workshop Archives - Pinky & Maurice

July 16, 2017 by Claire Atkins Leave a Comment

Making MOFO Pots : Serious Women’s Business

This year from October 29 – November 11, I have the ENORMOUS pleasure of leading a group of women on retreat to the Gaya Ceramics and Arts Centre in Bali. Under the tutelage of artist and Gaya Director Hillary Kane we’ll embark on a journey of creative daring to create BIG pots and BIG magic.

(This magical women’s retreat is now SOLD OUT. Don’t hesitate to contact me to join the waiting list. Meanwhile, check out the workshop schedule below and follow the links for fees and details.)

Birthing Big Pots: Creating Big Magic, A Women’s Retreat

Workshop Schedule 29 October-11 November, 2017

Engage in a dynamic exploration of creativity, daring, and the art of finding one’s centre in a two-week immersion combining skill-building in clay with a genuine deeper look within.

Sunday 29 October

Welcome Dinner at MOKSA restaurant

A sumptuous meal and a moment to ponder all the reasons we each find ourselves at this table together, a lighting of the candle of inspiration, courage, and dynamism for the two weeks to come!

Our exploration is organised around the five elements as they are known in Bali: Apah (water), Bayu (air), Teja (fire), Pertiwi (earth), Akasa (ether), and is informed by the Balinese tenet Tat Twam Asi or That Thou Art: you are a reflection of me.

These philosophies will guide us in a tactile exploration of the ephemeral, eternal, elemental construct of Self and its tangible metaphor in pot-building. Each day will be guided by a new concept and technique.

Monday 30 October

Bwana Alit – Bwana Agung : Micro to Macro

A temple visit to Pura Campuan.

We’ll explore the Balinese concept of our bodies as the microcosm and the universe as the macro—everything in intimate relation and reflection of the other.

Meditation, Pranayama and journaling.

STUDIO FOCUS: introducing the technical — working small and going large.Tuesday 31 October

Pertiwi: EARTH — deliberating the medium

Morning yoga, meditation and journaling

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: throwing in pieces and assemblingWednesday 1 November

Women’s circle—a directed discussion

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: throwing in pieces and assembling (continued)

Thursday 2 November

Bayu: AIR — the space within

Morning pranayama focus and journaling

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: throwing and coiling

Visit Javanese throwers the traditional giant pot builders to see coiling plus paddle and anvil technique.Friday 3 November

Morning yoga, meditation and journaling

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: throwing and coiling (continued)

An introduction to Somatics (the wisdom of the body)Saturday 4 November

Apah: WATER — the river journey

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: paddle and anvil

Afternoon visit to one of Bali’s High priestesses for a water blessing, open forum discussion with priestess.

Sunday 5 November

FREE DAY

Monday 6 November

Early morning water temple: bathing, blessing, clarifying

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: beginning form upside down, then throw and coil.Tuesday 7 November

Teja: FIRE — the creative collaboration

Morning energising yoga and journaling

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: beginning form upside down, then throw and coil (continued)

Evening: Agni Hotra (fire ceremony)

Wednesday 8 November

Morning energising pranayama and journaling

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: handbuilding fast-coiling technique.Thursday 9 November

Morning meditation — calling in inspiration

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: micro to macro using a maquette to guide creation of large sculptural forms.

Friday 10 November

Akasa: ETHER — the intangible charged and vibrant atmosphere

STUDIO FOCUS: Technique: combining possibilities of approach

Tibetan Bowls — led meditation (Pura Pasar Agung)Saturday 11 November

River ceremony —“aarti”— the art of Letting Go

Brunch and departure*

For details on workshop fees, inclusions and accommodation details click here.

A non-refundable $500 deposit secures your place in the workshop. Book in the online shop here or contact Claire now 0420986570 or at sales@pinkyandmaurice.com

Early Bird ends 30 July.

*This workshop schedule is a general outline and is subject to change.

December 22, 2016 by Claire Atkins Leave a Comment

Big Pots, Big Magic

I’ve been reading Tim Winton’s latest collection of short stories, ‘The Boy Behind the Curtain’, and apart from the odd paper cut, the life of a novelist appears to be a relatively safe one. However, for Winton, growing up the son of a cop, life has been shaped by havoc and uncertainty. Safety, he says, is a great gift ‘but to be afraid is to be awake’. And while these days he doesn’t go looking for trouble, he feels that he and his father’s careers have depended on accidents and risk, ‘…without strife the cop and the novelist have nothing to work with.’

We can play it safe and write stories or make pots each year by pulling out the same old tricks, but if we want to grow as artists, confronting a certain amount of ‘strife’ and uncertainty in the studio is required.

Last week on the blog I was sharing Dr. Brene Brown’s thoughts on the subject. Brene Brown has spent a large part of her career studying courage, and for her, an artist’s failure to embrace uncertainty and vulnerability is death for creativity.

In other words, artists need to get a little shit scared!

Next year, from October 29 – November 11, I’m taking a group of women to Gaya Ceramic Arts Centre in Bali, for the workshop/retreat ‘Birthing Big Pots: Creating Big Magic’.

And today is the BIG reveal. Let me introduce Hillary Kane, woodfiring potter, Director of Gaya Ceramic and Arts Centre, and fortunately for us – our workshop/retreat host. Together we’re going to make some BIG POTS in 2017, and today we’re chatting about our juicy BIG retreat, the power of play, and the benefits of embracing uncertainty.

Feeling nervous? Then this one’s for you.

Hillary Kane

Claire Atkins: Thanks for joining me here again in the cyber studio Hillary!

Firstly, I’m hugely excited about the workshop in 2017, and it’s inspired me to think and write about how our ideas evolve and how we grow as artists. Recently, I was sharing about Shaun Tan’s thoughts on creative process, and he says it’s important for artists to keep their creative soil well fertilised and tilled. I know that horticultural imagery resonates with you, how do you keep your artist well watered and happy?

Hillary Kane: I find it amazing how little time I take to just play in clay—and yet this is the advice I would give to absolutely every artist as the ‘fertiliser’ (organic of course) for their flowers of creativity.

By Play, I mean setting aside a good chunk of hours to work with clay—throwing, hand building, mushing and mashing—with absolutely no intention: no product in mind, no judgement of what arises—even if that is nothing beyond the tactile fertility offer by the medium itself. In some ways play requires a sort of discipline—because we are all so programmed to aim toward a result and to understand productivity as something that results in a product. I look back and recall the best moments of breakthrough—the greatest fruits of creativity that I kept pursuing for years and years afterward—came out of those few pleasurable moments of real true clay play.

CA: Do you get artists block? How can we overcome our creative fears?

HK: Again, this is something we are all rather too conditioned to—and that’s why it rings everyone’s bell. For me it is this Samsaric reminder—that at moments, all those things I thought I had outgrown (like being afraid to try a new form, or go bigger, or venture in a totally new direction), come right ‘round to haunt me again.

From the outset, I think we need to remember that the very act of creating means bringing forth something completely and totally new—and that that at its very essence, means diving off into the unknown. Thus, fear is intimately tied to this free fall. Perhaps it is time to turn the feeling of fear into that of exhilaration. The ‘unbearable lightness of being’ embodied within the heaviness of an inert ball of damp earth.

One simple activity I employ to get myself out of the mind frenzy and back into the medium is to very simply throw—one single 1lb. ball of clay after the next, after the next. Same uncomplicated form over and over—a bowl or a cup— until the rhythm of muscle memory takes over and the racing thoughts relax a notch. Set those humble vessels all out on a ware board, and then mush them all up– or wire each off the wheel and throw it directly into your reclaim bin—or at the wall.

