A sunburn in Scotland

In Australia I am primarily a shade dweller. I avoid the sun at all costs and stick to any scrimp of shade I can find. Here in Scotland I am a reformed sun lover! I am a convert and a chaser. I crave it and seek it out like a big ole cat. It gets to about 4 or 5 in the arvo and I have taken to lying in the sitting room (pretending to) read but really I am waiting for those warm rays to hit me so I can close my peepers and bathe in the sunlight. Who would have thought? Although, today we spent the whole day out and about exploring and it would seem that I am the only person who can still get sunburnt. IN SCOTLAND. It SNOWED yesterday for flips sake. That was funny actually, the first time I had really seen falling snow, I watched it from the window all excited only to run out side and discover it was really just like being covered with big dandruff. Cold, icy dandruff that is.

The water was so clear, you could see everything. The coastline is just crazy. Really rugged and pointy like. We scrambled all the way down to jump our way along the rocky beach. Kind of hairy is some parts, an agile mountain goat I am not. We checked out a pirate castle ruin from the Vikings. The whole time we were walking around I just could not get the game of thrones theme song out of my head. It was like it was on a constant loop..

Along the way there are lots of ruins of abandoned houses. This one was particularly creepy, inside Anne found a whole heap of tiny bird and rat skulls all piled up. Also an old radio and chair.

Patti suggested an owl maybe. I could just picture this giant old grandpa of an owl swooping in at night , relaxing in his chair jammin out to some kind of Louisiana swamp music, maybe some Jungle blues, and chowin down on some dinner. Then he carefully stacks up his trash (the skulls) into a neat little line  just before he swoops on into the night for his next snack. The place was a real dump, least he could have done was clean up the place a little bit. Creepy.

This is my absolute favourite shot of the day. Ol' wet rock. So beautiful, I could just imagine what it would look like when the tide was in and all his hair was standing up, bobbing beautifully with the ebb and flow of the tide. 

I'm not sure what it is that is going to translate for me from my surroundings yet. It has to be something right? Oh and by the way, today I'm pretty sure I heard the Scottish bagpipe version of "Thunderstruck". Awesome. 

I wish I had the energy to tell yo more but I am pooped. Tomorrow is finally our first day on the glass. Wish me luck, it's times like this I wish I had me a lucky rabbits foot. All week I've been kicking around feeling kinda nervous, a little ball of nervy jitters in my stomach. All feeling blegh with nothing to do, let me tell you the image of Howard from the Mighty Boosh singing "isolation" popped into my head more than once...except for me there are no coconut friends only sheep...

Start her up

So i thought I had better get the ball rolling so i decided to load up a kiln with some powder fusings to then pick up hot later. I think i may have made a couple of stupid mistakes but we shall see...

I think what it might be better to do is make them in reverse to what I did that way the pick up can be from the kiln shelf and then it doesnt matter if you get any kiln shelf on it...duh. Seems so simple in the light of day. Also I think it may be better to think about using them in pieces rather than a whole roll up. Might get some nicer patterning that way.

And heres Anne making her frit. Looks pretty fun actually. She just gathers up from the furnace then drains off into a bucket of water to make all these crazy squirly bits from holding them up high. A good work out for the guns.. Then she smashes them all up to make the most beautiful powdery frit, almost like a powdered sugar.

And then theres these...

But these are the most impressive...

Apollo thought a radish is worth as much gold as it weighs...

So at the moment, we wait....

We are still a man down, waiting for Jeff to arrive (poor muffin missed his plane), we have had a little studio tour and I have been into the somewhat strange kind of time warp cave that is the local pub and I have wandered down the street but thats it. I'm feeling a bit lost but I guess you just have to be patient, 6 weeks is a long time I suppose.

The studio itself and what North Lands has to offer is amazing. I'm almost a little stunned at all the endless possibilities to explore. You want to make some big ass moulds? Sure just in here. How about utilising any one of these pristine kilns that you have no idea how to program? Not a problem, here you go. Flame working? Welding? Want us to order some more materials for you? Where to start??!! Mind boggling, thats what it is.

