playing with clay

I have been having the most luscious time working out how to incorporate clay into my work. Inspired and encouraged by the lovely and wise Margaret Cooter, I hopped over to the nearby Northcote Pottery to see what sort of clay would be most suitable.

 They were extremely helpful, especially as I don't really want to fire my work, not just yet anyway... And I came away with what was described by the helpful pottery person as 'the Dom Perignon of clay' - Southern Ice porcelain and the paper clay version of same. It feels absolutely luscious - silky, cool, smooth and unctuous. It also makes a most beautiful smooth slurry, although I'm still working out the right consistency for use with textiles.

 I've dipped, smooshed and stroked it on to silk, paper, feathers, bookbinder's mull, mulberry bark and silk paper and it's all most promising.

The Pulse Project Exhibition

I am really excited to be part of Seth Apter's latest venture, The Pulse Project Exhibition which opens tonight (Friday 3 April) at The Empty Spaces Project Gallery, Putnam, Connecticut, USA. The exhibition features work by artists who participated in Seth's books The Pulse of Mixed Media and The Mixed Media Artist.

Click on the image on the sidebar under the 'currently showing at' heading to see all of the amazing and varied artwork that makes up the exhibition. The glory of the term 'mixed media' is its variety - my pieces are grounded in textiles, but the exhibition also includes collage, jewellery, sculpture, photographs and techniques that defy categorisation.

All the works are for sale and can be purchased through Seth: you can see the exhibition online and contact Seth here.

Five of my works are The Pulse Project Exhibition:

 Land sea alchemy

 Ormer Ecstasy

 Talisman II

 Time

Note to Self

slightly hamstrung

I have had good intentions of blogging but these have been undone by my computer having gone into permanent limbo and having to go off to see what, if anything could be retrieved.

In the absence of easily findable photos, I can report that I have been doing stuff in the studio - darning mulberry bark, grinding pigments and making watercolours and I have started a new long term project.

The Wedding Dress Project started when I was harvesting silk from an 80s wedding dress I had bought from a charity shop. After I had removed the sleeves, most of the skirt and silk elements of the bodice panels I was left with a very interesting looking carcass.

This has given me the perfect excuse to learn and practise a number of new techniques, which may or may not end up on my wedding dress.