The last few days have been ones of musings and reflections about our explorations during the last few months while we do the inevitable cleaning, sorting and packing up of our studios and rooms.

We unloaded the large gas kiln on the weekend and were greeted with a few surprises…. lots was packed in, and gas kilns have a life of their own once they are bricked up.  Jakab’s brick support for my tall form worked in part but a real sculptural element was added when one of Debra’s backdrop walls toppled on  it during firing and caused what Jakab laughingly calls the domino effect – I think he and Klari have seen pretty much everything in terms of clays and firing in their many years here with visiting artists and students. Continue reading →

A memorable day.  Debra and I took on the task of loading the medium-sized gas kiln, having been encouraged to use it by Klari  who felt we had enough work to fill it and it is more cost effective.  It is literally putting all of  your eggs in one basket though as it does hold the majority of our work completed the last two months.  We woke up to a few hours of finishing our glaze work – of course it took more time than we thought it would and I wasn’t happy with some of my technique but there was no time to re-do so I’ll just have to live with the results or recycle. Continue reading →

A weekend of of industry – continuing to form molds, dry them in the drying cupboard (a fabulous invention I had not heard of before here) and seeing the magic of our forms after casting them – seemingly perfect (or more perfect than before)! My photographs are somewhat limited and don’t give the whole picture as I had to take my camera in for repairs – perhaps using it too much!

The workshop was a wonderful learning experience for me – it is one of those areas where I realize more “what” I need to know and also what a fine skill (and art) mold-making is and that it takes years to master that alone. Continue reading →

This week has been a busy productive blur from the first morning when five of us arrived to be introduced to mold making by  master mold maker, Ed Bentley (www.Bentleystoll.com).  Immediately, hands on demonstrations made the process accessible,  non-intimidating while engaging us all.  Continue reading →

I have many pictures of this place I have become fond of – it is hard to select those I feel best represent the “feel” of the place.  Even the work areas, or perhaps especially the work areas, hold special interest for me.  Walking from kilns to plaster room to studio to work or visit others, or to ask questions of Klari or Jakob, have endeared the place to me – it is a very special environment to be here and work in. Continue reading →