The bottom line is to not think about clay, rather to get your hands in it. Then all the tactile magic of the medium will work on re-grounding all the performance anxieties and you’ll realise the reason you got yourself into this practice in first place (and in the last place): because it just plain feels good.

CA: Dr Brene Brown says vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation and creativity – how do you think being vulnerable helps us produce authentic work as artists?

HK: Absolutely. And clay embodies everything that engenders vulnerability in an artist: it cracks, it warps, it dries too fast, it doesn’t stick together, it has a memory of what it was before you came around, it reacts to the weather, it reacts to your emotional stability, it reflects you, it demands of you, and then…. it has to be fired.

Without question, firing is the absolute when it comes to letting go and accepting vulnerability as your stance in life–especially when you happen to be as addicted to anagama firing as I am. Spend months toiling on a body of work that reaches many hundreds in numbers, another three days balancing with exquisite care each of those pieces in a patchwork puzzle within the kiln—and then introduce all the eggs in the nest to the most voracious, ferocious, and consuming fiery blaze before daring to peer once again in at them—this is vulnerability.

Every anagama firing, at some point, brings me to my knees. I have realised that that is precisely why I keep coming back for more. It’s not masochism—it’s the comfort of being humbled again and again. To know that the learning has really just begun–my life’s work is still before me–and that in that space of uncertainty and unknowing, can arise the most profound and authentic talisman of who I am as an artist.

CA: You’re a multi talented artist, but what is it that clay holds for you?

HK: Tactility, grounding, fire, humility—about in that order too. I do still consider myself a painter—as well as one who gets her hands into everything from Batik to architectural design—but even my paintings have moved toward my clay practice, as I now employ a raw paper-clay ‘primer’ thickly onto my canvases, and then enjoy watching the craquelé surface naturally appear as the clay component dries and shrinks. I guess there is something about Time and timing, spontaneity, as well as the touch-ability of clay that I can’t get enough of.

CA: Now, tell me about Birthing Big Pots! How will we spend our days?

This is a very special workshop in that I am viewing it as more of a retreat—and by that I mean an experience that goes well beyond working with clay in the studio. Many of the workshops that I am instructing, I do try to engage the participants to think wider and deeper into their intentions than just the skill-building and technical aspects of the experience—but for Birthing Big Pots, that focus will be all the more apparent. We will be digging deep—introspecting individually and as a group—plying the metaphor of creating a vessel and all that that creative journey implies. Via daily led-meditations, yoga, journaling, discussions, speaking circles, and the like, we will look way outside and way inside our studio practice to the essence of what it means to be creative, to harness the daring for creativity, to bring something to life. Get ready for some amazing transformation, ladies: this is going to ask a lot of you and give you so much in return! (Plus some enormous pots to bring back in your hand luggage☺)

CA: In many cultures, making pots is men’s business, and in the Australian ceramics community making big pots is often associated with big blokes! Neither of us are particularly physically big, how are we going to do that? Do you need to be physically strong to make big pots?

HK: The nexus of this workshop came from a long-contemplated idea that it would be a really amazing experience to explore the fallacy of the Only Big Men Make Big Pots mentality. In the ceramic world—art world—world, there are of course so many instances of masculine, ego-driven dominance and centre stage.

Sure, physical size and weight can be of assistance when throwing around a huge mass of incredibly heavy, water-laden earth—but so can technique. And that’s the point. There can be many approaches to solving any problem or intention out there—solutions beneficial for everyone—not just women. But in this workshop, I hope to share several of those techniques that will enable women of any stature (and even any level of ceramic experience) to approach making vessels as big as they might dream.

Perhaps it is not incidental that a real pivotal moment in my life—one that turned me toward clay as an essential ingredient to live by– was when I watched a tiny, old woman, as ancient and wrinkled as time itself, in the remote north of Cameroon, patiently, simply pinching an enormous water jar—no tools, no wheels, no awareness of any limitation.

CA: My sons wanted to ask you this next question. Why women only?

HK: This is not about exclusivity—rather empowerment. Let’s just say that sometimes empowerment comes from removing a variable (this time being that of gender), creating a safe space in which to explore, nurturing a sense of belonging. An all-women’s group encourages each woman to be able to be herself supported by a circle of sisters, hopefully finding deep strength there to carry forth back into the world of men. These gatherings are so important to initiate.

CA: Finally, what basic clay skills do we need to participate in this workshop? Who should come?

HK: Although I am very deliberately not going to limit this workshop to only those who already have decent throwing skills, it may be beneficial to have sat at a wheel before. However, that said, you could come at this completely green and still potentially gain heaps technically, emotionally, transformatively…

…Ahhhh. Dear reader, are you inspired muchly? I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be shit scared with than Hillary Kane!

Are you in? You a bit shit scared? Let’s dare greatly, and suck the marrow out of this old life together.

Hit the link here for workshop details, accommodation and exclusive Early Bird rates when you book through me to create BIG POT MAGIC in Bali in 2017!

xClaire aka Pinky & Maurice

December 13, 2016 by Claire Atkins 2 Comments

Vulnerability : The Birthplace of Creativity

Last week I was on the farm, and I wrote about inspiration, and the importance of filling up our creative tanks. This week in the valley, I spent time thinking about the role vulnerability plays in the life of an artist.

In China last month I had the good fortune to hear Professor Brian Snapp speak about our grey matter – he spoke about how we learn, remember, and make. In his talk he quoted scholar and author, Dr. Brene Brown, and her words hit me right between the eyes. For Brene Brown, vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation.

Brene Brown, has devoted her academic life to studying courage, worthiness and shame. And after more than a decade of research, and thousands of manilla folders filled with interviews and the stories of real people, she says that vulnerability is the hallmark of humans who dare to live wholeheartedly, and while it’s not comfortable, it’s necessary if we ever want to make anything authentic as artists.

She says, by nature we are vulnerable, we live in a vulnerable world, but we do our very best to numb it, and when we do this we also cut off the potential to be truly creative or to experience deep joy.

We numb vulnerability because we want everything that is uncertain to be certain, everything that is imperfect to be perfect, and by numbing ourselves to it, we can also pretend that what we do and say to other people doesn’t effect them.To be vulnerable is to allow yourself to be deeply seen.

Two years ago my father died. For years we skirted around conversations we needed to have, and we never had them, and then in the end we ran out of time.

My way of coping with it was to throw myself into work, and I said yes to anything that came along because I didn’t want to deal with the intense pain. But, ‘the truth will out’, as my old Grandfather used to say. Shutting down was much easier at the time, but grief spilled out through the cracks and manifested itself in a myriad of ways, some of them destructive, some of them physical – and Brene’s right, it impacts on creativity.

My husband and I bought a property this year. It’s a beautiful valley in Northern NSW with over 200 acres of pasture and bush. There’s no electricity, internet, or phone service, just an old caravan and most recently a dunny. It’s a place we retreat to. Sometimes it makes me cringe that we needed to take out another mortgage to ensure we spend more time just being. But every weekend the valley is opening me up.

And the art is slowly coming back.

The valley tells me stories. Let me share one…The sun’s up but still soft, blinking at me through the knotted limbs of an old angophora, and the needles of a casuarina brush the caravan skin like a snare drum. There’s milk warming on the gas stove and suddenly I’m a kid again on school holidays, under the covers, nuzzling into my Nan’s meaty arms. Grandfather’s whistling in the kitchen, jiggling china on the breakfast trolley in his slippers and blue checkered dressing gown. If I stretch my arms up I could almost pop the blisters on the caravan ceiling. But I resist the urge and instead swing my feet to the lino, and step over my youngest son, still sleeping, open mouthed. He takes up the entire length of the kitchen floor.

