 11.30 and 12.30.
It's going to be interesting to see how the exhibition looks at the end of trade on October 22 - the exhibition itself will still be exhibited until October 24, so you can still go along and take a look. Here's a photo of the trading cabinet as it looks halfway through.... 

I am currently working on perfecting the layout for the Container of Dreams project so that I can get started on the actual physical work on the container itself. The above image is my preferred choice of all the ideas I've had so far. The interior size is so small that it is really important to get the layout right. I think this is it - given the space available and making sure we fit in all the essentials. By essentials I mean, bed, stove, fridge, sink, shower, loo, some seating and even a table & chairs. I believe it's all going to work....
In an exciting development Pardo Wall Beds has agreed to come on board as a sponsor, so therefore the bed depicted in the images is now planned to be a wall bed. It will fold up into the wall when the bed is not in use and I plan to configure some sort of lounge or seating into the folded bed design for day use.
Here's a couple more images in 3D, let me know what you think...

More sponsorship announcements
In some exciting new developments we have had a few more sponsors come on board and we are still in negotiations with others. We are very pleased to announce that CSR Bradford has generously offered to supply insulation to the project. We are also really excited to share that Pardo Wall Beds are also currently discussing how they can help us as well and we will release more information about this exciting partnership as it becomes available! Ausdrain has also offered to supply some new products for use in the project. This is all really exciting and we can't thank these new sponsors enough for supporting this important project.

Discover SCU
We also had another media write up with coverage about the project in Postgrad corner in the Discover SCU newsletter. Click here to read the story.

Hopefully we will have more sponsorship partners to announce in my next post.
Until next time ... dream big! 

TRADING PLACE Lismore
Preparations are well under way for our next instalment of Trading Place which is at Lismore Regional Gallery in September and October. 
We have been hard at work creating the body of work to include in this exhibition. 
This latest work is truly collaborative and is our response to our time spent in Port Augusta last year as Artist's in Residence at Port Augusta Cultural Centre in South Australia.

Sneak Peak...
These pieces are yet to be fired but we thought we'd give you a sneak preview of what will be on offer in the Lismore exhibition.
Remember, it is an interactive installation where we invite the audience to trade an oblect or artwork with us. The artwork can be any medium, 2D or 3D, but must be miniature in size (think no bigger than a postcard) and must relate to the place where you live. Read more about it on the dedicated Trading Place page on our website.
Details of the exhibition are:  Lismore Regional Gallery  12 September – 24 October 2015
Dedicated 'trading' days and times will be established and announced closer to the opening, so stay tuned...
And don't forget that items traded at the Port Augusta exhibition will be available for trading in Lismore.

What's inside??? 
Well it's time to start thinking about the interior and how I am going to configure the layout of the Container of Dreams. It's a really small space, which is the point of the project, so everything has to be thought through really thoroughly.
I want items like furniture, storage, etc to have multiple uses where possible so need to take this into consideration as well.
I love the concept of Murphy Beds - you know the ones that pull down when in use and the fold back up into a space in the wall much like a cupboard, but in this tiny space I actually believe it may take up too much of the available space. I think a lounge that becomes a bed (sofa-bed) will be a better way to go as it has dual functionality (two pieces of furniture) and most importantly functions as a lounge when not in use as a bed.

I have also noted the condition of the container, both inside and outside. Given that it is over 20 years old it is in pretty good shape overall, however there are a few noticable exceptions. After a small amount of recent rainfall I thought I should go check the thing out for leaks, low & behold there was a small puddle in the far left corner. That's when I noticed the patch on the ceiling - not a fantastic patch job either! (see above photos) But we work with what we're given.... and this got me to thinking about using this hole to my advantage. Now I am considering possiblities of some kind of an access hole to the roof-top deck. This needs more thought, but there's loads of ideas like a spiral staircase, a ladder, climbing wall, you name it...
I am now working with some 3D software to try to come up with the best layout for this project. I intend to try lots of different ideas over the coming weeks, even months, here's my very first attempt, and even includes my stairs up to the roof... please enjoy...

