New website coming soon....

I have a brand new website being made - yay! I have also redesigned my logo.

Here is a sneak preview of the logo.

The website is by Skopos Web Design and will be ready at the end of Feb.

Finished For Term Three

Monday night clay classes are yet to collect their work. Here is a sneak peek. How absolutely gorgeous are their finished pieces!!

Tanya's slip cast bowls - Inlay, wax resist, tissue transfer and two tone slip.

Wendy's design was inspired by her daughter's cute flower drawings.

These are Claire's pretty plate and bowls.

Next term we are making Christmas tree decorations and a Nativity set. I will be taking enrolments soon. Send me an email if you would like to be on my contact list to receive info on classes and markets msharpha@bigpond.net.au

Tuesday Clay Classes Term 3

One Clay Class evening the lovely Claire snapped away while we worked.

Unfired plates, decorated with handmade stamps.

Slip casting in action.

Slip inlay decorated slip cast bowls - unfired.

Clay tools

The work bench. Timing the slip in the moulds. Last week's bowls taken out of the moulds and cleaned up, ready for decorating. Thanks Claire :)

Upmarket Brooches

These are the first lot of brooches out of my kiln. They are especially made for the up coming Perth Upmarket. Some are crosses for Easter and doves and leaves for just because, or maybe save them up for your mum, for Mother's Day.


These ones are unglazed Southern Ice porcelain and the ones below are blue glazed Southern Ice Porcelain. (For those that don't know, Southern Ice the the yummiest, whitest, translucent porcelain)

I like the little one with the eye :)
I will be making them in lots of other colours. You will have to come and check out my stall at the Perth Upmarket to see (and buy) them.
The tiny doves are $6 each the leaves and Easter Crosses $10 each and the larger doves $12 each.

Aspects of Kings Park

Just a quick word, to say these colours will be available from Aspects of Kings Park very soon...



They are Blue, blue/black, chocolate, peacock and white.

Ceramics @ Somerville

This year I am teaching art at Somerville Baptist College two days a week. I have two ceramic classes, year 9's and year 10's. Here is some of the work they are doing this term.

The year 10's are slip casting. They made a prototype bowl which was cast in plaster. This is the first lot of bowls from their moulds.

The plan is to decorate each bowl using a different decorating technique. This week was tissue transfer.
They are pretty lucky to learn slip casting, as they wouldn't have the opportunity until TAFE or Uni ordinarily.
They are learning that it is harder than it looks and the rims crack really easily, but it is fun, fun, fun! I think their efforts are wonderful (do I sound a little proud?)

Talking of proud. How are these lovely Fleur Schell inspired hand built mugs? The year 9's have been having a ball making these. What do you think Fleur?

More Clay Class Photos

Well, we are getting to the pointy end of the clay classes.

And what wonderful work everyone is producing!

These are all at the pre-firing stage i.e. they are dry and brittle, but not fired.

It will be fun to see them all finished with glaze.

This one has a third tile as the top and is one of three panels.

These clay "icing" flowers are part of the tile project below. Oh so beautiful!

They have promised me photos when they are installed.

New Autumn Colours

Today I was asked for some images of my new works. So I thought I had better take some!

I think these colours are lovely autumn and winter tones.
The platter can be used for a 22cm round cake, a Tapas or dip plate and looks fab as a serving dish for a couscous and roast vege salad.

Market To Market

Only four Sundays 'til Market day. I have been running the kiln hot to get work ready.

This is a new tile design, framed in white. I will only have a few of these at the market.

See, I have been busy... My plan is to have all the work ready a few weeks prior to the market so I can concentrate on my biggest and littlest birthday girls. Sunni turns 14 and Tessa 2.

I have partially made these itsy bitsy brooches. They are made from the most beautiful soft and white Southern Ice porcelain. I will glaze them in lots of colours as well as leaving some polished white.

Perth UpMarket is one week before Easter, so I have made some porcelain cross brooches. There may even be some other Easter goodies for sale. My bowls make lovely chocolate egg filled Easter gifts...

