OWL PHOTOS FROM THE BLUEDOOR -UPDATE TO '2011 YEAR OF THE OWL'

As I mentioned in my last post its been a very busy year @ the BLUEDOOR this year and Ive been developing a body of work that started with some simple line 'studies' using a fine gel pen, I managed to fill up most of  a large sketch pad. That's pretty amazing for me as until the last few years I usually just do a few rough sketches to get the feel of the piece I want to make, splash around a few colour swatches and get stuck into the clay.

My very first Lecturer at art school used to tell us to draw every day and to draw all our Ideas religiously and couldn't impress on us enough about how much this would inform our work. I struggled with this as I was very much a hands on 3D person and usually started my journal with the few rough sketches etc as mentioned then do a drawing after the work was finished. Yes I know that's cheating!!!

Any way over the last few years I find myself NEEDING to start any sculptural project by getting a feel on paper, This usually involves a pile of the big cartridge paper a lot of charcoal and a great CD (very important!!!)  I find these drawings give me a feel of line and a sense of scale, its at this stage that the character of the piece will start to develop and by the time I get to the CLAY stage the piece almost seems to make itself. I LOVE PROCESS.  

I thought I would post the slide show images as photos as I'm not really sure if the slide show from the earlier post presents that well so I apologise to anyone who feels this to be unnecessary repetition. I will also share a few of my Ink OWL STUDIES in another Post. Till then Cheers from ROSE MAGUIRE @THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO.

'Owl Dreaming' stoneware 35cmx25cmaprox

Hand built Porcelain Beakers with iron oxide inlay or green alkaline glaze 

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Owls in progress, slipped and drawn into ,waiting for Iron oxide wash

'Owls' Wash applied waiting to be rubbed back



Detail Stoneware Owl

 









Stoneware owl 50cm aprox



The Family





2011 The Year Of The Owl

This year I've finally gotten around to playing with owls. A bit of time to explore (and the deadline of two exhibitions fairly close together)has allowed me to develop my original drawings into a lovely body of work including a series of stoneware wall tiles 30 x 30cm approx. Some small porcelain tiles and hand built beakers, both with embossed inlays,A collection of thrown and altered sculptures and a new bowel series I call Nest, not to mention some lovely Owl pendants. Another spin off is a series of digital prints from my original drawings. Its been fantastic fun and there is still a lot more scope for further development.

The Owl sculptures start life as bottle forms thrown on the wheel then the top is sealed and clay added to create the head and facial features. I then apply a porcelain slip and draw back into the surface to create texture on the form,after this an Iron Oxide wash is applied and left to dry. This is then rubbed back with fine sand paper (always wear a mask if you try this!!!) glazed and fired to cone 6. Initially I sponged of the excess Oxide but found it often took off to much and spread the oxide around to much, sanding offers me far more control. I'm really loving all facets of producing this body of work.


Find more photos like this on Electric Cone 6, Mid-Fire Potters

To view this slide show as photos and to read a bit more click HERE or to view More of my OWL SKETCHES click HERE.

A Pedestal Platter Demo from THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO

Hi all, I've been playing with movie making again. Here's a wee video compilation I filmed earlier this year whilst figuring out a quick and easy technique to throw pedestal platters (cake/fruit stands)without too much fuss . Not only quick but I found them lots of fun. And I love throwing them all in one rather than two pieces ( we're so clever)

  

The finished pieces were made from Walkers No. 10 and fired to cone 6 (1220ish) after bisque. I was happily surprised that there was no warping or cracking.

If you're going to give this a try please remember to keep the water to a minimum and compress (everything that can be) really well.

So here's the basics, have a play....

You can contact me via the comments section if you have any questions.

Comments please on length and picture/sound quality and any other constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Till next time Cheers from The Bluedoor Studio 

(Rose Maguire Ceramics)

FIRST DAY OF SPRING AT THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO

Well, really...
I should have just posted the same photo I posted last August. Same weather, same window, same computer distractions, Today was defiantly not my idea of Spring and it was great because I could justify a day of research (concept development) on the interweb (ha) 

Who Who what a day, the eyes have it (mine feel like they're popping out of my head)

If anyone has any Owl stories, myths, analogies or quotes (not from Edward Lear) I'd love to hear them (whoo whoo things are a flutter)

Meanwhile back in the Studio....

