Black Squirrel Feastware | Artist
Black Squirrel Feastware
Phone: +61 421 915 554
Reviews
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24.01.2022 A few more Arches & Lillies bowls, and mini (shot) goblets and mini cream jugs.If you want one or more sippy cups, please comment SOLD and how many you want, so you don't miss out before someone else does similar.
23.01.2022 I have really discovered I need extra workshop space, at home. I am working on making new tools and molds, need to store packaging for online sales, have another line of ongoing work that uses the whole of my studio when I do it, am developing a new range of work, and I sometimes want to paint or sew. There's only so much I can do within the sunroom, large as it is. The storage garden shed was OK for a while..... Time to apply for a development grant - at least that gives me some chance.
23.01.2022 Pottery made by me for your feasting pleasure. Also some more Arches & Lillies bowls. Please comment SOLD when you find something you wish to purchase, and then PM me to finalise it.
22.01.2022 Hello everyone. I have had to make a hard decision this year. I won't be going to Rowany Festival after all. My new pottery wheel was recalled and taken out of action for 6 weeks over summer. This is usually my prime time for making work and my capacity to do so was effectively cut in half. I cannot justify the expense (fuel, traveling for 2 days there and back, accommodation and food) without having a large amount of stock to offer. So I have to change my itinerary for the year. I live in Hobart, and still have my ticket to sail to Melbourne, so I have changed sailing dates and will be coming up earlier for the event Stormy Glas Gathering (April 3rd -5th). I will be also attending Great Northern War in Qld (June). I plan to return to Rowany Festival in 2021.
21.01.2022 These are probably my last edition of the Arches and Lillies style. If you would like to purchase some, please go to the pic and comment 'SOLD', then send me a PM for transaction details. Carved stoneware, the style is what I term as 'Gothic', being inspired by architectural shapes and stained glass windows. The colour is French Blue, similar to that used in glass and found adorning some wares of the Bizantine Empire.
20.01.2022 oh oh a nice little pre-Christmas win - Native Plants of Tasmania Nursery bought some ring vases and all three of the plant pots samples I took in there today. Here are some photos of same;
19.01.2022 This fabulous lady is a friend who lives in the same state as me, and her paintings are a total wonder. I just had to share this, so enjoy!
19.01.2022 I have a new portfolio website. www.artistmarjorielenehan.com
18.01.2022 Hello to my customers, please make sure you contact me when you receive your purchases, if I send something to you in parcel post or courier. I have had one issue so far and it's important to know so I can make arrangements for replacement.
18.01.2022 Getting near the end of my medical sabbatical and the studio T0-Do list is growing! Currently I am making a 4 part mold to make products for a commercial client, and once the master molds are done I will be able to make multipes, and get some production underway for his pots. There have yet to be some glazes tested for the work I will be making when I return from Italy. My Italy trip will start Oct 1st, for 2 weeks, the majority of that time being spent learning the art of Majolica painting in the Renaissance tradition, at the ceramics school https://www.scuoladarteceramica.com/it/
18.01.2022 OK so here's a thing. FB does weird stuff occasionally. I would like to be in more control over how I communicate with my customers but I don't want to go down the slippery slope of paying 'boost' money to ensure everyone gets my announcements when I open a kiln. I don't trust that FB won't increase their advertising cost and lock me into something I don't want. So at some time in the future, I will be buying an email subscription pack (something like mailchimp or similar) to send notifications out to my customers (you) when I have work for sale, to let you know you should look up this page. I'm just letting you know this will happen, and if you wish to be on that list, please send me your email contact via messenger. I will still be using this page to showcase my work and conduct business, Thanks all! <3
17.01.2022 Greetings to all who visit this page. Today I have uploaded photos of green glazed wares which are for sale and you will see the price in the description. These are all one-offs, individual pieces, so if you want one of these, be the first to write 'sold' in the comments. After that please PM me and I will give you a quote on postage or arrange pick-up at next year's Rowany festival. I will be uploading blue pieces soon in a separate album, being Arches & Lillies collection and Persian style wares. Thanks for your interest and custom. :) <3
16.01.2022 I haven't posted for a long time because I've been filling commissions and experimenting with glazes to develop my new lines of work. Now I am posting to say that I am temporarily closing the studio, and there will be no activity there, or here, for a while. Reasons are personal but all is generally fine so no worries, it's just a little logistics hiccup. (I might end up with a new studio space.) Stay safe everyone. <3
14.01.2022 The studio To-Do list also includes commissions I have yet to fill which will be done as soon as my Doc allows me to go back to the pottery wheel, and developing my Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman -inspired wares. I am hoping to find a good red clay that will fire a little higher than normal earthenware, while still retaining the beautiful teracotta colouration, and along with that, a clear glaze for the inside of that ware, and a very period outer finish in Terra Sigillata. My little kiln needs some professional attention, and there's a product recall out for my new pottery wheel, so that will all need to get sorted over the next few weeks as well. Phew!
