In the glaze room at the Glasgow School of Art Ceramics Department - wearing my fashion apron! Photo by Cara Broadley

Photos from weeks 11 and 12 are now all uploaded, sorted and documented. Please click here to view them. During those couple of weeks I started with some glaze testing.

It’s been a fascinating process, and something I haven’t done much of before, apart from our Glaze Chemistry classes with Tony Flynn at the CSA and some testing for my raku project a few years ago. So I was very excited to re-acquaint myself with the process and to learn about the effects of ceramic materials in the UK.

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L to R: Fraser, Campbell Brown, Eleanor Cale, John, Susan O’Byrne, Bruno Gallagher, Gill, Linda McGill.

This weekend, we (the crowd from the Glasgow Ceramics Studio and our partners), celebrated someone’s birthday in style (but she’s very shy about it so I won’t say whose). So, a very big happy birthday from all of us, Mystery Girl!!

And, for something different, check out the web page of the very talented Bruno Gallagher, a Glasgow based visual and performance artist. And if you fancy philosophy, my husband, Campbell Brown is very talented in that area.

The studio documentation for week 11 is a little delayed - the photos have now been uploaded, but still need captions. Suffice it to say, that it was a very exciting week with the undergraduate full time students starting back at the GSA, including some lovely exchange students from China, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel and Canada (that’s all in the one department!). So, a big welcome to GSA Ceramics to all the visiting students as well as the 2nd years! Apart from meeting all these new people I devoted the week to glaze testing, something that is sure to continue for a few more weeks yet.

Not too much new this week in terms of the studio. I’ve just moved in to my lovely new space at the GSA, which can still do with a bit of decorating, but as you can see, has great potential. I met the lovely Rose Reynolds, who used to have my space, and wish her best of luck with her future. If you’re interested, Wendy Kershaw has photos of Rose’s and other GSA graduating work from last year on her flikr website (Rose’s is the magnetic work on metal shelves).

The decals have been fired onto the cups. See photos from week 10 here. Apart from that I’ve updated quite a few albums. I’ve added a couple of photos to the week 7 album because I made slip again - and there was no point recording the entire process over again, but I had missed out a step.

I’ve also bought and ordered various materials and tools and things to get me started - and had quite an adventure getting about town and “discovering” the pound shops on Sauchiehall Street, as well as ‘The Forge’ retail park and shopping centre. I’ve decided to make a Scotland photo album, just to show general photos of what sort of impressions getting around Edinburgh and Glasgow leaves me with. At the moment, there isn’t much in there, but I’ll build it up over time. I’ve also added a few images to the Glasgow Ceramics Studio album.

Last but not least, I’ve made a links page (well, the start of the many headed monster links pages project). This is what most of my time has gone into this week actually.

The idea is to build a resource that I can use and also share with anyone interested, that has all the sorts of information (that can be got off the web) a student of ceramics might require, in one place.

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I’ve posted new photos of the GSA Ceramics Department in the Haldane Building and also a new album called Glasgow School of Art, Design and Architecture with images of some of the other buildings, including the Mackintosh Building. The Exhibitions album has also been updated.

L to R: Mary MacKenzie, Anni Gell, Wendy Kershaw, Mide Quinlan Reddin, Juliet Sargent, Anne Murray, Barbara Attard Pettett, David King, Helen Morken, Angela, Homa Vafaie-Farley, Miranda Forrest, Ester Svensson.

This week I joined the 3rd year part-time Distance BA Design (Ceramics) students in a decal making workshop with Bill Brown. We learned how to screen print our own decals and how to make monoprinted transfers. Click here to see the photos. (This album is password protected).

I also sat in on two research methodologies lectures presented by H&C, one on “Object as text and writing on film” by Frances Robertson and one on “Art as/and philosophy” by Dr Ken Neil. (We discussed Heidegger and our feeling of angst). I’m very grateful to all of them for letting me sit in on the lectures.

The other exciting thing that happened is that I saw Tony Franks, who is the former head of the Edinburgh College of Art and of the Ceramics Department there. He suggested that I look up Francis Priest, an Edinburgh based ceramic artist and former graduate of his. Indeed, I’ve admired her work previously at The Scottish Gallery.

This week has been a very intensive week for me, so I only really managed one day in the studio. I’ve added new images mainly documenting my bisque firing, click here to see those.

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I spent all day at the Glasgow School of Art. This was the second week of the summer Residential School for some of the part-time Distance BA (Hons) students.

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Shortly I’ll be starting as an exchange student at the Glasgow School of Art Ceramics Department. Bill Brown is currently head of Ceramics there. I’m extremely excited about it and feel really privileged at the opportunity. I’m starting to build an album of photos taken there. Click here to see the photos so far.

We have a working electric kiln at the Glasgow Ceramics Studio that we need to find a home for. It’s 20kW, 3 phase, 18 cubic feet and includes an old controller. Click here to see photos and our contact phone number. You’ll find our address on the about me page. The kiln is free to anyone who is willing to pick it up.

I’ve added a new album for week 7. There are 18 new images which include my working process while making porcelain slip, casting tests in conventional moulds and storing them afterwards.

My slip recipe is:

clay 100
water 50
deflocculant 0.2 - 0.5
The deflocculant I’ve used is Darvan 811.

There will be an open weekend at the Glasgow Ceramics Studio on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October! The open days are part of the national WASPS open studios weekend.

Come in and say hello if you are in the area - there will be loads of original hand made work for sale from all the residents, and we would love to meet you! You can tour our studio, meet the artists, see demos and visit all the other studios as well. The cafe is open for a spot of coffee and cake or sandwiches and soup in the sunshine (well, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for the sunshine). Our address is: 77 Hanson Street, Dennistoun, Glasgow, G31 2HF, off Alexandra Pde. Call the WASPS office for directions and opening times on 0141 554 8299. Hope to see you there!