Although My Studio time has been sadly and severely limited over the last few months I have been playing with Tea pots with over the top handles.

I've avoided this type of handle for the whole of my potting career and now for the life of me I have no idea why, they're such fun and the wee pots have turned out beautifully...

My other wee play was inspired by some gorgeous Indian wood blocks that came into work the other day. Usually used for fabric printing,  I took one look and then couldn't wait to get back to the studio and press them into some porcelain.

So now I'm re exploring jewelery (what fun)

It was a bit of an Eureka moment for me but then I remembered that my dear Ali had had the same sort of  moment years ago...ah well.

What goes around comes around and we always infuse our own Ness into what ever we do

( comments please)

  

I've had such fun with these and after the first firing have a clearer picture of the next turn in direction I'm bound to follow.

So that's about it for now all that's left is to apoligise for the photos being pre bisque. Just you wait untill I get the glaze pics off the camera.

So ciao for now, or should I say bonne nuit mes petits pois. Thats all the news from THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO (ROSE MAGUIRE CERAMICS) 

WET WET WET Stirling Market March 2010

Well I'm home and recovering from a very soggy Stirling Market day,I've had a nice hot shower and a bowl of yummy soup and thought I'd share some Photos of of our day.
It was constant drizzle all day but that didn't deter the visitors, it was a smorgasbord of colour filled umbrellas rain coats etc...

As usual a great chance for a catch up with Ang and market regulars. 
The ambiance is always great and was enriched with a fantastic impromptu jam session featuring Dylan and his wife playing Dylan's amazing Elder wood shepherds flutes, Morgan on the drum, Hanna vocals and shaker and 'Our Ragan'(T Shirt print-maker extraordinaire) percussion flute and juggling sticks...Plus another couple of guys as well. I tried to make a video but the sound didn't work.




Neither Ang nor I believed the weather mans prediction of showers  (lets face it they've been predicted for about two weeks now) so we were caught a bit short and our tent isn't quite rain proof. So I got to and designed a new line of 'Bubble Sheik' rain apparel which we launched with great success, in fact we made quite a splash!

   

That's it for now I'm off to bed with a book!

Till next time 
Cheers from the Bluedoor (Rose Maguire Ceramics)

ROSE MAGUIRE AND THE BLUEDOOR RETURN TO CERAMIC BLOGLAND

Hi and Happy 2010! Due to a  dead camera I have been tragically blog deprived, but guess what I got for my birthday!!! So I've been clicking like crazy and I'm back in 'blog land'.

The end of last year was crazy busy with the usual markets and the St Catherine's fine art show ( A great event and yes I did sell some of my sculptural pieces) 

Not to mention my eldest daughters wedding the first weekend of December. Such a beautiful and moving moment in our lives.

January bought my 50th and my lovely sister, who arrived from NZ two days before the heatwave and stayed with us for two weeks. Much experimenting with the movie function on the new camera (what fun)

So as January draws to a close the much neglected Bluedoor Studio is slowly coming back to life. 


Last Thursday saw the first Bluedoor Studio event for 2010 with Ali and Ang and myself playing with plaster. The girls were making platter molds while I negotiated a 4 part mold with eventual success. Although it's amazing what you don't get done in a day!

Well thats a very quick update, watch this space for a couple of slideshows very shortly.

Till next time Cheers from The Bluedoor 
                           (Rose Maguire Ceramics)

Rose and the Tiny Dancer

It's been a very busy couple of months for me with work and preparation for our SALA exhibition, which opened last Wednesday night at the Urban Cow Gallery in down town Adelaide.


The Clay Collective put on yet another great show with our usual eclectic mélange of works! It was a terrific to catch up with some old faces and meet and greet many new ones. A very bubbly evening, fun with a capital F.

Time and weather where certainly not on my side with this one. How many times did I throw my hands in the air and and yell... 'That's it, it's never going to happen, I'm pulling out!' ...(in true Drama Queen style)... Plenty! but it all came together somehow and I am so in love with my Tiny Dancer.
I had to give into the weather, it was just so wet and cold up here at the Blue Door Studio, so I converted a newly vacated bedroom into a cosy Hand building Studio (Luxury!) A couple of tables, a comfy chair, a CD player and a Heater, what more could you ask for!









