Current thoughts on young people selling works

Selling works is how, as students , we gauge each others success. In the long line of life, I'm so often told, that not selling works whilst your only twenty is not a problem. That's easy for you to say when it's not going to decide your future. When your twenty, you know you have time to figure out if what your doing now is the life you want, and there is time to change if soon it feels wrong.

But when you make art you are essentially making what you want to, whatever it is, and expecting to find a kindred interest to buy it.

And so if you start life doing whatever you feel like and it feels wrong you have the option to begin doing what other people delegate to you or become the delegatee.

But unfortunately, if you have found happiness so-far-in-your-forever in making what-you-feel-like and you want to keep going in it, your leaving yourself extremely vulnerable to the opinions of others and their incentive to buy.  Assuming that the person described is not supported by unknown magic funds that can be drawn at will, the young artists are left swinging their art between passion and pastime amongst the pastime job paradox.

Money makes the art world grounded.

Pastime jobs, part-time jobs, take up somuch more than just a part of your time. They suck you dry of the confidence you could have had, that you were-and are-capable of making money for yourself in your art. an attist is a lifestyle. Yiu cant just say im going to be one, you probably already are if you want to cmunicate with displays, it takes a lifetime to be efective. In that sense part time is an unfortunate title

Now back to the initial rant, assuming the subject isn't financially free, the young is doomed to waiting for that initial investment surprise. If that doesn't come soon enough, unfortunately that tall poppy will wilt.

It's essentially a filtering process where the determined and confident will prevail and the insecure will trail off.

But, I encourage you to, if you as a audience like a student work, at any age, purchase it or trade for it ! - so they can have the assurance that they are making desirable goods. It isn't about money, but confirming their skills are valuable!  A note will do ♡♥
If you like it, do something about it!

Some works in my display...

TODAY is post marathon, so be prepared

Here is some sample pages of my most recent addition to this site;  Studio Paper 2012

 

 Hope you enjoy!
 

Most excellent joybeans of potential

Tomorrow is the big day where the graduates and I are awarded , bought and displayed to the public ! Business cards are in place, everything spare is painted white and students are gossiping. Today we all bubble around hoping we can eavesdrop in to the judges and find out who is awarded what or not.
On the way home today I was cranky that I was left out  of the equation until a phonecall changes all that, I too am on the golden list!
Now to wait to see what...

Tomorrow, before all of the ceremony, I will upload the display of mine that is under such scrutiny... to give opportunityfor anyone else to comment.
Your welcome, haha! (Victoriously)

 A few months ago, some ceramicist friends and I were lucky enough to take part in a collaboration with buddies who enjoyed printmaking. By mixing the two processes we came up with a little exhibit that became quite interesting.THe Exhibition was called Ink Earth and was held from 26 July to 10 August 2012 in the Library Stairwell Gallery, National Art School, Sydney; www.nas.edu.au

 Irritation,  part of a series; Irritation, Deflation, Contemplation; Wall-hung Ceramic sealed vessel, Wire.


Yep, its a weird object, but really we didn't know how to start. I refused to make plates or flat things with  print of oxide or ink because that is too direct, boring and simple for my attention span. We were searching for a way to convey the similarities of printmaking and ceramics but ended up with , at first glance, a cactus egg.

But - the beginning- which was the piece titled Contemplation, a burnished white egg shaped sphere with slight indentations, totalling half the size of a bowling ball. We sought to make an object- the epitome of which we figured was a ceramic thrown vessel that was simultaneuosly useless (which is what happens when ceramic vessels are too expensive to be functional anyhow) sealed whilst throwing. THis object was then drawn on by the polishing , engraving, and 'drawing' with wire. Wire was chosen because it is line. (when I think too much about line and its presence I cannot negate the fact that there is an inveitable physical depth in a line, even molecules thick when drawn with pencil, the only exception I expect is what is displayed in LCD screens). SO these lines were to coat the object in an abstract sense. We didnt want to draw anything particular so the wire drew what we essentially let it and the squiggles are great. the lines protrude to explain deeper marks made in the printmaking block. 