The furnace is an electric furnace, something I have never seen before. It's whisper quiet! So polite even the elements sit all around the top on the inside just giving off a gentle warm kind of glow. Inviting and comforting, not like the firey, angry dragons of the past I have worked with. (Eyebrows? Don't need em! Here let me burn all your arm hairs off and make you swear like a sailor as you try and take a gather out of me.) Apparently the glory hole is a bit rowdy but we shall see. There is a garage I can use, torches, every tool under the sun and then some. Maybe thats the hard part, I just want to be in there doing, not sitting around feeling like I don't belong.

Theres also the awkward dance you do with the other artists. It's like testing the waters, figuring out who's who and what they do. How do we fit together as a group? I'm hoping Jeff is the missing piece of the puzzle. Both of the girls here are lovely and from what I have seen make amazing, well thought out works. (Then theres this idiot that just wants to make glass radishes and beets...) So I am trying to use my down time to make a plan of what I want to achieve, what I want to explore, how best to use my time. My thoughts so far are:

Making more intricate leaves using cup cane which i then want to carve into and then pick up again hot.
Order a glass guilding kit to experiment in achieving the elusive golden beet.
Think a little more about why I am making these beets and radishes. This I'm finding a little difficult as so far it has become painfully clear to me that I am a product of "the Jam".

But do you want to know what is really weird? All the incidental beet referances that have been popping up in my trip so far!! It's almost a little spooky. The book I bought to take away with me, the first line talks about a beet!

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire of discontent not passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious."

Deadly serious. Holy fuck! Now I'm all for co-inky dinks but get this, to top it off, today I went to grab a bowl out of the kitchen for my lunch and guess what design is in the bottom? A god damn beet!! Cuckoo.

And apparently the beet was Rasputins favourite vegetable, did yo know that? And according to an old Ukraine proverb, "A tale that begins with a beet will end with the devil." Should I be scared now?....

Made it!!

I made it! I survived the mega flight....only barely...

Not one, not two, but three screaming children. And I mean blood curdling, help I’m being dismembered, screaming. Top that off with two weirdos next to me who wouldn’t move so I could get up to take a wizz and made them climb over them to get out (at one stage as I was pretty much in her lap, my shoe fell off and I loudly just started saying, “My shoe. THATS my shoe. MY SHOE HAS FALLEN OFF.” over and over. Ugh, and the food by the last meal was indistinguishable. But on the bright side, it was technically Easter so with every meal I got to eat a hot cross bun. Win. Also I finally got to watch that ridiculous cheesy movie Magic Mike. I must admit I felt like a bit of a creep watching a movie about male strippers on a plane but I thought to myself I’m never going to see any of you people again and I haven’t slept for two days so I pretty much do what i feel like from now on in.

So I got to  hang out with my lovely friend Clare and her family who were so awesome and nice to let me crash in on their family for easter. I went to bed at 4:30pm for a “nap” and then got up the next day at 8:30am. Best sleep ever. We ate a giant roast lunch, had an egg hunt and then went to visit lambs. Lambs!! 

So now it gets down to the pointy end of things, what I’m really doing half away across the globe, millions of miles from home (not just to pat lambs and eat hot cross buns unfortunately), to undertake a 6 week residency at North Lands Creative Glass. Cue scary music. I’m kind of terrified! What the hell am I doing here?! How will I get there? Do I remember how to blow glass? Will they be nice? Will my husband remember me? Am I going to freeze to death? Does Scotland have “the internet”? Is my cat going to talk to me when I get home? Am I going to be able to understand anyone? Do you think I bought a puffy enough jacket? Will my sister stay out of my stuff? Will I be able to stop mimicking everyone like a parrot without even knowing it? 

Is this the start of something amazing?

Lets hope so. Questions, so many questions. One thing you can say about me is I sure like throwing myself out of my comfort zone. I promised myself I wouldn’t travel again on my own and here I am. Terrified. I am very excited at the prospect of 6 whole weeks to dedicate entirely to new glass work! The studio! I’m going to work everyday on the glass!! What an amazing opportunity, I am so extremely grateful and I am going to throw myself in wholeheartedly. I am not going to be terrified I am going to be excited. 

FREAK OUT NOW

Oh. My. God.


I will be on a plane this arvo to London!!!

Can you believe it?? God knows I can't.

Now if you'll excuse me I've got to go procrastinate further over what to pack and what not to pack. Don't be surprised if I just arrive with a case full of glass colour and tim tams. Seems right.

1 x trip to Scotland!!

WE MADE IT!!!

My Pozzible project is now 100% funded.