I didn't have time to test the materials for this project but a lot of educated guessing and a bit of luck and I couldn't have been happier.




It really was a tense 7 days from start to pulling her from the kiln still warm and bundling her into the car on exhibition set up morning,but now I know it can be done in the middle of a Lenswood winter, OK so I did steam her for 24 hrs and leaving the oil heater on 24/7 for a week did nothing for my carbon footprint.




A blend of Feeneys Buff Raku and Keans White Hand building clay allowed very quick building. and created a lovley softening undertone where the porcelain slip top layer was lightly sponged back.


I used Gestley Borate and body stains (1 part GB as to 2 parts BS) mixed with water to apply light washes to the dress, boots, headscarf and the banding over her eyes which again I sponged back into. She spent 24 hrs steaming in the kiln and then slowly once fired to about 1200 degrees,may be just under.















Rather than a literal representation of a dancing figure I was striving for a painterly dream like suggestion of an intimate moment of introspection and I couldn't be more pleased with the results...

And somehow it all came together and I am so in love with my Tiny Dancer!





Till next time Cheers from the Bluedoor (Rose Maguire Ceramics)

Rose Maguire, Getting It Right?Throwing Tea Pots off the Hump

This video is incompleate I'm creating this post as a trial to see how much I can compress a video file without compromising the quality or the upload speed. I have a feeling it will be back to the drawing board! Please leave comments on Quality and speed!

Thanks (Rose Maguire @ the Bluedoor)

UMBERRELLAS ABOUND...RAINY MAY AT STIRLING MARKET

I love these new platters with the satin matt black spilling over into the strontium green, really effective! note the water filled bowl on the left of the table, we gave up emptying things... Angs colours were soft but bright and lifted a gloomy day.

The rain certainly didn't keep people away from the Stirling Market last Sunday and added a new dimension to our monthly event.

Ang took fashion to new heights with the launch of her new 'Street Grunge Sheik' Bubble wrap skirt (sorry no pics of that one) and I squelched the day through in Swimming Pool Boots ( oops forgot my trusty old favorites leaked)

However we managed to keep our spirits afloat with much laughter and the weather gave everyone a chance to fluff up umberrellas old and new. The were some great looking Brollies about!

I forgot my camera so have pinched some of Angs pics, follow the link to see more and check out Angs great Blog

I'm off to the studio to make some Tea Pots today (if i can find my way through the fog!) so till next time, Stay dry!

Cheers from the Bluedoor (ROSE MAGUIRE CERAMICS)

Simply Gorgeous Autumn Day...Well Thats My Excuse

This is My view ( the back view of THE BLUE DOOR STUDIO) as I sit with chin on hand taking a breather from sorting through images for the slide show (showing the making of the adorable ceramic slippers/shoes I made for the Greenhill Galleries Exoteric exhibition)that I'm putting together for the Blog.

You may not be able to see it in this pic but it is raining! real rain!!! and pretty chilly for us, and I have found a good excuse to play on the cyber highway (Well of course I was researching...)

Don't you love the fore ground distortion that the fly screen wire creates infront of the window in this photo....mmmmmmmmmm ideas for yet another print project. (layer upon layer upon layer... you know what I mean)

Any way, The farmers were right, Our long dry weather broke around ANZAC day with big rains over a few days and some cool but deliciously sunny Autumn days.

Anything deciduous rolls from green to amber red yellow or orange, the gums stand white/silver amidts the remenants of their discarded summer robes the apples blush apologeticly ( they're a bit slow colouring this year) and YES, we have a 5 ocklock shadow of green, spreading on the padocks between here and Mt Pleasant, not to mention the rest of south australia (Darn it... forgot to take my camera with me yesterday!!!)

So this post is really a diversionary tactic...........I really am getting that slide show together.

The exhibition at Greenhills came together really well and looks Fantastic. Thanks to Beck and too all of those that came along to the preview and opening it was great to see you all... + A few special guests for each of us...Yes you know who you are!

Slide show will be up over the next few days.
Till then Cheers! (Rose Maguire Ceramics)