"Sunday Scribblings" Free.

G'Day,
I have just had a nice weekend at the Canberra potter's society at a demonstration workshop with master potter Geoff Crispin.
He is a potter of 40 years practice from the Clarence valley in northern N.S.W. Geoff predominantly works with a porcelain body made from local materials to his own recipe.
First pic above is of a birdie scribble I did while sitting listening and watching him work.
Now I am absolutely itching to get my hands in the mud.
Geoff Crispin has worked extensively in his career with developing artists in Jamaica, Oman and Australia,'s northern indigenous communities.
While at the workshop I was informed of some resident artists at the Australian National University ceramics department. So I went to have a look at them this morning.
I can't tell you these ladies names or where they come from. They are very shy people and reticent to talk, I am not sure if they had much English, but here are some pics I took of them at work. These pots are fantastic, I really love this style of art.
This lady was working on a thrown cylinder in terracotta clay which had been burnished and painted. She is now using a tool to scratch decoration back through the layer of paint (either slip or terra sigilata) to expose the color of the clay underneath. The brush in her hand is to sweep away the dry clay scraps so she can see what she is doing. The technique of scratching into a pot like this is called sgraffito.
The third of the artists working graffito onto her pot.
The following pots are made by Geoff Crispin and are part of the exhibition at the Potters society at the moment.The picture above is a close up of the fish that Geoff carves into his pots.
Part of the workshop detailed how he carves and chooses designs for individual styles or forms that he makes.
The pot above is made by an aboriginal artist from the Northern Territory and is part of a private collection. This one is my favorite of all the ones in exhibit.
Of these pots the first one, the taller of the two is one made by Geoff. It is made from his porcelain clay, carved and wood fired and shows the influence of his work with the developing artists he has encountered. The second, shorter one is another from his collection made by the indigenous artists of the Northern Territory. You can probably see the card with her name if you enlarge this. She is from Ernabella.
This shows the decoration on the other side of the pot above. I love this.
A wider view of the exhibition.
And again, aren't they beautiful.
This is a couple of pots glazed with a copper red glaze, made by Geoff. Copper red is my favorite glaze.
This is a wider view of the earlier pot that has the fish carved into the side of it. It is porcelain and glazed with a pale green celadon glaze. I love the way that the celadon glaze runs into the carved decoration and pools there, accentuating it.
Beautiful large porcelain platter, wood fired and sprinkled with ash from a poplar tree that has melted in the firing to form a glaze.

Porcelain vessel. Slip cast, faceted, carved and wood fired with sprinkled ash again.

So? How does this fit in with the Sunday Scribblings prompt this week.

I am privileged.
I have the freedom to choose
that which I like
The freedom to practice my craft
And interpret it and other arts
as I choose.

Some do not!
Bye
Love Linda.