Can you believe it?!! This means I now have $2000 to go towards return flights to Scotland to participate in a six week residency at North Lands Glass. 

I just want to take this time to give a big, BIG

heart felt thanks to ALL my supporters.

Whether you made a generous pledge yourself or just shared my link to help get it out there, 

thank you so much.

All this is because of

YOU.

I am just so stunned at all the support I have received. It really does make me feel loved! I am so grateful for allllll the pledges I received, big and small, and I am especially thankful for the pledges I received from those who really are counting their pennies at the moment. Money is tight all round and I think that is what makes it so special that people have chosen to spend their hard earned dollars in support of me and my project.

Having the support of all you behind me makes me really excited to make the work. I am super pumped to be able to travel half way round the world to make new works. I hope you will follow me as I will be sharing it all with you on my blog. I promise lots of photos and tons of updates so stay tuned.

So if you didn't get a chance to pledge and you would like to fear not!! There is still 5 days left for my pozzible campaign. So if you would like to donate you still have time. Any extra funds I am lucky enough to receive will go to the purchase of colour. Purples, greens, browns, all the good beet-y and radish-y colours. Who knows, your pledge could be the one that gets me closer to that elusive ....

"Golden Beet"......

Thank you.

xxx

Half way there!!

Half way.

Half way?

Half way towards a ticket to Scotland!!!

I am so pleased to tell you that my pozzible project has just ticked over the half way mark. Can you believe it? This means 14 kind hearted, generous individuals have pledged support in dollars towards my project. To me this means 14 people have taken the time to check out what I am doing. 14 people have donated their hard earned dollars towards an artistic pursuit. 

14 people believe in me and my work.

Thank you.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am overwhelmed by the love! We are now over the half way mark. Now for the hard part, to reach the end. So if you were thinking about donating or you know someone else who may be interested please do! Or even if you can share the page thats just as good. 

Just go here  to see what all the fuss is about!

In the meantime I have been blowing up a storm!! In 40 degree weather!!! Snakes alive was that a challenge. Big ups to my awesome crew of Danielle Rickaby and Jaan Poldaas who worked so tirelessly to help me get through. I love my team, it's always such a pleasure to work with them. They are both just powerhouses on the floor. It makes such a difference working with these two. They are both such skilled blowers but they also know how to have a good time. We have an absolute blast working together. I had not blown glass for just over 2 months i think, but stepping back in with these guys is just like riding a bike. (a flamey hot bike) I don't think I could work so hard or have such a high success rate without these two clowns. I sure do love em.

Let me try and set the scene for you.....

Blowing glass on a 20 degree day is hot. Blowing glass on a 40 plus degree day is an inferno. So we had 4 holes blazing and two furnaces cranking. We have a couple of fans on for circulation and we try and drink copius amounts of water but sometimes you drink so much you just can't stomach water anymore. Enter my saviour; berocca. Berocca you saucy, salty minx how I love you! This is how it goes down:

Jaan picks up the colour , heats it and pops a bubble in it.

He then takes a gather of glass and blows it up a little.

Cool.

Then takes another gather and shapes it a little.

Now he passes it off to me where I shape it and get Dani to puff it up for me.

Dani take a 'jack' heat for me so I can cut a line in with my jacks so we can knock it off and transfer it to a 'punty'.

We heat the bottom with a hot torch to flatten the bottom.

Dani brings the punty and we knock it off to transfer it to the punty.

Now we have an opening in the piece.

I heat it and pull out the neck then puff out the shoulder.

By this time Jaan has the next piece ready and we pass over pieces at the bech.

He takes the finished piece and puts it in the annealer.

I continue on with the next.

Now repeat about 20 times in the next 4 hours.

There are no breaks.

It is relentless.

It is fast paced.

There is salty sweat dripping down my face. 

Smoke gets in my eyes as I paper it.

My hands start to hurt a bit.

My back starts screaming at me as I twist around alot and stretch to get to the torch.

(Heres a good one, my boobs get radiation heat burns as I lean over the big pieces to work!)

But you know what?

I freaking love it!!

We listen to great tunes, we laugh, we work like little demons.

So I think in 3 days we made around 55 bonsai. All these guys are my way of fundraising my way to Scotland. I have a couple of suppliers who want more work and a nice little commission up my sleeve. Every penny counts!! 

And you know what my reward was for working in ridiculous hot weather?....

this:

Bliss.