Gone Cocky!

When I stopped to think about it I realised this morning that out of the past 2yrs I have had about 6 months of that time in the studio. We packed up my old studio and moved in 2022, and now am in the final stages of renovating and setting up my new studio.

During our summer (Jan 2023) I set my studio up enough to spend some time making and sculpting in ceramics during the warm daylight hours (I have no electricity connected at the time).

It was during that time that I managed to make a few things, like my 'Gone Cocky' ceramic jar. I think two of my favourite things to make out of clay (at least at the moment) are jars and characters. I like that they are quirky and fun, but are also functional and can be used.

[Made but not fired in the kiln yet]

The Cockatoo was not really something I thought of making before. Strangely enough a young man came through to measure and quote my electrical job for installing power into my studio. While admiring some of my older creations I had spread out on a table he asked if I'd made a cockatoo because he loves them.

A few weeks later, when I was in my studio fiddling around I made a couple of rabbit jars, and then this large form. I was visualising what the form of the jar could be, when it became clear - a white cockatoo!!

I'd not made one before, but as usual, when I've picked the right thing the creation process runs pretty smoothly. The cockatoo was born!!

In early August I put him into our members ceramic prize exhibition and gratefully won the 'John Watson Award for Humour in Clay' with him. This is the fourth time I have been given this specific award in the last six years. How grateful I am.

[I received the award for Humour in Clay for 'Gone Cocky' - 3 Aug 2023]

For me personally receiving this award has been a confidence boost - especially after so little time in my studio in these past two years. To receive this award for the fourth time for the humour in my creations also shows me that this is something special and unique about my creations - my characters. I love making them, they make me smile when creating, and hopefully inspire others to smile when they see or use them.

Thank you to the late John Watson and his family for sponsoring this prize and thank you to the Tasmanian Ceramics Association for making this possible.