What a Caulker (corker)!

Now when it comes to tools I know there are a lot of people out there who like to make their own. I admire that, but I’m not one of them. I’m more than happy to pop down to the shop and buy myself a shiny new ready made tool. So I must say I was rather proud of myself recently for doing a bit of DIY in the tool department.

I’ve been playing around with some new work that will require handles. Now I can pull handles from clay, but I seem to be only ever able to pull one kind of handle. Every time I try to make them a little differently they just don’t look quite right. So I decided to save myself a whole lot of time and frustration and whip myself up a little hand extruder with the help of this video (via ceramic arts daily) and a very amusing character called Dave Henry. A quick trip to Bunnings for a caulking gun and some PVC pipe, a bit of drilling and sawing, and voila, my very own hand extruder with 3 different handle forms (so far). It’s a corker! I keep hearing James Bond and Mission Impossible soundtracks in my head as I aim at the bench and watch the handles ooze out!

A few new bits

Some new pieces for an upcoming show at The Jam Factory.

I've had that too ra loo ra loo ra tune (irish lullaby) stuck in my head for weeks.

More to come soon....!

Time Travel

I’m part of an exhibition that is currently showing at the Tweed River Regional Gallery called Time Travel: reimagining the past. It’s a selection of works from contemporary Australian artists who draw on past eras for inspiration. Curated by Susi Muddiman and Gail McDermott it’s a really amazing collection of works from artists across the country.

The Tweed River Gallery is in the very beautiful town of Murwillumbah, which is where I grew up. A lot of my work draws on that time of my life, and images from that era feature frequently in my pieces. We moved away when I was 15, and at the time I was SO glad to get out of there and move on to bigger and better things (like…er…the Gold Coast!!!). Of course, these days I dream of living back in that area! So I’m really looking forward to heading down on June 6^th to give a talk about my work, along with a few other artists from the show, so if you are in the area please pop along!

Artists in the show include: Julie Bartholomew, Gordon Bennett, Penny Byrne, Samantha Everton, Anna Ferran, Rew Hanks, Neil Jenkins, Jonathon Jones, Lindy Lee, Keith Looby, Fiona Lowry, Alasdair Macintyre, Dean Manning, Danie Mellor, VR Morrison, Kate O’Brien, Ben Quilty, Valerie Sparks, Robyn Stacey, Arlene TextaQueen, Christine Wilcocks and Anne Zahalka.

A pic of the lovely old house I grew up in