The sandy loam crushes under my boots, and the valley is green and punctuated with tiny purple and yellow flowers. We can flush the dunny again, but even with this luxury I carry the shovel with me. I haven’t been this scared of a toilet for a long time, but last night, I made my debut peeing for two small brown snakes, their heads licked with a white stripe. I don’t know what they are, but they were a tough audience, and this morning I’m grateful for the dogs at my heel. The kookaburras start up.

My eldest strides past me, up the red track to the highest point of the property to consult Dr Google. Poor bugger, he’s been holding on all night and he wants to know what the snakes are. But there’s no reception. Just flies.

Shovel in hand, poised, warrior like, I stick my head in the doorway. But this time, it’s the dogs turn to watch, and soon they’re on a scent, digging at the earth floor, snorting and scratching at the ply walls. I reach for the shovel.After breakfast I ride alone along the southern ridge. In parts the track closes in thick with lantana, and I slowly paddle through in first over the gnarly roots and limestone outcrops, my eye out for the bull. He’s the size of a small shed and even with his big curly face he still manages to scare me to death. The ridge widens out, park like, scattered with bleached hips, thigh bones and jaws filled with petrified teeth. Up ahead a mother is lowing deep and she eyes me big and slow. I cut the motor. Bowing her big creamy head she licks her newborn with her rough tongue. It doesn’t respond. I kick the stand quiet, take off my gloves and helmet and walk towards her speaking soft. She moves and stands awkwardly under a sapling. I crouch before his body. The calf’s eye looks skyward and his perfect pink nostrils trail faintly with blood like wisps of smoke he’s just inhaled. His hair stands up, brushed this way and that, like a child who has just stumbled out of bed. All these tiny deaths. Three black crows hop at my side. She tells me I’ve looked for long enough.

We hear her low mourning as we pull out old fence posts in the valley, and in the purpling dusk I ride along the ridge but when I come to the clearing she’s gone. The birds have punctured his soft flesh, and his innards spill over the clay alive with flies. His face has given into gravity and is already sinking back into the earth. I go to walk away, but I turn back and take off my helmet and look at death and let it fill my nostrils. She startles me stepping out from behind a spotted gum.‘She’ll be outta sorts for a few days’, my neighbour Cliff drawls softly. Just a few days. And I’m jealous of her broken heart.

Like air raid sirens the dingos howl in the dark and by morning there is no trace of the calf.

Cliff’s bike farts slowly somewhere deep in the scrub. Five cows are walking around the paddocks with bursting udders. He’s looking for their calves. All these little deaths.

When my own father was suddenly sick, we had a week. In his last days, fighting for every breath, there was nothing to do but sit and hold hands in that place where there are no words. Since then I’ve showed up to the studio but I’ve kept the clay at arms length, too afraid of what I might find. Dead things wash up at my feet like a cursed character in a story, and everywhere I look, I see bones. I suck the marrow hard…To be vulnerable is to be alive.

Having the difficult conversations we’d rather not have, looking death square in the face, peeing in front of snakes, and making the art we’re most afraid to, isn’t comfortable, but it’s necessary.

I’ve pushed my boat a little way from the shore, and I’ll admit, even sharing remnants of my stories requires a certain amount of vulnerability, but I figure it’s only fair that I strip down if I’m going to talk about this with any authenticity. But, I don’t want to stick around on the shore, would you like to push out into the deep with me, because there are pots to make. We’ll both need our passports.From October 29 to November 11, 2017, I’m leading 12 clay enthusiasts to Gaya Ceramic Arts Centre, in Ubud, for a women’s retreat called, ‘Birthing Big Pots : Creating Big Magic’.

But this is not just any old workshop about making big pots. In the foothills of Holy Mount Agung, under the tutelage of potter and Gaya Director, Hillary Kane, we’ll take a journey inside ourselves with clay.

Over 14 days in Bali’s tropical ambient, we’ll breathe in inspiration, and with the soft clay we’ll open up to new techniques, we’ll push through comparisons, and bear down on our fears. With the assistance of some loving midwives, and embracing our vulnerability, we’ll give birth to some very BIG honest pots.

If you’re worried that this sounds like a whole bunch of touchy, feely, spiritual hooey – trust me, as well as being transformative, this is also going to be BIG FUN!

Join me next week when I talk creativity and reveal full retreat details with the wonderful and inspiring Hillary Kane!

Sign up for the newsletter here to ensure you don’t miss the workshop and accommodation details as they’re announced. And if there’s something tugging you after reading all of this, respond to it. It’s inspiration calling you to come out and play.

Listen to Dr. Brene Brown’s TED talk, ‘The Power Of Vulnerability’ here.

November 19, 2015 by Claire Atkins Leave a Comment

All Fired Up!

I’m all fired up about the inspiring schedule Hillary Kane has created for the culinary clay workshop, ‘Food Meets Plate’, happening May 15 – 28 at Gaya Ceramic Art Centre, in Bali!

Places have been quickly snapped up by a diverse group of foodies and clay enthusiasts from around the globe. There is ONE place remaining in this workshop.

If you would like to join us, click here for workshop fees and secure your place.

Now, dear reader, get set to feast your imagination!

DAY 1 : Welcome Dinner : MOKSA restaurant

15 May 2016: Sunday evening

A sumptuous evening where we will sink our teeth into the culinary genius of Chef Madé Runatha, and the concept, framework, and assignment at hand for the next two weeks. Hillary Kane, our workshop host, will set the stage, sharing imagery and ideas to get our creative juices flowing. Chef Madé will set the menu that will keep mouths watering until the last supper…

DAY 2 : Inspiring Reference Materials : Gaya Ceramic and Design

16 May: Monday

We spend the morning touring through Gaya Ceramic and Design’s archives of over 30,000 production samples and countless trial pieces. The morning includes a special session with Michela Foppiani, Creative Director at Gaya Ceramic and Design, on selecting a look, constructing a setting, innovation and practicality.

Showcasing: Janice Wong collection, Ritz Hong Kong, and Maldives project.

Lunch and the afternoon will see us back at Gaya Ceramic Arts Centre settling in and getting hands into clay.

Demonstrations today include: basics on throwing bowls, plates and repetitive shapes.

DAY 3 : Natural Containers : Gaya Ceramic Art Centre

17 May: Tuesday

Jajan, banten, woven boxes, offering pedestals and bungkus – today we take a lead from the richness of natural disposable samples still used here in Bali, we will study a wide variety of examples, looking for design ideas and local inspiration.

Showcasing: Megumi Naitoh

Demonstrations today include: stretching textured slabs, folding and assembling slab forms and two part throwing.

Lunch at the studio, family style, catered by the incredible Dayu.

DAY 4 : Spices from the Spice Islands : Warung Mendez

18 May: Wednesday

Think Bumbu (spice pastes), iconic spice blends and individual raw ingredients. We’ll get to know the essential ulek (mortar and pestle) and burst the magical flavours from the archipelago with talented local chef Mendez.

Cooking preparation and lunch with the chef at his titular restaurant, Warung Mendez.

Demonstrations today include: double-walled bowls, throwing off the hump, fascination with faceting.

