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 received an email about an international conference on the Crafts and Modernity, being held in Canada soon, which sounds really good.

Here is some of the text from the email:

“NSCAD University (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) is pleased to be hosting NeoCraft, an international, interdisciplinary conference on the crafts November 23-25, 2007.

A diverse range of speakers from fields such as craft, design, art history, anthropology, architecture and philosophy will be debating and discussing the role of craft in relation to modernity. It is the intention of Neocraft to not only acknowledge the vital role the crafts play in our culture and economy, but to challenge the position of craft by creating a forum for lively exchange. The five central conference themes are: Political Economy; Cultural Redundancy; Invention of Tradition/Utopian Ideals; New Technologies; Global Craft. Internationally recognized speakers including Jonathan Woodham, Penny Sparke, Christopher Breward, Grace Cochrane and Paul Greenhalgh will be featured along with bus tours to eleven craft exhibitions, round tables on graduate studies in craft history and theory, and a special feature on innovation and tradition in Aboriginal craft.”

Click here for a link to their website.

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.

My apologies to anyone who’s been trying to look at my site over the last few days. It appears that there’s been a slight problem with the server. Hopefully it’s fixed now.

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.