This is so hard to put into words, I hope I havent lost you. I feel I have lost myself so I will try to be simpler, for all our sakes-

the vesseli made became the printmakers block and we drew line with wire to keep with the physicality of the object- you see if we drew with a 2d line it would be strange, print on 3, use 3d line. 

I think that is the only way I can explain it. 

THey are such interesting things- making a 2d print on the wall with a shadow, but this is only an afterthought. 

Steven Bird published an article about the event in the online Journal of Australian Ceramics, issue 51/3, 2012. He quoted what we wrote about our works in the article, it may help explain what is going on: 

http://australianceramics.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=175%3Aink-earth&catid=12&Itemid=93

Shame! the problem with ceramic painting is the most obvious issue that it can very potentially fall down and smash

I lost two yesterday. Devo-

But hey lets make more!!!

Technology and interesting things that I have learnt;

Glaze;

- “Rutile” refers to a shape of crystal , a pierceing shape that often injects into quartz; ie rutilated quartz. And it is found naturally as an ore of iron and lithium. (I do get lithium and titanium confused, it is the fluxy one, whichever it is.

- I know that wine bottles melt at about 600 degrees.

- Nails disintegrate at and around 1000, and melt at 1100.

- Alumina rich glazes, 80%+ (or so) is so dry that it is still powder, even after stoneware firing.

- chrome in miniscule amounts will go acid yellow if soda is also present in the glaze… or lead.

- Nickle goes purple, even in large amounts

- Cadmium bought glaze needs to be thick to be red, if its thin it goes black and bubbly

-  lead will make beautiful pools of colour if put on top of  dry glazes

- tin goes pink if there is chrome in the kiln

- kaolin rich glazes will crawl like a motherfucker

- Lamb shank bones didn’t burn away after 1080 degrees

- bone ash and alumina affects the surface tension, and when its out of balance it beads, crawls and depending on the chemical composition of the components can make different crawling shapes , in a similar way to crystals

-  tin acts as a great opacifier, and if you need to make an oxide wash paler, without losing texture,  it is perfect

- terra-sigillata can give a glazed looking surface without need-ing to worry about glaze

- copper reduction glazes at stoneware look boring if on their own

- crystals are formed at any temperature if in a glassy glaze and lead, zinc, lithium or rutile are present (probably others too but these are the ones I have discovered as reliable) and there is a crashed soak time.

-A glaze pool in a wadding well shrinks an incredible amount. The well was full pre firing; the well is barely full after firing.  Even if the clay is not thick to soak up the mass of the glaze and the mix has little water; ie minerals condense.

- Three glazes seems to be a great balance of colour, because they interact with themselves and create a possible infinite amount glazes, or at least 27 clear distinctions (3³)

- glass marbles do nothing but melt mostly clear

-Dry glazes at 1000 degrees are effectively satin glazes at 1100, and glassy at 1280.

structural discoveries;

- hanging pieces need a counter support at the bottom  and a loop / hook at the top most point so that the piece doesn’t lean forward or back

- standing pieces that have back stands warp funny ways if glaze fired at a different angle

-hanging pieces need hooks or loops or holes to glue in nails so that attatching cord is simple- stick on plate hook-pad thingos are available (safensure.com.au) but structurally safer to make it whole

- wide clay tiles crack if balanced like a kiln shelf

- silica adhesive takes a week to dry, not 24 hours

-The depth and texture of the edges of the painting, the shape, and the perceived weight determine the feeling conveyed in the piece

- drilling  into ceramic is easiest when low bisque fired, not glaze fired (too solid), or leatherhard (too brittle)

-drilling ceramics needs a specifically designed drill bit which looks like a normal drill bit but at the tip the edge of the thread is tapered slightly to look like a wing, it is also made out of diamond.

- Araldite™ is the best thing in the world

-The crystals that are produced when mortar or concrete fuse are the same shape as PVA glue when it dries, so adding PVA to these materials will make them stronger.

- If a part is weak, glassy glaze that doesn’t move will make it strong.

Glass bottles, particularly wine or bourbon bottles, melt to liquid at 600 degrees