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​Earth Fire Spirit Studio 

Since 2007

ArT On Fire

6/8/2014

1 Comment

 
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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.

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Cass Purdon - Little Dish
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Cass Purdon - 'Pippi Dance'
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Cass Purdon - 'Washed Ashore'
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Fresh from the Kiln
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More offerings from the kiln
PictureLock it Up - Clare Urquhart
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? 

PictureAssorted Spoons - Clare Urquhart
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...

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Mapping Country

3/16/2014

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PictureMap of Bundjalung Nation
I have nothing to say... 
I am struggling finding anything to say today...
...not because our week was uneventful, it wasn't - I am just exhausted and don't really feel like writing, however, ....
...at the start of the year I decided to make the commitment of trying to write something here every week, so I will stick with it and write something ... but it might not be much :)

Mapping Our Region
Our work continues with the collecting country project and we have been busy mapping the region to identify key places, concentrating on significant places both in the natural, the man-made/monumental categories and places of importance to the Bundjalung People (showing the proper cultural respects, of course). We plan to use this formula in the other areas that we visit on our 'Trading Place' tour as well. This is a really interesting exersize and one worth doing for anyone really, especially the artists amongst us! Once we have made a map of these key places we intend to visit all of them (a lot of which we have already done, see previous posts) and take a sample imprint of anything that we find interesting to then make an artwork from. There are the obvious 'big ticket' places like Mt. Warning, Byron Bay Lighthouse, The Big Prawn and the like, but it's the secondary places that interest me the most, places like Tooloom Falls or Woolool Woolooni or Black Rocks... - maybe it's just the explorer in me! 
And on that note, if anyone from the Nth NSW region wants to share an important place with us please let us know.

Picturemapping our region
Sunday Ceramics
I received my swap spoon in the mail from Kim Foale of Sunday Ceramics - Thanks Kim! Now I just need to glaze and refire to send her my swap in return. It's fun to swap and this concept of exchanging ware directly feeds into our Trading Place project, so I am really excited to have started some trades already!
 
Until next week... (maybe I will be re-energised by then)
...Keep the creativity flowing


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Get your Hands Dirty

3/9/2014

2 Comments

 
PictureCassandra Purdon & Clare Urquhart - Unleashed
Please Grant us the Serenity!
This week was another busy one at EFS and we had loads to do including submitting a grant application for our Trading Place project.
Pictured Left is an image of our concept - it is a merging of our Art practices, as you can see! We hope to make a travelling studio to facilitate our collecting of country and pieces of place related artworks for the Trading Place project and exhibitions.
It was stressful writing it up and getting all the figures right for the budget section (that's the bit I hate actually) and then getting it in on time. There was a last minute panic about some of the details, but it was submitted ... now all we have to do is wait....
... cross your fingers for us!

PictureCardboard Caravans - Clare Urquhart
Gone Mouldy
I have decided to make some moulds from a couple of the cardboard caravans that I made last year so that I can make ceramic vans from them. So this week I was busy preparing them for the mould making process. As the cardboard would've disintegrated when the plaster is poured around it, I had to address this first. I decided to coat them in wax as a protective coating, plus as they were not perfectly symetrical I could add bits of modelling wax where needed to help fill any undercuts. Well... this was a much bigger job than anticipated, I thought it would be quick (I am always underestimating!) - it took up most of a whole day - but will be worth it for the next stage of pouring the plaster, which I plan to do this week.

PictureCass Purdon & Clare Urquhart - Serving Up Country
For all the Stirrers...
Most ceramicists would already be aware of this but ceramic artist Vipoo Srivalasa is calling out for spoons for his Object:Spoon event - click on this link to find out more. 40 of the most outstanding spoons will be chosen and exhibited at Harvard in Boston, USA. 
Maybe we will submit one ourselves...?

Bookworms...
This week we have all felt like bookworms - reading loads of books - I don't think I have ever read as many in as short amount of time as I have this week. Between us I think we are up to about 40 or so! All in the name of research ( and some even about research). At least we can both now say Assignment number one - tick! 
Cass is even Assignment Two - tick - good for her!

Sunday Ceramics
Don't forget to check out all the other studios on Sunday Ceramics,
& if you are a ceramic artist you may even want to join in!

Until next time  - Keep Creating....


2 Comments

Make an Impression

2/9/2014

1 Comment

 
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Nature's imprint
This week we have been busy creating lots of new ceramic works and doing loads of experiments, mostly about making impressions. 
Taking inspiration from nature we first went fossicking in forests and combing beaches to find interesting objects to use in this process.
Pictured left are some bowls Cass made from impressions off a coconut found washed up on Shelly Beach. This is such a fun process and we have used numerous things like driftwood, bark, banksias, stones, petrified wood, shells, leaves, seed pods, etc and you can see more of the initial results in the pictures below. 
(Click on the image to see the larger version.)

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The Art of Spooning...
We have also been busy making spoons - many, many spoons!
We have experimented with turning some of our impressions into spoons with some great initial results. These are yet to be fired but we are hooked!  they are rather addictive to make for some reason and I in particular am having a great time creating these.
Fellow ceramicist Kim Foale from frogpondsrock and host of Sunday Ceramics also knows the strange spoon making addiction and she and I are doing a swap - I am very excited and can't wait to receive Kim's spoon.
Pictured right are just some of the latest batch - using the matchbox as size reference, and that is the great piece of petrified wood on the left - the spoon in the bottom righthand corner is the one our son made - getting the whole family involved! 

Not only nature...
After our initial imprints using natural objects and surfaces we also decided to make imprints of other things such as road surfaces, fabric, metal, plastics, even my son's matchbox cars!

Once they are glazed and fired we will post some images of the results - can't wait! 
This is such a great process and one we are continuing to develop and weave into our art practice - with some awesome projects based on this on the horizon ... stay tuned!


Well, it's been a big week of creating, with an even bigger one coming up, and check out Sunday Ceramics if you are interested to see what other ceramic artists are doing in their studios...
.... so now I'm off to make some more spoons!

 

1 Comment

    Clare Urquhart

    One half of the Earth Fire Spirit Team, I have an obsession with transport & homes including caravans, mobile homes, temporary dwellings, etc ... and a passion for all Art!

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  • Home
  • Cassandra Purdon
    • Cass' Bio & CV
    • Gallery >
      • Story Dogs
      • Spirit Figures & Totems
  • Clare Urquhart
    • Clare's Bio & CV
    • Gallery >
      • Caravans
      • flatpack habitat
      • Other Artworks
    • Container of Dreams
  • Collaborations
    • Yurgiyn Dahnswena
    • Trading Place
  • Media
  • Hermannsburg Trip
  • Contact us
  • Blog
  • Dancing Dingo