One of my works will be part of the BeLonging: Embodied Commentaries Inspired By Place exhibition in Canberra from Saturday 27 June – Saturday 11 July 2015.

This is The Australian Ceramics Association Members' Exhibition and I feel so honoured to be a part of it. 

Here's a sneak peek of the work...

If you are in Canberra around that time, you can visit the exhibition at the Australian National University's School of Art Foyer Gallery, Building 105B, School of Art, Ellery Cres, Acton ACT 2601.

I will also be in Canberra to attend the Australian Ceramics Triennale: Stepping Up and to visit other amazing ceramic exhibitions. I am so excited to be fully immersed in ceramic-world! (geeky, I know) 

For more information:
http://www.australianceramicstriennale.com.au/2015/about
http://www.australianceramicstriennale.com.au/2015/exhibition/7

When I first started doing ceramics, I was happy to experiment with different types of clays. From earthenware to stoneware to porcelain, pretty much whatever I could get and what suited the situation. 

The problem with using a variety of clays meant that everytime I wanted to work using a different clay, I have had to thoroughly clean all of my equipment and tools to avoid cross contamination. For example, if I had been working with terracotta clay (red coloured), I wouldn't want it to get onto my pristine white porcelain. And also, if I had been working with earthenware clay, I wouldn't want it to get into my stoneware clay because they fire at different temperatures. (I learned this the hard way at uni when an someone's earthenware piece got mixed in with the stoneware firing and melted all over my work!)

Now that I have my own home studio with my own kiln, to optimise my work production, I have decided to change into a mid-firing porcelain clay called Cool Ice. Cool Ice is manufactured by Clayworks Australia. I have previously used Clayworks' Southern Ice porcelain clay (e.g. for the angel wings), so I felt quite comfortable and confident to change to Cool Ice. 

I don't know if you see the difference, but the one on the left is Southern Ice and the one on the right is Cool Ice. The Southern Ice is a little more white than Cool Ice.

I've been quite happy with the results of the test pieces but now that I'm ready to experiment more, I've realised that there aren't that many off the shelf mid-firing glazes available in Australia.

This is a bit of a late post - I went to Darwin in March but since I've been busy/sick with project baby I haven't had the chance to write this.

Going to the Museum and Art Gallery of The Northern Territory (MAGNT) was a nice artistic experience for me, a respite from the hot weather outside.

One of the most prominent feature of the MAGNT was the Cyclone Tracy Gallery, dedicated to the people of Darwin who experienced the cyclone on Christmas Eve 1974. There are two parts to the Gallery, one featuring the arts/artefacts associated with the cyclone, and a second section exploring the architectural history of Darwin before and after the cyclone. There is also a sound room where visitors can hear the recording of the cyclone. It was so eerie to listen to the recording and I could just imagine the fear and chaos at that time. 

Going through the MAGNT, I of course kept an eye out for ceramic works. I was very pleased to see some works by indigenous artists. I love the colours on these works.

There was also an exhibition of Rob Brown at MAGNT when I visited. He had some very cheeky works! There was a whole series called Cooking with Noah where he portrayed animals with different body parts. The one pictured below on the right look innocent enough from afar until you take a closer look.