DAY 5 : Homage to the Coconut : Mary Jane Edleson

19 May: Thursday

Pulling out all the stops, long-time Bali resident, culinary curator, and extraordinary cook, Mary Edleson, will share with us about one of the three main food stays on the island, the humble coconut. From trunk to fruit, furniture to table, texture to taste buds, this will be an unforgettable tribute to this favorite of Indonesia’s food groups!

Demonstrations today : tba

DAY 6 : Sumptuous Surfaces : Gaya Ceramic Art Centre

20 May: Friday

We’ll take an early morning rice field stroll (8:15am) from the studio: for a discussion of traditional Subak culture, lore, nature, and nuance, then translated into a full spectrum study of surfaces.

Varied demonstrations: including rice hull slip, sgrafitto, carved surfaces, water etching, brush work (other wet to bone dry possibilities)

Lunch in studio, family style catered by Dayu.

DAY 7 : Just Desserts : Will Goldfarb

21 May: Saturday

We’ll spend the morning finishing pre-bisque pieces. Notes on trimming: foot, foots, no foot, feet using a variety of tools. Notes on assembling: secure slips, wrapping portions for even drying, lid fit, knobs.

Light lunch in the studio, catered by Dayu.

A talk with world renowned dessert chef about his unique choices of serving vessels for each of his equally unique creations and working out his ideas in clay. From food to plate or plate to food? Response from clientele, future ideas? Desserts in time for tea.

Bisque kiln loaded. Begin firing

DAY 8 : A DAY OF LEISURE

22 May: Sunday

Bisque kiln firing

DAY 9 : The Fabric of Glaze : Pak Cok Batik studio

23 May: Monday

Pattern, color, wax resist, layering, complexity vs simplicity – choices!

A morning visit to all natural indigo and plant dye batik studio, leading into glazing demonstrations. Tips for successful surfaces (esp. with our glazes), dipping, pouring, spraying, gradients, resists, pencils, over glaze marks, distressing surfaces, brush work, stilting, bare.

DAY 10 : Glaze Days : Gaya Ceramic Art Centre

24 May: Tuesday

All day focus on getting our pieces touched to their last perfection before sending them off to the kiln Gods.

High Fire Kiln Loaded. Begin firing

DAY 11 : A Village in Bali : Jangkahan

25 May: Wednesday

A day of cooking, culture, and collaboration, Bali-style. An opportunity to really look outside the tourist guidebook as we are welcomed to the traditional village home of Hillary’s Balinese husband. I Madé Janur Yasa’s mother and sister will guide us in the preparation and presentation of several of Bali’s celebratory and delicious dishes.

Cone 10 firing

DAY 12 : Master Chef Class : Chef Madé Runatha

26 May: Thursday

Morning cooking class of another class: Chef Madé pulls out all the stops and ushers us into his world of exquisite raw, vegan, and vegetarian that will turn even the most staunch meat-eater is his tracks!

Afternoon, unloading the kiln with baited breath. Time to take care of any post-firing attention to details needed.

DAY 13 : Manifested Meal : MOKSA

27 May: Friday

(Optional attendance to some of Ubud Food Festival’s morning and afternoon activities or free time until evening)

An evening on show: tonight is the culmination of our creative act: a public viewing and private dinner on our wares at MOKSA restaurant.

(Pre-event discussion with professional food stylist, Jacqui Hudson tbc)

DAY 14 : Concluding Discussion : Gaya Ceramic Art Centre

28 May: Saturday

Works gathered and returned to the studio by 10am.

A final group gathering to sum up the experience; packing of treasures; a last early lunch together. Finish by 12noon.

To be part of this incredible experience, click here for workshop and booking details, or contact Claire Atkins +61 0420986570 or sales@pinkyandmaurice.com

October 13, 2015 by Claire Atkins 2 Comments

Island Idyll

For centuries, islands have captured our imaginations, they are magical places inhabited by mermaids, pirates, fairies, and more recently – much to the delight of my two sons – they are the petri dish of mad geneticists and their dinosaurs!

For many years, I lived on an island north of Sydney. Island living is every bit as idyllic as you imagine. However, I discovered that it was not just the physical beauty of the island that inspired me, but equally it was the challenges we each faced, that inspired creative thinking and helped shape a diverse, vibrant, and resilient community.

Today’s post is the final in my Bali series, and I’m talking to Janet DeNeefe, long time islander, internationally renowned restaurateur, writer, festival director and, one time student of ceramics 😉

30 years ago, Janet left Australia, the world’s largest island, and fell in love with a man named Ketut. She also fell for Bali, his island home, in the magical archipelago of Indonesia.

The island has proved fertile ground for Janet’s imagination and has inspired a highly successful cooking school, restaurants, guesthouses and bars including; Casa Luna, Indus, Honeymoon Guest House, and three best selling books, Fragrant Rice, Bali.The Food of My Island Home, and To Stir With Love.

However, it was during the wake of the devastating Bali bombings that Janet was inspired to invite writers from around the globe to stare down terrorism with poetry and bring about healing to the island community. Now in its 11th year, The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival has become the largest and most prestigious literary gathering in South-East Asia.

It is with great excitement that I’m talking with Janet today, and I’m thrilled that my ‘Food Meets Plate’ workshop participants will be part of a final celebration meal in Janet’s latest project, The Ubud Food Festival!

Claire Atkins: Welcome Janet! Wow, what a story! How did you come to live in Bali?

Janet DeNeefe: I first visited Bali with my family in 1975 when I was just fifteen years old. I was overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells and I instantly felt that it was the beginning of a much bigger journey.

I returned ten years later and I never really left! My Balinese husband, Ketut and I, now have two restaurants, a guesthouse, a cooking school and, of course, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Bali Emerging Writers Festival and the Ubud Food Festival. Our kids were born and raised here and Bali really is my island home.

You’ve been in Bali for 30 years now, in that time you must have seen some incredible changes on the island, can you paint us a picture of what your early years were like?

When I first arrived in Ubud, it was common to see more people, chickens and pigs on the main street than cars or motorbikes. Ubud was like an overgrown tropical jungle and afternoons were “mandi” time with peak hour river action happening up stream and down stream. Electricity was only just coming in and kerosene lamps were the main source of evening light. I have an old photo of my sister and I walking on the track just past where Indus is now and you can see how simple life was back then. And yes, the island has changed, but any dynamic, creative culture always moves with the times. Ubud has managed to retain it’s mysterious beauty and charm. Thirty years on, I’m still discovering pockets of the unexpected.

If I look back 30 years, I notice how much our approach to cooking has changed in Australia. Aussie meal times have undoubtedly benefited from immigration and the wonderful diversity it brings to communities. In what ways do you infuse your own cultural heritage with Balinese cuisine? And how has a life in Bali changed and shaped your cooking?

Food and cooking has been a part of my family for generations; my aunty Helen wrote a food column in the Sydney Morning Herald in the 70s and my Maltese grandmother had this prolific vegetable garden with everything from chickens to fruit trees. How we cook is such a reflection of who we are as a person, our cultural heritage, so of course this background has influenced my food. I cook a lot of Balinese food for the family in Melbourne or sometimes make pavlovas or roast dinners for special occasions. I add a dose of my knowledge of spices and flavours into everything I make. I add tamarind to gravy sauces and chilli and palm sugar to just about everything too. I especially love travelling across Indonesia and other parts of the world sampling new and exciting foods and then bringing back my own version to add to the menus of Indus and Casa Luna.

I remember a few years ago salivating from the couch watching Rick Stein’s ‘South East Asian Food Odyssey’, and I think he was tucking into some beautiful fragrant rice when he said that this was his idea of ‘Bali on a plate’. Is there a local dish that encapsulates Bali for you?