The container has arrived! 
I have now taken possession of the used shipping container for the Container of Dreams project. Shipping Container supplier Royal Wolf generously donated this container to me to convert into a Micro-home. The project is all about highlighting housing affordability and offering some real solutions to make housing cheaper, simpler and smarter.
It's great to be in partnership with big business like Royal Wolf and over the coming months I hope to have some more project partners on board.

A big shout out goes to John, the delivery driver, who wasn't convinced about the state of the track he had to drive on in order to deliver the container. After much deliberation and debate, and a great deal of sweet talking by Cass, he eventually agreed to brave the conditions and the container ended up where it was intended to go. Thanks also to my neighbour John, who helped me prepare the site and assisted with the unloading.

You can read about the Container of Dreams project on this website 
...and also see the article featured in the Northern Rivers Echo

The process of conversion now begins and I will post updates about the progress on this blog, so stay tuned!

Trading Place Port Augusta

Well, we completed our Artist's Residency in Port Augusta and all went well. It was definitely an interesting experience and a very interesting place to engage with!
Port Augusta is situated at the tip of the Spencer Gulf, the edge of the desert, the foot of the ranges and the crossroads of Australia! I can't wait to get stuck into making the body of work relating to this 'place'.

There was a great selection of mediums too, from painted works, to sculptures, ceramics, woodwork and jewellery, (as you can tell from the photos), and this also impressed me. And thanks too to the travelling nomads who dropped by and even took the time to trade a piece - that's what it's all about!

All-in-all Trading Place Port Augusta was a success, there were some lessons learned and some refinements planned, 
but it's onwards & upwards from here... 

Bring on Trading Place Lismore in 2015!

SOUTH AUSTRALIA HERE WE COME!!!

Well, it's finally arrived - the time to set off on our great South Australian adventure! 
We are very excited to be the Artist's in Residence at Port Augusta Cultural Centre and are looking forward to trading artworks and objects with the locals.
This is a photo from the last time we were in Port Augusta in 2011, on our way to our first residency at Hermannsburg, and looking forward to returning and really getting to know the place. If anyone has any suggestions of 'must-do's' please pass them on! 
We will be completing a body of work on our return about connecting to place of Port Augusta, some of which will be exhibited at Trading Place Lismore in 2015.

Trading Place packed for transit

The brief we gave ourselves for the artworks for Trading Place was that they had to be miniature, portable and easily transportable. We wrapped & packed the finalised pieces last Thursday and amazingly they fitted beautifully into one large box - matching our brief perfectly, I must admit I was impressed, although we have no real control over the pieces we trade with, except that we hope others follow the brief as much as possible, so they will fit in the car for the return journey!

ARID Festival

We are going to Port Augusta as part of their Arid Festival and you can read all about it on their website - click here 
- and to read about our contribution, Trading Place, click here.
It's a biennial festival celebrating the uniqueness region, which couldn't be more perfect for the concept of 'Trading Place'! This year will feature over 30 exhibitions, events and workshops -  if you're in the area please come along, it's going to be spectacular.

I will try to post some blog posts while we are travelling & also undertaking the residency to keep everyone updated, hope you enjoy!

So until next time, keep creating... (& see you in P.A.!)

It's a cold, cold winter...
Well, winter has finally hit - and it's sooo cold !!! I really don't like the cold, every winter we both threaten to move. It was minus 2 degrees on friday and the ground was completely white with frost, brrrr - now it's blowing a gale and making a cold day even colder! 

.....but enough of that... what about the art!

Blue & White Anyone?
I decided to experiment with a bit of blue & white porcelain this week. I had made some miniature landscapes for 'Trading Place' using some Traditional Porcelain, but wasn't sure if I should decorate the same way as I had done the stoneware ones I had previously made (see earlier posts). 
That's when I thought about just doing them blue. I really wasn't convinced in my own mind, but thought, hey... why not give it go - I could always wash it off and redo if I was really against it, right? I was still a little unconvinced even after doing it.... but they are growing on me.... Here's some of the results pictured below.

