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Catch Up

November 24, 2017 in Uncategorized | by irischurcher | 1 comment

Well – life has been busy 7 days a week with studio practice, critical studies, walking around Sunderland and just general living!

I live close to the centre of the town and so it is easy to walk to the main shopping mall to pick up most of the things that I need. Ceramic supplies can be ordered from Sedgefield Potteries and they deliver to the National Glass Centre regularly.

I have not yet found my ceramic direction, which is fine as this first module is about experimentation. I’ve made a few things with the different clay bodies, started a completely unrealistic Victorian architecture inspired pot and made my first glass relief. There is so ,much to learn and explore that I have felt quite overwhelmed at times, and in fact last week I went down with an infection. Thankfully this has cleared up due to an NHS treatment and I’m feeling fine again. It most probably did me good to do nothing and rest, as I do have a tendency to go at things with too much enthusiasm sometimes.

Critical Studies has been lively with a review of Modernism, Post-modernism and next week hyper-realism and lots of in-class group discussions. We share this class with the Fine Art and Photography students. A 2000 word essay is due after Christmas, but I’ve not found the time to get started on the research yet…. a last minute effort seems likely.

The studios are shared by all levels in the Glass and Ceramic program and so there is a lot of activity of all kinds. Today I had my first experience in the hot shop as Jim Maskrey the chief glass technician placed hot glass into the plaster mold of my ceramic relief. The mold was first heated overnight to 800º and the glass (1100º) was then placed into the mold as it sat in the kiln. I completely forgot to take photos as I was paying so much attention to what Jim was doing. It looked beautiful to see the hot clear glass glowing internally red/orange as it was placed in the mold. It should finish annealing by Tuesday or Wednesday I hope. Just a wee bit excited…. Jim makes the most beautiful glass work: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/antarctic-expedition-by-james-maskrey

The MA will actually be titled MA Glass and Ceramics and so I want to make full use of all the facilities while I can. Based on the pressed fish ceramic relief I quickly did in the spring, I have made 3 Brown Trout stamps that went into a bisque firing today. I’ll press them into clay, make a plaster mold and then make another glass relief. There is an extensive cold shop equipped with all kinds of grinders for refining glass work, so I may be spending some time in there.

The studio/workshops are divided up into personal desk space (BA, MA and PHD), ceramic hand building and wheel work, mold making, ceramic kilns, glass kilns, print shop, cold shop, hot shop and flame working areas. I’ve actually made a clear glass marble…so most probably have the basic skills with which to experiment. But I’m all fingers and thumbs with that skill.

Students are definitely sloppy in their studio clean-up and the wheels aren’t in as good condition as the VIU wheels. But work is achieved non-the less. It is a lively creative atmosphere with so many levels working on different projects. The National Glass Centre also rents studios to practicing artists and so they also use the facilities. There is quite a lot of sharing of information and help from the students and we have a very knowledgeable ceramic/glass technician who is extremely helpful. Learning lots.

Now all I have to do is figure out what I want to accomplish in this year once the experimenting secures some new skills. Only vague ideas at the moment.

This week a fellow student Naomi and I went to the Shipley Gallery to hear the ceramicist Julian Stair give the Henry Rothchild Lecture. What an excellent talk. Here is a link to his website: http://www.julianstair.com/ He spoke at length about his Inquietus project – really important for me to hear what he had to say about his practice. Very inspiring.

Here are a whole stack of mixed photos. I keep forgetting to photograph what I’ve been doing…so not many.

Inspiring glass panel at the Sunderland Museum

Sunderlan Museum – alligator skull

Sunderland Museum – Art Glass

Sunderland Museum – Art Glass detail

Sunderland Museum – pressed glass

Love this brick chair by Colin Whitbourn and wooden coat in the Sunderland Museum

Sculpture by the same artist around the marina

Durham Cathedral. No photos allowed inside unless by special permission for a worthy cause.

Durham Cathedral at night. I visited the cathedral one Saturday with kelsey, a student from New York. We stayed for the evening concert in the cathedral of Mozart’s Requiem. Wonderful

Durham Cathedral and moon

The Sanctuary Knocker at Durham Cathedral. Anyone would by granted 37 days sanctuary if they could hold onto this knocker. At the end of the 37 days they could go into exile of face the accusations

Lots of graffiti around town.