There’s too many to choose from! And it depends what sort of Bali we are talking about; ceremonial or home-cooking. I love Smoked Duck and the multi-levelled elegance of melt-in-your mouth duck cooked together with a serious amount of spices. I am also crazy about Jackfruit, cooked Balinese-style. To me Jackfruit curry just about embodies the character of the Balinese; the humility and down-to-earth goodness that you can’t help by love!

At the conclusion of our ceramics workshop ‘Food Meets Plate’, participants will ‘exhibit’ their ceramics in a final feast at one of Ubud’s new restaurants during the Ubud Food Festival. You also studied ceramics, in what ways do you think good ceramics can enhance a good dish?

Food has evolved so much over the past two decades – and, more than ever, presentation has become an ever-growing important part of the culinary process. I love the new irregular, zen-like pottery styles appearing in restaurants these days. They are refreshingly charming, organic-looking and modern. It reminds me of my ceramic making days when I had to battle with our lecturer because I refused to make my bowls perfect. I don’t think my grades were very good because of this whereas now it’s all the rage. These days food looks like an absolute fashion statement and fabulous plates make a huge difference.

Finally, do you have a favourite local recipe you can share with us?

PEPESAN IKAN Grilled Fish in Banana leaves

Fragrant gingers, chilli and fresh fish are wrapped together and grilled over hot, coconut coals. The result is a deliciously golden and healthy meal. Use parchment paper if banana leaves are not available and barbeque your fish or grill in the oven in the absence of hot coconut coals. This dish is absolutely drop dead delicious. I promise you will love it!

SERVES: 4 – 8

600 gms.(18oz.) fish

banana leaves

4 shredded lime leaves

salam leaves for each parcel

SPICES:

6 garlic

3 shallots

2 tomatoes

1tsp sea salt

3 candlenut

2 stalks of lemongrass

1/4 tsp shrimp paste

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp tamarind

3 large red chilli

2-4 small chilli

3 tbs fresh galangal

1 tbs fresh turmeric 2 tsp ginger

3 tsp palm sugar

3 tbs oil

Grind the spices with some water if necessary in a mortar and pestle or blend in the container of a food processor until you have a fragrant, golden yellow paste, flecked with chilli and tomato skin. Chop the fish into fat chunks, roughly 4cm x 4cm or leave whole if you prefer. Shred the lime leaves. Mix thoroughly with the spice paste, oil and fish. Cut the banana leaves into rectangles roughly the size of a standard envelope. Wrap the fish in one or two layers of banana leaves, with a salam leaf underneath. Roll over and secure the ends with a toothpick or tie with string. Grill, steam or barbecue the fish for five minutes or until cooked. Serve with steamed rice and kangkung pelecing.

Thank you for sharing your inspiring, mouth-watering story with us today Janet!

I hope this blog series from Bali has left you feeling inspired to embark on new creative adventures.

I’m thrilled to say that our workshop, ‘Food Meets Plate’ at Gaya Ceramic Arts Centre in May 2016 is almost full! There are places still available, and I would love you to join us. Click the link and head over to the workshop page now for full details and exclusive Early Bird specials when you book through me.

October 6, 2015 by Claire Atkins Leave a Comment

Spice Up Your Art Life!

In May 2016, I’m leading a group to be part of an inspiring workshop ‘Food Meets Plate’, at Gaya Ceramic Arts Centre in Ubud, Bali.

Hosted by American potter Hillary Kane, it will be a South East Asian odyssey for clay lovers and food enthusiasts, that is set to enliven your senses and spice up your creative practice!

If you’re just tuning in, catch up on my conversations with our workshop host Hillary Kane, here, and with Bruce McWhinney, Australian potter and the creator of our inspiring Ubud accommodation here.

Today I caught up with ceramic artist Vicki Grima, who has attended three workshops at Gaya!

Vicki Grima is a tour-de force, and for the last ten years she has managed to squeeze her ceramics practice between demanding positions as Editor of The Journal of Australian Ceramics and Executive Officer of The Australian Ceramics Association.

In these roles she shines a bright spotlight on the diversity of contemporary Australian ceramics and shares it with a global audience daily. She says however, the occasions are rare when she can spend time in her peaceful Sydney studio, so you can imagine, that going on retreat and filling up the creative well is an important part of Vicki’s calendar.

‘…my times in Bali have been an indulgence in what I love most – to sit with a ball of clay ; no rush, no pressure, just me and the clay…’ Vicki Grima

Claire Atkins: Thank you for joining me here Vicki!

Recently I’ve been speaking with artists on the blog about the workshop ‘Food Meets Plate’ at Gaya Ceramic Arts Centre, and for each artist, travel impacts in various ways on their creativity. In what ways does travel affect you creatively?

Vicki Grima: Travel brings new colours, textures, smells and tastes into my world… an abrupt disruption to my normal day-to-day pattern. I love visiting new places and seeing how lives are lived on a daily basis – how people shop, cook, and move in their landscape. Architecture too is a fascination for me.

‘The workshops at Gaya are about exploring the unknown, being creative and learning new skills…’ Vicki Grima

You have been to three workshops at Gaya! What is it that keeps calling you back?

My first visit to Bali and Gaya Ceramic Art Centre came through an invitation from Gaya CAC for me to gather a group of potters together. I had never been to Bali, so it was a perfect opportunity for me personally to explore a new place.

I recall choosing the ‘Culinary Clay’ workshop as I thought there could be no better way to immerse myself in Bali than to explore two of my passions – clay and food – in this place I had heard so much about.

Between visiting the local food markets at dawn, to joining local families in their home kitchens, and tasting food that was cooked using a wide array of spices and herbs new to us, we also made pots inspired by the fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices.

It was a vibrant, diverse and exciting experience, so much so that I have returned twice more. My second and third trips were to explore woodfiring, another of Gaya CAC’s creative offerings.

My own ceramics practice of making small pinch pots has been enhanced by workshops at Gaya. It allowed me to use different clay bodies and fire with local timbers in an anagama kiln, whilst also being inspired by the multitude of rich patterns and textures in the surrounding landscape.

I have a busy job as editor of The Journal of Australian Ceramics, and it means my studio practice has suffered, so my times in Bali have been an indulgence in what I love most – to sit with a ball of clay; no rush, no pressure, just me and the clay. The people, the food, the culture and the landscapes are unique and I love it.

Gaya’s May 2016 workshop, ‘Food Meets Plate’ focuses on the relationship between food and handmade ceramics. ‘Culinary Clay’ shared a similar focus, from that experience, who do you think would suit this workshop?

The workshop is suited to those with a passion for food and clay, together with an inquisitiveness to explore the connections between the two.

The knowledgeable team at Gaya cater for all levels of ceramics experience from beginners to more advanced in a gorgeous handbuilt workshop space. With a local cook preparing the daily lunches the immersion in clay and food is complete in every sense. Workshops are about exploring the unknown, being creative and learning new skills.

That is all possible at Gaya.

‘The workshop is suited to those with a passion for food and clay, together with an inquisitiveness to explore the connections between the two…’ Vicki Grima

Curious? Inspired? I am! There are still places available in this workshop, and I would love you to join me!

Click the link and head over to the workshop page now for full details and exclusive Early Bird specials when you book through me.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for next week’s delicious blog offering!

September 29, 2015 by Claire Atkins Leave a Comment

An Art Villa in Ubud

I’m leading a group to Ubud in May 2016, for the clay-bending-mouth-watering workshop, ‘Food Meets Plate’ at Gaya Ceramic Art Centre. This month we’re meeting some of the inspiring artists whose knowledge and vision will turn our time in Bali from a trip into a transformative experience.

