More Blue Things

THIS WEEK WAS ABOUT CERAMICS

Looking around our homes we realized something. We are collectors. And I, like a bowerbird, collect small blue things. Some have been $2 mugs from target and others have cost me a weeks salary! I certainly didn't set out to only choose blue, it just seems to have turned out that way.

Here are a few of my more significant blue things:

This incredible David Pottinger vessel from his 2005 solo show:

South Australian ceramicist Gerry Wedd. His work blows me away. I wish I could afford a big blue thing!
Treasures from Irene Grishin Selzer (Iggy & LouLou). Baroque, encrusted, opulent, elegant and at the same time robust enough to use:
A gift from Beck (the greatest gift giver I have ever known). A small pot by Marianne Huhn:
Two pieces by Biggi Spiro. So delicate I can't believe I haven't broken them yet! Biggi is so consistently interesting and her use of colour is very dynamic even on such small vessels:

My most treasured object. My small blue house by architect and ceramicist Susan Robey. This is my 'save one object from the fire'. A poem.

Little Creatures

SHE MADE THEM HERSELF

When you are lucky enough to be taught the craft of clay by well known ceramicist Jane Sawyer even at the age of 12 our youngest staff member can intutively build a beautiful bowl...


But of course then she remembers that shes 12 and that weird sea creatures are far more interesting...

a bird in the hand

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

JONATHAN ADLER

What's not to love about Jonathan Adler, gay jewish potting misfit, his life reads like a Will and Grace script... only sweeter. He is more than enough to rekindle anyones love for ceramics even those scarred by the memory of Moore and Swayzee gettin' busy at the wheel. And his work is way cool. A man after all our hearts, with a manifesto that includes such words of wisdom as:

We believe that your home should make you happy.
We believe that when it comes to decorating, the wife is always right. Unless the husband is gay.
We believe in carbohydrates and to hell with the puffy consequences.
We believe minimalism is a bummer.
We believe handcrafted tchotchkes are life-enhancing.
We believe tassels are the earrings of the home.

My brother(bless his cotton proverbials) bought me my first Adler (above) for Christmas last year. No doubt that if we ladies of hml make it to NYC next march we'll be heading straight for Barneys and adding to the collection, toot sweet.

Go Figure

CRAFT FINDS OF THE WEEK

Given that we have far too many ceramic pieces to limit our craft finds to just the one day this week, we'll be bringing you a different flavour each day for your viewing amusement. Today it's the ceramic figurine...

You should all know by now that both ladies of HML are devout op-shop treasure hunters, and not just because we're cheap! We have a number of favourite haunts in which we search eternal for those very special chip free ceramic objet d'art (aka nonna dust-collectors) that find there way into our homes and stare silently at us from shelves in our studios.

Ramona favours the small blue thing...


While I favour quaint Heidi styling, regency garbed gels and hubba hubba cocktail kitsch.

Achtung baby

SHOW/S OF THE WEEK

According to the press release Andreas Tesch's solo exhibition 'Man Made' will form a landscape of 40 large-scale ceramic objects across all three gallery spaces. Though based in Berlin, Germany, the Melbourne-born artist continues to draw on the flora and fauna of Australia as a source of inspiration. Tesch's experimentation with organic shapes results in sculptural profiles reminiscent of bodies, vessels and architectural forms. Techniques honed over a twenty-year career, transform clay into a dynamic material, able to recall the look and feel of bleached bone, slate, rubber, burnished metal or even skin."

Good enuff for us, and we've been looking forward to seeing this work for months, Tesch's work is big bold and beautiful. The exhibition is also part of Victoria's State of Design program which you can find out more about at: http://www.stateofdesign.com.au/.
But that's a whole other story.

The exhibition opens at Craft Victoria this Thursday at 6pm, but if you get in early (5.30pm) you can catch Tesch speaking about his life and workA.. a rare treat indeed.

Andreas Tesch MAN MADE, gallery 1,2 and 3 . Craft Victoria 31 Flinders Lane Melbourne 3000

p>Now that we've got the high craft out the way, let's get right on board the low. In keeping with 'Germanicanic ceramic' theme of today's entry, I'd like to introduce my current favourite grouping of East/West German vases, currently on show in my loungeroom, Northcote 24/7. I've been collecting for quite a while, but in a nod to Japanesenese idea of displaying objects on a seasonal basis, I only keep a select group out at any one time. Of course the fact that my partner thinks them overly gaudy op-shop abominations has absolutely no bearing on this decision whatsoever...

pencil pushers

THIS WEEK WAS ABOUT

Seems team HML has managed to make it thru a drawing themed week without actually producing a drawing. Well, not quite. I managed a five minute mouse picture for illustration friday, and Ramona is well known for her doodling during important phone calls, of which she made many this week. But it's true, again we had grand plans for a pencil fueled revolution which came to naught - but let's face it we've been up to our eyeballs in gingham and denim again making these letters! Thankfully we can say that as far as the alphabet soup project goes, this is...

Really. we promise.

draw your own conculsions

WE (kind of) DREW IT OURSELVES

ok so yesterday we promised you all a drawing for this weeks illustration friday theme 'match'... and clearly this is not a drawing. We apologise, really.

At least we managed to get this in as the inaugral handmade life entry on the IF website.

And we agree that our entry is pretty literal, but we also think it's literally pretty, and it would be such a waste to have developed a stuffed fabric font and not use it, wouldn't it?