December 2011 News

It has now been a couple of months since we updated the Blog. Sorry about that but it has been a bit all on. The garden has taken a lot of our time. As we get to the end of the Southern Hemisphere spring, everything grows at a tremendous rate which is fine for the things we have planted, but sadly weeds and grass are not exempt from the same spring characteristics. Jacque has been busy firstly with her entry into the first Australian Hoffman Quilt Challenge. Jacque’s quilt was on of 7 which were on display at the Tasmanian Art and Craft Fair at the beginning of November, and it has now winged its way across the ditch (Tasman Sea!) to Geraldine on South Island New Zealand where it is at the moment showing. 

It was great to meet the Kiwi Hoffman Challenge organisers at the Craft Fair.

For those who don’t know, the big annual craft fair in Deloraine is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, attracting over 30, 000 people to the town for the weekend. Sadly, few of these people head away from the fair itself, to see what Deloraine has to offer. This year, to encourage people into town, each of the businesses in the High Street collaborated with an artist to exhibit work in their window or place of business. Jacque got together with the florist, Heather, and with the help of Jilli and Pauline who happened to be passing by, put together a very attractive display. 

We’re not really sure that the plan worked as numbers of visitors are really down anyway this year, but it didn’t matter anyway as it was a great opportunity for artists to gain some more exposure.

We have been going to the Tin Shed Pottery quite a bit more frequently, Jacque to do her clay work and me for music with Wal. We’ll show you some photos of Jacque’s latest works when we get them, but I’m afraid I can’t give you a sample of the music. You’ll just have to take my word that it is great stuff. If you don’t believe me come along to the Tin Shed one week and be amazed!

It has also been a couple of months of celebration. Jacque &  I celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary, but we kept it a pretty low key affair, finishing off with fish & chips at Hawley Beach. It was tasty, quiet & romantic!

Finally for this instalment, Jacque has just got herself a proper job! Well it was her turn!!!

She is now a Family Advocate for the Association for Children with Disability, covering the whole of northern Tasmania including Flinders and Cape Barren Islands. She has only just started so we’ll let you know how she gets on down the track.

Well, that’s about it for this entry. I have put some December events onto the events page if you want to check them out. We really wouldn’t  want you to miss something good. Take care, and more again soon.

The added photos are of some orchids which Jacque has been growing in our greenhouse.

Deloraine Market

Hello everyone. Just a quick post to let you know that we will be at the Deloraine Market this Saturday
(1st October), so if there are any art materials, gifts, greetings cards, CDs etc etc which you are in need of, come along and see us. Hopefully now that we have our 2 acre garden much more under control,and planted up with vegies, we should have a bit more time to keep our blog up to date. I particularly want the Events page to become more meaningful, and to update the photos on the Deloraine page. Incidentally, one of the photos (Moonrise over Quamby Bluff) got into the Examiner, and I won a poster size print of it. Looks great.

Up and running!

Well, we're just about settled into our new way of life, but as somebodies law states, our time is filling up fast, and will soon be overflowing, again! It is great working from home and we have been just as busy as when we were in the studio, but not committed to being tied to a place geographically or chronologically.

Jacque was busy as August closed, finishing a quilt for the Hoffman Challenge which is being run in Australia for the first time this year. It is being judged soon but winners won't be announced until the annual Tasmanian Craft Fair, at the end of October.

 As well as quilting and gardening, we have been busy setting up for our first market stall at the beginning of September. We had a great time (& busy time) at the market, and it was lovely to catch up with so many people we hadn't seen for months, and to meet so many new folk. We sold a lot of art materials and greetings cards which was great, but remember, we can order anything which anybody wants, just call us on
6369 5410 and we can get you what you want.

Jacque at the Deloraine market (first Saturday of the month)

The day after the market we went up the mountains to the opening of a new gallery. It is at River Willow Retreat on the Lakes Highway, Golden Valley, just up from the Tigerhill Cafe. Nick and Deb have done a wonderful job with the gallery, and all the very varied art works look superb. Well done you two!

River, Willow (aka Nick & Deb) & Jacque

It is a lovely spot for anything, let alone a gallery! It has beautiful views from the Great Western Tiers (the mountains for those outside of Tassie!) looking over  a valley, and Deloraine. In the near future Nick & Deb are going to be opening a tea rooms as well. What a trip out that would be. Jacque has a few of her paintings here, and clay works at Galendor Art & Essence in Sheffield . As I write this she is also putting some clay works (Anne & the Lava Lantern) into the Deloraine Creative Studios. They too are doing a great job, and it is fast becoming a great venue for art & craft and it also has excellent space for all sorts of workshops. Keep up the good work.

Well, that's about it for now. Thank you all for your continued support & warm encouragement. We really do appreciate it. Thank you too, for old mates who have got in touch through this Blogspot. It has been good to hear from you.

We will be at the Deloraine Market again on the first Saturday of October. If we don't see you before, see you there!

All Change!!!

If you check out our contact details you will notice that we have relocated to our home in Meander. After 3 years of being at 90 Emu Bay Road we have decided that we would base ourselves at home, though things can, and probably will, change in the fullness of time.

It is a bit sad at the moment as our signs are being taken down, but at the same time we are very excited about the changes which are taking place. For the first time in 3 years we will not be bound by "shop hours" or by a specific geographical location, so with the increase in flexibility, we are not sure exactly what the future will bring, but it should be interesting.

You will still be able to keep up with whatever it is we are up to through the blogspot, but we will also be having a stall at the Deloraine market on the first Saturday of each month, starting in September. We will also be setting things up to do workshops, both in art & clay (Jacque) and perhaps cryptic crosswords, chess or guitar (John).

