ridgelines 2.09

Black earth wet from evening rain

amber trailed by gum branch shadows as wild ochre slip crosses the raw clay.

The canvas no longer blank

for colours from the kitchen garden.

On my throwing bench tapas plates for a local restaurant wait to be dried off and packed. Fired in the electric kiln this work was quite a departure for me from the work in the wood kiln - however the connections remain with the wild ochre slip from Bruny Island giving vital warmth. I love the terracotta serving dishes of Spain and Portugal and the terre vernisse of France - these plates hopefully have some of that warmth and vitality.

ridgelines 1.09

red door intervention 

in a field of dry summer grasses,

a way in or a way to find out.

Travelling towards the east coast of Tasmania, a red door is propped in a field by the road. This is a marketing device to promote the recently launched interior design course for the University of Tasmania. It sits by the road to Port Arthur, a notorious 19th century convict penal settlement where escape was almost impossible.

ridgelines 2.08

Deadfall  is gathered

then stacked near the road,

a circle of roundness grows

as the wood  rests, dryly braced 

waiting for the splitter's wedge.

We are gathering wood from the land ready for splitting, some for the house fire over winter, but also to fire the small kiln. Our land has mostly black wattle, peppermint and blue gum and we use it all in various ways - if not as fuel in the kiln then the ash from the house fires is slaked, sieved and dried as a glaze ingredient. In the new year it will be dolerite, fat sand, sandstone and ochre that we gather as slowly the materials are prepared for the autumn firing.

ridgelines 1.08

arc of light

curving incandescent

filament to firmament

I'm back -  with the intention to try to keep this going as I work towards the next exhibition that I am involved with which is "Working Fire" at the Carnegie Gallery in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2009. The exhibition features my work as well as sculptures from fellow fireworkers Neil Hoffman and Michael Stephan. As part of the exhibition a process DVD is being made by Glen Dunn to be shown as an integral part of the exhibition.

ridgelines 4.06

One small cup sits floating
timeless in place.
The swell of the belly
and the curve of the lip,
carry the expanding lines
out into space.

In the Archeological Museum in Heraklion this small cup caught my eye.

ridgelines 2.06

Fluted columns remain,
with lintels resting
on the foundations of western civilisation.
As the tourist buses gather
our footfalls slowly polish the acropolis marble.

We start a journey back through time, to experience a past that still shapes the present.

ridgelines 3.06

The jars of Knossos
once held the spirit of Minoan life.
Now they too are held
caged from the palace hordes.

To Crete where the traces of Minoan civilisation are strongly present.

ridgelines 1.06

As winter deepens
the mist gathers
around the workshop,
with the courtyard framed
in swirling white.

As we leave, spring is coming but the grip of winter still holds.