Last week I spoke to our workshop host Hillary Kane, and if you’re just joining us, catch up on our conversation Creative Callings.

This week we’re checking out the workshop accommodation, at the inspiring, art-filled guest house ‘Ubud ArtVilla‘, owned by Australian ceramic artist Bruce McWhinney.

Ubud ArtVilla at night

Bruce McWhinney is an Australian artist with over 30 years experience in ceramics. Nature and travel have been the main inspiration for his work; be it wood fired ceramics, sculpture, painting or drawing.

I met Bruce about 15 years ago when I was a student at Brookvale TAFE, where Bruce and a group of exceptional designers and potters were building a dynamic ceramics department on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Brookvale TAFE continues to thrive, and while Bruce is as passionate as ever about Australian Arts education, his vision now incorporates a much wider classroom that includes building creative communities in other parts of the world…and Bruce is literally building them.

Stunning garden design links sculptures and architecture throughout the villa

One such project is Ubud ArtVilla, a unique guesthouse in the quiet hamlet of Penestanan, just minutes from the bustling town of Ubud.

Here the concept is to infuse hospitality with Bruce’s long time love for Balinese arts and culture. In this place each day, guests soak up stunning architectural design, idyllic gardens, wood fired ceramics, paintings, drawings, and sculptures at every turn.

ArtVilla is managed and operated by Wayan Suparta and his family, who bring local knowledge and Balinese custom to every moment, enabling guests to discover the real traditions and culture of Bali during their stay. ArtVilla is the perfect place for anyone who is seeking to revitalise or woo their inner artist, and for two weeks in May 2016, Ubud ArtVilla will be home-sweet-home for ‘Food Meets Plate’ workshop participants.

Ubud ArtVilla’s lap pool looks out to Mt Agung

Claire Atkins: Hi Bruce! I had the pleasure of staying at Ubud ArtVilla last year while I attended a workshop at Gaya. I have to say, that living with and using your woodfired ceramics every day was one of the best parts about staying at ArtVilla. Each morning, breakfast was served on stunning ceramic pieces that quietly called for our consideration. Do you think that living with handmade ceramics affects us?

Bruce McWhinney: Woodfired ceramics for me is the ultimate expression of working with clay and fire. The spontaneous effects coming from the fire on each piece is quite individual and embue the work with a human warmth that makes using it a daily joy. What I love most is that I never tire of the work and it keeps me captivated by the evidence of nature.

Bruce McWhinney ceramics

Can you describe your design process, and is your approach different when you’re making ceramic pieces intended for food?

Making tableware is very much about understanding the function of each piece. One can only be a good functional potter if they use their work and learn what makes it a pleasure to use and live with. After decades of making ceramics, my forms have been pared right back to the simplest possible. This allows space for the fire to complete the piece and also gives a calm reassuring presence about them. Teapots must pour, cups must be easy to hold with a lip that feels good up against one’s mouth, and plates should provide a smooth finish. Having said that, while I strive to give the most, it often takes time to appreciate what is there in each piece. But so it is in life and art.

Traditional ‘Bali kopi’ served in Bruce’s woodfired ceramics, is a daily ritual at Ubud ArtVilla

You divide your year working and living in Australia and Bali, with residencies throughout the world thrown in! How has travel, and living so intimately with the Balinese impacted your own art practice?

This is a big question. Bali has provided a cultural retreat where I can make work and share it with people from all around the world. My aim in building the ArtVilla was to create a place where people could experience living with hand made things and discover the joys of using wood-fired ceramics. Bali has taught me patience, detachment and to see the funny side of life. Things do not always go according to plan but the caring nature of the Balinese makes it all worthwhile. Travel is a passion but being able to work in different places makes it immensely more rewarding. When doing residencies one is privileged to experience life as an insider. I get to know people over a longer period, and hopefully share our different experiences of the world. Sightseeing is fun but it doesn’t sustain me in the same way.

Bruce in the studio

What do you hope your guests will experience at Ubud Art Villa?

What I would hope for is that people coming to ArtVilla would experience Bali from the inside. Connecting to the culture and traditions of Bali is made easy through Wayan and his family who staff ArtVilla. Combine that with the joy of making pots at Gaya, and discovering the local food and gastronomy would be a great thing. But, staying at ArtVilla would also mean extending the experience by using, learning about, and living with woodfired ceramics every day.

Thank you so much for joining us Bruce.

So, what do you think?! Will you join us? Visit the workshop page now for Early Bird fees, Ubud ArtVilla accommodation, and booking details. Private room options at ArtVilla and Art Manor are limited, so please don’t delay in contacting me to secure your place as bookings are rolling in!

Be sure to join me next week when I’m talking food and Bali with the indefatigable Janet De Neefe! Janet is the founder and Director of the Ubud Food Festival, the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, she’s also an author, a mother of four children, aaaand the owner of some of Ubud’s best restaurants and bars!

September 22, 2015 by Claire Atkins 2 Comments

Creative Callings

Many of us spend our days alone in a studio, and as much as we relish the solitude and energy of our own creative spaces, many artists, writers and thinkers have long felt the creative benefits of travel. Simply placing yourself in a new setting can be enough to give you a creative boost. Even neuroscientists examining our grey matter have concluded that new sounds, smells, language, tastes, sensations and sights, spark different synapses in the brain and have the potential to completely revitalize the mind.

Last year I was part of a wood-firing workshop at the Gaya Ceramics and Art Center in Ubud, Bali. For two weeks we immersed ourselves in Balinese culture and worked intensely to produce enough pots to fill a fire-breathing dragon, and the results were like nothing we had ever made before.

Gyan Wall and Hillary Kane pack the ‘Baligama’ – our fire breathing dragon

Next year I’m off to Gaya again, but this time I’d like you to come with me. From 15-28 May, 2016, I’ll lead a small group of clay enthusiasts to be part of ‘Food Meets Plate’, a workshop that will inspire any clay-lover with an interest in the intimate relationship between food and the vessel. The two-week workshop will culminate in a feast of the senses at Ubud’s International Food Festival! Tempted? Yes, much? Read on!

First, let me introduce you to Hillary Kane, Director of Gaya Ceramics and Art Centre and our inspiring workshop host.

Hillary Kane

Hillary Kane is a potter, painter, teacher, mother, and nomad. Travel and work has led her to claim residence in several continents and innumerable countries. Inevitably, the artistic culture of each has imparted an indelible influence upon her work and continues to be an endless source of inspiration. Educated in the United States and France, she now lives in Bali with her husband and her twin daughters.

Claire Atkins: Hillary, you have such a great personal story and you really pack it in, when I met you last year I thought, what the hell have I been doing with my time? Tell me, how did a young American woman come to live, launch and direct a thriving art centre in Bali?

Hillary Kane: Seven years ago, I took a leap of faith and headed off from a tiny mountain town in the American south-west to Japan to follow my aesthetic calling in Ceramics. At the time, I would never have imagined that it would lead to establishing the Gaya Ceramic Arts Centre (GCAC) and a life thoroughly settled in Bali.

However, my airline ticket was very deliberately one-way. I was ready to welcome the signs and serendipities as they came, and I found myself departing Japan after two months, swollen with inspiration, yet venturing toward another opportunity and another culture altogether. I set foot in Bali aiming to spend a year teaching, when unexpectedly another door opened at Gaya Ceramic and Design. From the moment I met the studio crew and the effusively generous Italian founders (both ceramic artists themselves), I knew the connection was a strong one. Within a year, together we were dreaming up an educational branch of their already well-established production studio. After a brief residency back in Japan, I returned again to Bali to build my first Anagama and to launch the arts centre.