Story Telling
Cass has been powering along with more spirit figures and 
story dogs and is busily decorating them in her story telling 
style. 
Here's a work in progress shot (right) of one of her new 
Story Dogs which will be featured in the end of year exhibition.

Sunday Ceramics
Sunday Ceramics is now up to it's 20th episode - 
read along by clicking here and check out the other studios, 
always worth a read.


New Horizons...
We are also looking to the future and planning yet another exhibition, probably for 2016, as 2014-2015 are all pretty much booked out already for us - busy beavers that we are. We have already started the process of making pieces which will feature in this exhibition - name & venue yet to be finalised.... watch this space!!!

...and until next time keep creating!!!!

Keeping up the creative flow...

Well, it's been another big week in EFS Studios, is there any other kind!
We have both been very busy keeping up with our creating, making more and more art - this makes us happy!

Cass has been continuing her spirit figures and dogs - and has been busy this week decorating each one - as you can see, this is her pictured left, busily painting one of her puppies with blue underglaze, with some of the already decorated spirit figures behind. There's some great things happening with her works and it's exciting to see each piece come alive with her signature 'story telling' designs being painted on each one. 

She has been using a combination of textural surface treatments, oxides, ochres and underglazes to acheive the desired results. They are still to undergo the final firing process, so will be interesting to see the finished pieces after firing.

I have also been busily decorating bisqued pieces getting them ready for their second firing. As well as pouring loads of little cups and a few caravans too.

Walking in Country

The other project I have been busy working on is a creative collaboration project with my Son, inspired by the project Cass and he did together last year, Yurgiyn Dahnswena (see previous blog about this), we decided to undertake a further project with him this year.

He and I have been taking daily walks together around our bush property and then recording what we see and experience. Then we spend some time, usually weekly/fortnightly interpreting these walks into artworks. It's a fun process and great to see such interesting concepts and interpretations coming from a 4 year old. Exciting and rewarding.

It is intended that then these artworks will be then used to create some further ceramic works with a planned exhibition and accompanying book. 

Stay tuned for more exciting details about this thrilling and inspiring project... and how you can be involved!

Other things...

I have also been working on a creating a website for a new client, Sea Silks Gallery. They are a collective of artists opening a new gallery in the Ramada Hotel complex in Ballina, the Grand Opening is today if anyone is nearby, it should be a great day - check out their brand new website, created by me - seasilksgallery.com 

Sunday Ceramics....

Don't forget to check in with the other studios on Sunday Ceramics


Next week we hope to fire another kiln load so stay tuned for some more images of finished works 
so until next time.... keep creating!

Unpacking the Kiln...

Another very succesful kiln firing this week with great results. 
It's always so much fun unpacking a kiln after firing, I love the anticipation of wondering how that bowl looks, or did the spoons come out OK? Did the glaze work? etc... or knowing that you will have so many bisqued items to go on with and decorate to get to the next stage - good fun!
We were both so pleased with the results and we have several pieces which have 'made the cut' into the Trading Place exhibition in Port Augusta.

Mixed Messages...

The above photos show some of the great results - although some of the photos don't really do justice to the pieces (as I only took them with the phone) but they really are great! I especially love Cass' coconut bowls, they turned out fabulous.
Lots of my spoons turned out pretty good too, but I have mixed feelings about my miniature landscapes - some I love, some I'm not so rapt with, some I just can't decide.... does anyone else have this problem? 

Sunday Ceramics...

Not sure if there's a Sunday Ceramics this week, there was talk of it going bi-weekly - but check it out anyway... always worth it!

One of the Crowd...

Check out my friend Kim's pozible campaign - some great rewards offered. I think it has inspired me to try it - who wants one of our artworks in exchange for helping us out? Stay Tuned for details...

... and until next time keep creating...