We will still be selling art materials, cards, CDs and art books, so if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to get in touch, either by phone, +61 (03) 6369 5410 or by
e-mail bohemianartsdeloraine@gmail.com or mobile 0419 639 703. We will be checking our e-mails most weeks but not every day. When the NBN goes in in Deloraine we may well sort out our internet at home, but at the moment, being in the mountains, our internet is unpredictable and very, very slow!

So, a new chapter starts for us. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so well over the last 3 years, and we hope that we can still be of service for the next 3!

Take care of yourselves and please do keep in touch.

John & Jacque

Latest Works

A few new clay works to share!  You'll notice that they all have the same type of finish as I was trying out a white slip on top of the clay for the tiles and lantern.  The slip I used is a mixture of ball clay and water that is brushed on top of the clay in liquid form.  The slip was left to dry and then I carved through the slip to reveal the darker clay beneath.  Yes, I like rabbits!

Hand-carved Rabbits & Hares Tiles. Terracotta Clay with Slip.

Art Nouveau is one of my favourite styles. This is perhaps why Vienna was a favourite destination in our travelling days.  When in Vienna you're surrounded by Art Nouveau treats. I've made a collection of plant themed tiles in this style, using the same technique as for "Rabbits & Hares". 

Hand Carved Botanical Tiles. Terracotta Clay with Slip.

Celtic knots are fun to produce!  This tile has a different finish.  Black iron oxide has been washed onto Buff Raku Clay to highlight the carved design.

Hand Carved Celtic Knot Tile. Buff Raku with Iron Oxide.

I've made several lanterns in the past, all with a different carved out design.  For this lantern I've used a more contemporary design than usual.  I've used the same white slip on top of Red Raku Clay.  This clay looks like terracotta in colour but is a tougher clay that is more suitable for hand building large pieces.  The toughness comes from there being small bits of already fired clay (called "grog") being added to the clay base.  When candles are lit at night within these carved lanterns they cast some beautiful patterns onto surrounding surfaces.

"Lava" Lantern. Red Raku with Slip.

Now a work in progress.  This is a wall plaque that has just been fired and I'm about to do a hanging system for it that incorporates some beads.

Wall Plaque.  Terracotta Paper Clay.  Underglazes & Clear glaze

At the moment I'm working on a couple of larger figures, including a new Modigliani lady.  I have a delightful young student coming to me once a week and this week she is keen to make a horse!  That'll be a nice challenge for me! 'Til next time..............

Purple Pansy

One of my favourite things to make are quilted journal covers.  I use free-motion machine stitching to embellish the fabric and then make these into covers and then pop  a visual diary/journal/notebook inside.  I usually have a selection of sizes and varying colours and themes available.

Detail of Purple Pansy Journal Cover (Sold)

Forget-me-nots

In a previous post I said I would show you a picture of a piece of work which was woodfired at Liffey. This is it! It was impressed with forget-me-nots and as you can see, it picked up some lovely colours and effects. We have other woodfired pieces on display in the studio, which are for sale.

Forget-me-not Wall Plaque ($20)

Wood Firing at Liffey

Following hot (pardon the pun) on the heels of Woodfire Tasmania, local clay workers had a fantastic workshop at the home of Jilli & Ian Spencer in Liffey on Saturday.  We fired up two types of kilns which you can see on the photographs. 



Preparing the kiln - a layer of sawdust, rolled newspaper as
  wicks, then the clay pieces go in layers with all sorts of other
materials between to hopefully give some special effects.



For more pics, click on the link to Clay Connections and you'll see all the exciting things that happened to the tee-pee after we'd all left! 



This is called a teepee kiln, for obvious reasons! You'll be able to see
how it looks inside if you check out the pics on the Clay Connections link.



Many thanks to Jilli & Jill Eastley for their instruction and to Jilli & family for their warm hospitality (it was a bit nippy at Liffey but cosy indoors and by the kilns!).  It was a great fun day and I enjoyed catching up with some clay folk I hadn't seen for a little while. I had several pieces in both kilns so should be able to show you in a future blog how they came out.

Woodfire Tasmania 2011

Jacque here!  We had a huge international clay event here in Deloraine recently.  Neil Hoffman, local potter, organised the most wonderful 3 day event.  We had exhibitions in all of the galleries in town (we enjoyed having the works of Michael Steffan here at Bohemian Arts), presentations and demonstrations by international and national experts in ceramics and woodfiring, and a fun day out on location at Neil's pottery in Reedy Marsh for the 'Woodfire Challenge'.  Teams had to dig clay, make pieces, build a kiln, fire their pieces, cook food on the kiln and then serve it up on the vessel they'd made.  Well done to Neil and team for bringing such a world class event to town.  The woodfiring continues for me this coming Sunday when we're building kilns and firing at Liffey.  More of that next week!

First Post



Extended Family
Acrylic on canvas 60 x 60cm

 Well, here we go, continuing our voyage of discovery, this time on to the possibilities of cyberspace. We thought we'd start with a couple of photos of Jacque's latest art works.

The first is a rather cute acrylic painting of "babushka dolls" . They are from 3 different collections, including one loaned by a good friend. They certainly look very cheery, and brighten up a slightly gloomy corner of our studio. The price doesn't include delivery.




LS Lowry's Anne
Buff Raku 36cm tall

 The second photo is a clay sculpture based upon a portrait painted by L.S. Lowry in 1957 . The subject, Anne, is a bit of a mystery lady. For years people have been trying to work out who she is, or was. The consensus of opinion though, is that she was an imaginary friend. Interestingly, X-rays of a lot of his paintings have revealed more portraits of Anne, underneath his more typical industrial "matchstick men" works. The price doesn't include delivery. How much that will be varies depending upon where it is going, but for suburban Sydney or Melbourne, it would be about $35. Country mainland works out at around $45.