Also featuring this market are my new look herb labels - see the sneak preview.

First of Many

Today was the first of many kiln openings for the year.
It is always a tad nerve racking as so much work goes into making the pieces.

Here are a few shots of the gems inside. The photos have been taken in my studio, so I apologise for the dodgy backgrounds.

I fired three colours: white, yellow and black. Black is quite a new colour, this is only the second time I have cast it. It is a blue black rather than a true black. I quite like it though.

Here is the black platter with a yellow and white tumbler.

A stack of white round bowls.

The flower print tumbler in black, yellow and white.

I tested my new tile design for children's rooms. I plan on making a set of four animals; a bird, an elephant, a hippo and a giraffe - I think...

Two tiny baby hands. One was a month old and the other only six days old, so cute!

2010, here we come...

The holidays are over and it has been a busy start to the year. One kid in high school, one in year one, one at 3 year old kindy and the last one turning 2 years old next month. We are all getting used to the new routine that is for the new year.

I resumed teaching at Somerville Baptist College with five classes of great kids. I think it is going to be a good year! Two of my classes are ceramic classes. We will be making lots of fun stuff like, slip cast bowls, Fleur Schell inspired mugs, a mural, smoking dragons and more. One class is making crazy felt chooks with ceramic hand painted eggs and basket woven nests.

My adult clay workshops are also up and running. We are making tiled garden wall features. It is a very open brief so I have 15 students all making something different (I am running two classes this term due to demand). It will be wonderful to see them all finished. I will post photos later.

I have a new client for my Eucalypt Homewares tableware. A new shop opening soon in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Made By Others is the shop. Perth Up Market is not far away either, so the studio has called!

It has been a very industrious weekend. Braving the steaming studio (both the weather and the kiln adding to the ambiance of the space!) I have cast three colours in a day and a half. The hot weather is a help as well as a hindrance as it speeds up the drying of my moulds.

I would be out there now but even I can't handle 37*C days in the studio. Tomorrow should be a little cooler, so after a coffee with the year one mums, here I come studio...

Silver

Flick through the January edition of Silver, Perth's fashion and lifestyle mag, and on page 69 you will come across a rather enormous photo of me. Then a six page spread with photos taken in my studio and an article about my work. All very exciting! Silver is in your local newsagent now and only costs $5.95. It is a lovely mag edited (and mostly written) by Kristen Watts. I feel most privileged to be featured - thanks Kristen.

Bazaar 09

Two entries in one day! I thought last week was busy, but at least I still had time to blog about it! This week has been so crammed full of studio time that if it wasn't for my husband and daughter helping around the house, things would be in a bad way around here! I managed to finish the reports for school, produce another 200 Christmas decorations, have my hair cut, attend the playgroup committee wind up, finish the Ardross tiles, grout the pre-primary tiles (with some mums from school), glaze and fire the pre-primary angels, re-number work for bazaar (thanks to mum), set up for Bazaar, spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Bazaar, string up 200 decorations (up to 1am Friday night with David), throw, turn and handle 39 mugs and and and... Anyway here are some photos of the bazaar set up.

Fleur Schell setting up the Christmas tree.

Alana McVeigh setting up part of the stall.

Rachel Zimmerman setting up her paper cut outs and dolls.

The SODA stall at Fremantle bazaar.

We had a great weekend. Thank you to all our wonderful customers.

Market day tomorrow

This morning I am pricing and packing for the Perth Upmarket.

Lucky for me there are great stickers you can print prices on, it saves lots of time.

See you tomorrow :)

Perth Upmarket 10am - 4pm @ Perth Town Hall Sunday 29th November

Colours of the studio

Too few sleeps to count before the Perth Upmarket.

I just have to thread up the decorations, unload the last kiln, price and pack. And clean the studio...

Here is a taste of some of the colours for the Upmarket.

These are coloured porcelain decorations $9 each. I hand colour the porcelain my self - it's hard work.

Stacks of plates. They make lovely cake plates or dip platters.

Looking in from my window...