The GCAC studio was built a couple of years after, and now, four years, five kilns, a Balinese husband, twin 3-year-old girls, a house and a thriving workshop later, it really feels the Gods of this island have led me here for a reason.

Looking out to the garden from the Gaya studio

What happens at the Gaya Ceramics and Art Centre?

Gaya Ceramic comprises a large production studio employing around 70 people who produce exquisite ceramic ware for top clients the world over, and across the street is the Ceramic Arts Centre, which is dedicated to education in clay. There is always a lot happening at Gaya, it’s a continual cross-pollination and collaboration. At the Arts Centre itself, we fill the year with two-week workshops, two-month artist residencies, exhibitions, and a variety of weekly and private classes tailored to community needs. Each year concludes with an Empty Bowls fundraiser and Open Studio event. In between all of this are the endless activities of our own staff (who, one and all, get their hands in clay!).

Looking into Gaya Studio from the garden

Why should someone travel half way across the world to make a pot or fire a kiln?

At Gaya, we believe that setting is everything, and that for many artists, the opportunity to immerse themselves in a different world, even for only two weeks, encourages growth, self-reflection, and a willingness to take the next step in their own work. When an artist is encouraged by a master ceramicist and surrounded by similarly enthusiastic participants, a workshop is an incredible time and place for development. Even for those not physically traveling so far to come here, Gaya studio stands as a sanctuary for transformation: earth into Art, self into Self.

Hillary and workshop student

Have you witnessed this kind of creative transformation and renewal at Gaya?

Catapulting one’s artistic self into an entirely new atmosphere foments intense creative inspiration. I see this throughout the year at Gaya especially with our resident artists. Three to four times per year, we host professional ceramic artists from around the world for a two-month residency program. There is no prerequisite of what each should make or spend their time doing. It has been an incredible experience to witness each resident take in, digest and respond to all the new stimuli of Bali. For some, inspiration taps from the intricacies of a cultural philosophy so different from their own, for others, from the visual explosion of a tropical ambient, some are more self-probing and introspective about identity and place in the world, others simply allow the remove from their familiar to generate great emotion, allowing it to well up and surface through their works.

One resident artist recently said: ‘It was as if I was just supposed to be here; one bit of visual information, one cue from the culture, one conversation just falling into place and leading me into the pieces I have created.’ Another was shocked at her proficiency, having come to Gaya with an intention to build rather abstract geometric forms, she gave in to an unexpectedly arisen urge to build figurative sculpture entirely dedicated to the pure emotion of parenting. It was the first extended journey she had ever made away from her early-teen children. For each, creating in this oasis of newness amounts to a unique, and utterly inspired experience.

‘For some, inspiration taps from the intricacies of a cultural philosophy… for others, from the visual explosion of a tropical ambient…’ Photo Vicki Grima

Let’s talk about the upcoming workshop ‘Food Meets Plate’, what are your thoughts about the relationship between ceramics and food?

This obvious stage of interaction is one that has endlessly offered inspiration to clay artists, and yet the question remains ever unanswered, ever re-interpretable. We have run this workshop theme twice as ‘Culinary Clay’ at Gaya – both times amazing, each time improving the experience upon the last. And what better theatre to ask clay artists to perform upon than one with the heady, aromatic, gorgeous and thoroughly tropical ambient of Indonesian cuisine?

What can participants expect from this workshop?

These two intense weeks will endeavor to inspire the contemplation of the intimate relationship between food and the vessel in which it is presented – in this specific setting upon the enriching and verdant Indonesian island of Bali and in the “foodie” paradise of Ubud. We will have inimitable opportunities to meet with, learn from, and sample the genius of many local chefs who will unveil some of the cultural and gastronomic complexities of the archipelago, encouraging expansion not only of taste buds, but also conceptual perspective of the more formal design considerations of shape, texture, colour, and scale; where the food meets the plate.

In our final ‘Manifested Meal’ we will have at last a chance to display our inspired vessels in an exhibition/feast in one of Ubud’s fabulous new restaurant venues. Timed to coordinate with Ubud’s second annual Food Festival, our finale will be on display for the public to contemplate the fruit of our labors, and to feast their eyes upon the inspiration two weeks have manifested– though the participant group will privately enjoy the meal set upon their unique vessels!

Who should come, and will the workshop suit all skill levels?

This workshop is suitable for any level of experience in clay. While beginners may be focusing on honing their skills at throwing more traditional dinner ware, more advanced ceramicists may find this an ideal opportunity to break outside their own ‘box’ to experiment widely and discover something fantastically new. This has worked to the advantage of all in the past – veteran clay artists inspiring for and inspired by those newer to clay alike. All participants will be encouraged to explore and will be supported technically, and otherwise by the Gaya studio team.

l to r : Claire Atkins aka Pinky & Maurice, Sue McGuinn and Vicki Grima, HOT AS HECK stoking team

What else can workshop participants look forward to while we’re in Bali?

This particular workshop will be packed with explorations of everything culinary – and in Ubud, Bali, that could last a lifetime – but we will also have the opportunity to peek into some of the intricate and fascinating local ceremonial and artisanal culture, Ubud’s endless boutiques and throbbing nightlife (for such a small town!).

Thank you so much for chatting with us today Hillary, I can’t wait to see you and the Gaya crew in May!

If you would like to join Hillary and me for this incredible workshop and cultural experience, head to the workshop page now for Early Bird fees and details about securing your place. If you need more convincing, visit the blog next week when I speak to Bruce McWhinney, celebrated Australian wood-firing artist and the creator of the inspired guest house ‘Ubud ArtVilla‘, our workshop accommodation.

April 13, 2015 by Claire Atkins Leave a Comment

The Art of Business with Ingrid Tufts

Ingrid Tufts is a ceramic designer and maker from Melbourne, Australia. For many years she worked in IT, and it was not until she was 35 years old that she began studying ceramics, as many of us do, in an evening class.

Discovering clay can be an epiphany for many people but for Ingrid it was a career changer and today she produces a range of tableware and decorative ceramics for restaurants, homeware designers, retailers and collectors under her label Tufts.

Ingrid ‘throws’ and slipcasts her pots in porcelain and stoneware clay bodies and describes her aesthetic as a coming together of simple functionality and playfulness.

I’m practically jumping out of my skin that Ingrid’s flying up to the studio on Saturday, June 20, to present a workshop specialising in Business and Concept Development for makers and designers. This inspiring workshop will provide practical direction and advice for fledgling and established creators of all kinds.

Claire Atkins: Welcome to the cyber studio Ingrid!

Ingrid Tufts: Hi Claire and thanks for having me.

C.A: You were working in IT before you discovered clay as an adult, can you describe how that unfolded?

I.T: My journey into clay was a natural progression. Getting serious happened quite slowly, from an evening class, to a Saturday co-op and before I knew it I was enrolled in TAFE part-time. I studied at Box-Hill TAFE between 2006 and 2008. I didn’t complete the Diploma course because I had a limited amount of time, in the end it was either pursue my own practice or study and I chose the studio. From there I slowly gave up my day job, one day at a time.

C.A: Does your background in technology help your studio work today?

I.T: It’s pretty handy. I can get around images and produce my own marketing material and keep my website up to date. Sometimes though, I wish I had an accounting background!

C.A: What does a typical week look like?