And close by another

Roker beach with the lighthouse in the distance

The light house on the harbour wall entrance

Seagulls behave the same everywhere

Rainbow over the river Wear. The uni residences in the foreground

Traffic and Metro Bridges over the River Wear. I walk over this daily.

Architectural detail

Sydenham and Corder Houses designed by Frank Caws in the Neo-moorish style in the late 1800s. The inspiration for my crazy pot.

Detail of Corder and Sydenham houses

The elephant tea rooms details also by Frank Caws

Elephant Tea rooms above the Royal Bank of Scotland. International style meets Neo-moorish…

Elephant Tea Room dragons

A lovely old door in the law office area

Typical decorative detail from an era of waelth, not standing over dereliction

Meat shop detail

Hebe’s blooming – its mild here

Winter Garden entrance

The Winter Garden roof . The orginal winter garden was destroyed during WW2 and so this new one has replaced it. Full of giant tropical plants and trees.

Winter Garden rood

Winter Garden

Winter Garden fern

My lovely new shoes

Detail from the Winter gardens

The relief inspired by the Winter Gardens visit plus sketchbook

the Winter Garden plaster mold

The beginnings of my Victorian pot…

3 Brown trout waiting for firing

Pinch pot bird made from very heavy grogg clay called Crank, plus my first ever glass marble

Pressed Savoy cabbage leaf into porcelain.

My little men naked reduction fired in a gas film

A porcelain attempt to capture the lovely smile of a man I see most days walking along the river

Finally some time to blog…

November 5, 2017 in Uncategorized | by irischurcher | Leave a comment

I’ve now been here 3 weeks. Naturally it seems much longer, but time expands and contracts as it will and as we will it to be.

It has been a very busy time setting up the room and buying enough cooking and storing equipment to make everyday life functional. The accommodation is simple but comfortable and the four flights of stairs to our flat keeps me in shape, together with the 30 minute walk each way to the NGC. We just have two scheduled classes to attend. Critical Studies is on Tuesday afternoons and Experimentation in Glass and Ceramics on Wednesday evenings. The remainder of the week is spent in studio time. This gives plenty of time to explore the facilities and try new materials etc.

So far I’ve just been trying the 4 available clays and sorting out what materials I need to make my studio life fully functional. Last Friday I ordered my own black clay and this weekend picked up other essential equipment.

Of more interest has been the visits to galleries and towns of the area. At the end of the first week we visited the Shipley Art Gallery and the Baltic Art Gallery in Gateshead on the river Tyne. Newcastle is on the other side of the river Tyne and about a 30 minute ride on the metro. The Shipley gallery is small but beautiful, and the Baltic big and warehouse like. Can’t say I thought too much of the Baltic exhibits apart from the soundscape at the top of the building, which is a converted mill.

The North East has a lot of art and entertainment happening all the time. Only this evening the fireworks I could see from my window marked the end of the Sunderland illuminations Festival and coincided with Guy Fawkes day – ‘remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder treason and plot!‘ Wikipedia will provide the background to Guy Fawkes if you are not familiar with his history. There is also a Literary Festival running at the moment.

Last weekend I went to Berwick-Upon-Tweed with my cousin Heather for the weekend. This famous town has been fought over 13 times by the Scottish and English and is currently within England. The old town sits within the ancient and more modern fortified walls now covered in a verdant well kept lawn. The occasional canon can be seen. It is another town on the North East coast at the mouth of a river that divides the town. 3 bridges join the town, the oldest being built in 1620 or there abouts. The town has a charming ambiance, interesting architecture of different ages and winding streets and alleyways. We could move there easily if there was a reason to…The wind really blows with some force off the sea as it does here in Sunderland. very refreshing and keeps the city fumes well dispersed and hair very windswept. I haven’t processed those photos yet.

Yesterday I went to Durham Cathedral with fellow student Kelsey from New York. We were treated to 900 year old architecture. This magnificent building is worthy of a description by a less tired human being and so I’ll leave that to another time after I’ve processed more photos. We also experienced a live performance of Mozart’s Requiem in the cathedral which was an unexpected and added bonus.

Meanwhile here are a few pictures from past outings.