Just Work part 2

Here are some of the finished crosses I have been making after they were fired, glazed and re-fired:

I was also able to glaze some others for firing in the near future. This was all new to me. The glaze colours as you can see them below are very misleading. Some of the pinkish looking ones will become browns, greens and blacks and some of the green looking ones will turn that lovely raspberry red you can see in the picture above. So much science involved in the art of clay and colours!

I have been digging in the garden all day today after Gareth helped Joshua and I pick up about 100KG of manure I had set aside after the sale the other day. It is beautiful and sunny and I love some good, hard physical labour, especially when the resulting garden will provide so much future joy. It is hard-work however so I am having a much needed coffee and halva break. Too nice of a day to eat inside so I'm going back out. Aurevoir!

Just Work

On Wednesdays I have been visiting a pottery studio in East Van to help out where I can. I have wanted to work with porcelain for a long time, and had looked into doing a short course in the past, so this has been an absolutely wonderful opportunity and I have learnt so much in a short time (there is SO much more to pottery and ceramics than I imagined). I have been making ceramic crosses which will be glazed and re-fired and sold to support the Just Work social enterprise - Just Potters. This such a fantastic initiative, born out of a desire to help the people of East Vancouver in a practical way - through employment opportunities. If you have 5 minutes this video explains it beautifully:



They have a facebook page and an etsy site where you can order the beautiful work online. I would love to get some garden markers for my new veggie plot and I am just trying to choose between all of the other mugs, bowls, even a fantastic "berry bowl" which is a gorgeous green and will be great in summer time when berries abound. (There is even more available for purchase in the studio than what is listen online... honey pots, an orange juicer...) Have a look and see for yourself!

Installation

Acts 2

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

" 'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved."

This is what I do for work

I have a job which I never knew existed until applying for it. And I am very happy to say I love my work. My hands may never be dainty again, but I like getting messy (in a productive and creative kind of way) in whatever I do so ink stained fingernails and paint on all my clothing is an easy compromise. I am a travelling primary school visual art teacher. I work for a company called RAW ART which are contracted to both state and private schools to supplement and boost existing art programs. I work at a different school nearly every day with children aged 5 to 13ish. We have a curriculum of lessons from which schools nominate a 1 1/2 hour session. I travel all over Brisbane in my ute (so have a pretty good handle on the Brisbane road system and the Southside is not so dark and scary now...) and as far north as Childers, west to Toowoomba and south to Burleigh Heads. Here are some of the things we've made:
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1 and 2 Reduction prints. These are actually some I made with 6/7 kids
3 This Picasso lesson is wonderful as you just can't go wrong. I always remind the children not to worry if it turns out a big wonky... that's perfect for picasso style (year 4/5)!
4 I did a contract at a local primary school where the year 4's did these delightful portraits.
5 Can you recognize which fairytales these are from? Year 2
6 Left hand side are prints by a year 1 girl. I love how little ones can make something beautiful from something as simle as a triangle. Looks jellyfishy to me. Right hand side screen print by a clever year 4 boy. Love the birdies crest.
7 Having learnt some fantastic tecnniques through staff training days, every now and then I do a little something myself at home. This bicycle screen print was for a card for Alice's 21st birthday (I found 'prepare to dance' in a magazine and thought that was a nice sentiment about bike riding) and the Beth and Ben reduction print for an engagement card. I simply engraved into an old styrofoam meat tray with a blunt pencil. So simple!

1980 Vintage

Last Monday we had a little get together for Josh's 30th with close friends and family. 4 of Josh's best mates today are guys he went to primary school with. I think over 20 years of friendship is pretty amazing and really says something about Josh, and the other boys too. Benno and Dave are now married with kids so it was great to have the little ones there, and just as they were leaving and the larrakins (Jacob and Nathan) were arriving we managed to get a photo of the 5 boys together (will post later when all sorted out - so many other pictures to wade through).

Made the invite in photoshop (although I am still finding it a struggle) as I really want to get as much practice in as possible. My sister would whip up something spiffier in 5 minutes and this took me a couple of hours... but I think I'm gradually getting more confident.

Origami

I learnt how to make origami birds for a kids church (Sunday school) activity and then got on a roll and made this mobile for our newly sparce loungeroom (as Miriam and Paul are moving to Canberra). I am quite happy with the colours. They fit in with the room and I think the brown and grey and yellow really add something. Not totally sure what the boys think... ah well.

Recent creations

I have been trying to save seeds from my garden and storing them in various packets I find. I had been meaning to buy some little envelopes to store them in and label them more neatly and then had this idea. I used a template to make these little envelopes from recycled magazine pages. They were free to make, and 100% recycled. Perhaps a packet of seeds like this would be a lovely gift for other garden enthusiasts. Also some envelopes for letters made from pages of a thrown-away picture book.


A friend Elaine came over and we drew as we chatted. This is a passionfruit flower. I want to do more drawings like this - spontaneously and without over-thinking things. Learning to see better. Practise is how we get better at things after all.