11.01.2022 Hi everyone. I made some pottery for those who like Viking/Norse stuff. Here are tumblers and a jug modelled on the style known as Tating ware. In period, to achieve the decorations, they beat some tin or silver to very thin foil, and cut it into strips and diamonds. They glued these decorations with fish glue, onto the pots, and I assume this was done after the firing. I have used a light coloured slip to paint the decoration onto these pots, over a black/brown slip (slip is... essentially just a coloured clay-paint with extra ingredients to make it behave a bit like glaze). I have kept the interior whitish so you can still see how much beverage is in the pot by campfire light. I also used a finishing glaze and stoneware clay so it's OK to use in the kitchen (dishwasher etc). PM me if you wish to purchase. I have also made some bowls but pics are yet to be done. See more
11.01.2022 Albarellos. These are my first Italian Maiolica wares. They were commissioned by a friend who loves butterflies. There are a few glazing challenges I have yet to overcome before I can make more, but for the time being I will put up a few more experimental pieces.
10.01.2022 It's been too long since I posted here. I have copied this from another page, I just couldn;t resist. My studio is still in mothballs, BTW. So, something to amuse or astound you. This is how they get every plate exactly the same. This is not my competition, because every plate I do is different.
09.01.2022 I usually make my ceramics and pottery by throwing on a wheel and building each piece separately. However, this post is about tooling up for making multiples of the same thing, molds for a lidded jar. Slip casting is not my usual way of working in my studio, as I don't usually make plaster molds, but this is for a commercial project.
07.01.2022 The kiln has finished firing so this is notification to confirm that I will be livestreaming the opening of the kiln at 5pm tomorrow, that's Eastern Daylight Savings Australia time. This will be my first batch of Majolica wares, based on Italian Renaissance styles and shapes. Most will be commissions, but there will be more to come in the next few weeks and months. Thank you for your interest. <3
06.01.2022 These items are for sale, made by me. Please make a comment on any you wish to purchase with 'SOLD' - each one is individual so once sold, it's gone. All stoneware and dishwasher safe. Postage is not included in the price. Please PM me for transaction arrangements.
04.01.2022 This last few weeks I have finished off work that was supposed to be taken to an SCA event but that's no longer happening. The event was supposed to be primarily Viking style, and it inspired me to take a gamble at making Tatingware. I made 2 cups and 2 bowls, both in shapes that are like the finds from Birka, with the diamond, hatching and linework you see on Tatingware. The thing is, I have not yet sourced the tin sheet to cut up and stick on the outside of the cups, as was done then, so I have used a light coloured slip to emulate what it would have looked like with the design in slip, glazed in a blue-grey gloss inside and on the lip, and wiped back to take the edge off the sharpness of the creamy slip colour. This is probably close to what the items would have looked like with the fish glu painted on after firing, ready for the tin.
03.01.2022 Hi everyone. I made some pottery for those who like Viking/Norse stuff. Here are tumblers and a jug modelled on the style known as Tating ware. In period, to achieve the decorations, they beat some tin or silver to very thin foil, and cut it into strips and diamonds. They glued these decorations with fish glue, onto the pots, and I assume this was done after the firing. I have used a light coloured slip to paint the decoration onto these pots, over a black/brown slip (slip is... essentially just a coloured clay-paint with extra ingredients to make it behave a bit like glaze). I have kept the interior whitish so you can still see how much beverage is in the pot by campfire light. I also used a finishing glaze and stoneware clay so it's OK to use in the kitchen (dishwasher etc). PM me if you wish to purchase. I have also made some bowls but pics are yet to be done. See more
02.01.2022 Hello everyone. I've recently returned from Italy, more specifically Deruta, a hilltop town famous for its traditional Italian Maiolica production. I thought I would add a new line of work that is inspired by the Renaissance period, so I took a one week master class in Deruta at a ceramics school there. I wanted to get the feel of the aesthetic and the authenticity of being there, rather than learning something third hand here in Aust. It was a fabulous experience. Haha, the more you learn, the more you discover there is a LOT MORE to learn! So, bear with me as I do some experiments with Australian materials (Italian clay is very different to ours). I will be making a line of this kind of work next year, aiming to be in time for Rowany Festival.
02.01.2022 Patreon is loaded. Also, I tried to wrap my brain around getting an email subscription thingy happening but I ran out of steam, and some of the emsils would not load when I started with Mailchimp. It might take me a few months yet to get it together. Meanwhile I will still be using this page as my primary information page for my cutomers, so when kilns get opened and new work becomes available, it will be posted here. Meanwhile I am still working on some orders and commissions, so nothing to show just now.
02.01.2022 Hello everyone. During this time of physical (state based) isolation I am catching up with studio chores, like recycling clay scrap and making new molds for sculptural work (animal faces, fish handles, heart flasks to name a few ideas). I have my kiln at home full of work which I am about to bisc fire to stabilize the glaze so it can be transported to a 3-phase kiln for glaze firing, which should be happening in the next 2 weeks, depending on the rules of engagement at the Designed Objects Tasmania facility. This will include commissions which I know some of you are awaiting. I hope you are all well and coping with the current global health crisis.
01.01.2022 If you see something you would like to purchase, please write in the comment on the pic, 'SOLD' and then PM me for transaction details. These pieces are the blue version of this ware which is based on Persian Empire motifs, shapes and glaze. All stoneware and dishwasher safe.