I.T: Each day there is a list of things to do. It might be throwing in the morning, glazing in the afternoon with a little admin in between. I usually take half a day each week to do deliveries and meet clients. Sometimes I work in the evenings or on the weekends as jobs require. The kilns are usually busy at night and on the weekends.

C.A: You’re well known for producing ceramics in collaboration with other artists. What’s your favourite collaboration to date? What’s the best thing about collaboration? What’s the worst?

I.T: Fortunately, all the illustrators I have worked with on projects have been great. Customer management can be a little more tricky in the design process, but overall I find it wonderful to have access to another source of creativity. It can make things new and fresh.

C.A: You’ve also been commissioned to produce ceramics on some great projects for restaurants and you’ve had some impressive clients including Opera Australia. Can you describe the processes involved in this kind of relationship?

I.T: Usually, I’ll put forth a number of ideas and see what the client responds to. Then we work up an idea, sometimes making maquettes or little test pieces so we can see how they work. Clients are all different so I try to be responsive to their needs.

C.A: What advice would you give someone who is dreaming of working as a studio potter?

I.T: Be prepared to work hard!

C.A: What’s your advice for studio potters who feel like their work or their creative business is languishing?

I.T: I’d say, try something new and take a risk. If I get a bit tired of the studio I make sure that I make something new or start a new glaze experiment.

C.A: Who do you think will benefit from your workshop and do you think it’s relevant for makers and designers of all kinds of objects?

I.T: Well, I think this workshop is perfect for anyone who wants ideas, inspiration and encouragement. Although I mainly use examples from the ceramics world (because it’s what I know best), the workshop is equally relevant to other makers.

C.A: Thanks so much for taking the time to hang out in the cyber studio today Ingrid!

And, if you’re a maker or designer of objects looking to kick start your creative business, or give it a good kick in the pants, check out the workshop details here or head straight to the online shop to secure your place. There’s an early bird price of $95 until Friday April 18, after that the price goes up to $125! Don’t be shy to contact me about the workshops via the contact page, below in the comments, on Facebook or Instagram.

March 26, 2015 by Claire Atkins Leave a Comment

The Artist’s Lunch

I’m a maker and a collector of ceramic pots, and they are beautiful objects in their own right, but they also have a life that is intrinsically connected with food.

Using hand made pots at every meal in my own home seems to ‘charge’ the most simple meals, it causes us to slow down, it effects how we lay the table, how we present the food, we become more aware of our movements, we seem to take greater care and we’re more mindful of the meal.

PINKY and MAURICE CERAMICS CLAIRE ATKINS Amber Melody Photography--26

Pinky and Maurice Ceramics & Sabi Sushi

Last year I had the pleasure of spending time in my kitchen with whole-foods chef and educator Jean Martinez. In a world gone mad with hipster food fads, Jean is a down-to-earth country girl with a simple passion for teaching sustainable food skills. I was struck by her methods of gathering and preparing ingredients, and her obvious enjoyment of the processes involved in making a meal seemed to ‘charge’ our meal with an ‘energy’ (C’mon, I do live in Byron Bay) much the same way good ceramics does.

The Lovely Jean Martinez of Artisan Wholefoods

Jean describes her business Artisan Wholefoods, as a moving-feast-small-cooking-school, that takes her to regional halls, churches and homes throughout Australia teaching sourdough bread making, fermentation and wholefoods baking and cooking.

She trained in New York at The Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts and has two culinary degrees, a Bachelor of Business, an adult education teaching qualification, and for many years she worked as a teacher and joint co-ordinator of The Whole and Natural Foods Chef Training Program in Perth with Wholefoods educator and author Jude Blereau.

Jean is a fabulous chef and I’m excited that she has agreed to cater for our April 11 workshop Artisan’s of Instagram. Today, Jean joins me from her off-grid, spring-fed, solar powered cottage in the stunning rainforests of Northern NSW.

Claire Atkins: Welcome to the cyber studio Jean!

Jean Martinez: Thank you Claire, it’s a pleasure to be here and chat with you!

C.A Tell me Jean, what are your first food memories?

J.M My parents were definitely what you would call hippies back when I was born. They were living on the land in a remote rural area in New Zealand and were living the ‘good life’ growing as much of their own food as possible, dying and weaving their clothes and generally living outside of society.

By the time I was 2 we had moved to Darwin, post Cyclone Tracey, where life for them was quite different – they both had jobs for one thing!

The food influences that stand out for me was their commitment to whole and natural ingredients and a pretty wholesome life in general. All of our meals were cooked from scratch, we used real cookware – stainless steel and cast iron. ‘Fast Food’ or takeaway meals were an occasional treat – and one that was enjoyed together as a family.

It was certainly far from perfect, but when I look back I see a life with balance. The ‘good life’ is what I have always aspired to, and I am grateful to my parents for providing me with this.

Whole-lotta-love-artisan sourdough

C.A I really wanted to be Tom and Barbara Good from the BBC TV series ‘The Good Life’ when I was little! When did you discover that this is what you wanted to do too when you ‘grew up’?

J.M I sort of fell into cooking as a job and stayed with it because I was good at it. It wasn’t until I decided to go to cooking school in New York that I truly found my passion for food and chose it as my career – which sounds a bit backwards. I think that the seed of what is now my business, Artisan Wholefoods was formed then, and everything I have done since has sort of gently guided me along the path to where I am now (which was 16 years ago by the way!!).

Learning about traditional food philosophies really lit my fire at cooking school. This continues to inform many of my food interests and the classes that I teach. In particular fermented foods and sourdough bread.

C.A Tell me more about Artisan Wholefoods, what makes it tick? What’s its driving passion?

J.M The thing that drives Artisan Wholefoods is my desire to educate people as to what good food is. It is truly a simple thing, and something that our ancestors followed as this was what was available to them, and this was what they learned at home. Our modern world is a very different place. Foods today are far more refined and convenience is king. We have an overwhelming amount of options and information available to us. Add to this, OPINION and marketing and you have a wild and confusing soup.

When I was growing up the promise was that scientists would get to the bottom of this ‘perfect health’ quandary – tell the farmers how to grow food, tell us how and what to eat, and things would be sorted. The reality is a mash-up of self-interest on behalf of multinationals, flawed science that can be bought and an increasing loss of our own food culture that used to be learned at home. To top it all off as a society, we are sicker than ever.

I have a deep scepticism of the status quo and a desire to save what is rapidly being lost. My answer to this is to revive traditional food skills – fermentation, sourdough bread making, understanding healthy fats, how to treat grains, nuts and seeds, and how to cook with enjoyment and deliciousness. I also believe strongly that we need to support the farmers that support the soil and us through organic and biodynamic farming, raising old breeds of animals and using ethical practices.

A ute load of Jean’s students at the Whole and Natural Foods Chef Training Program in Perth, W.A

C.A Can you let us in on present plans or visions for the future for Artisan Wholefoods?

J.M My dream is to bring my classes home and send the roots of Artisan Wholefoods down into the soil on the land that I live on. My partner and I are in the process of making this happen by turning our sweet rainforest home into a cooking school, and building ourselves a new home nearby.

I already grow some of the food that is used in classes, but the vision is to provide as much of the fresh produce and eggs for classes that we can and to extend the sustainability of this school as much as possible. This will be Australia’s first off the grid wholefoods cooking school.

In the meantime though, it is such a blessing to be able to roam the region teaching from Brisbane to Dubbo. Plans are in place for classes in Sydney too.

Baby chicks at Jean’s place

C.A So the question on everyone’s lips is, what will we be eating at the Artisans of Instagram workshop?

J.M I love the opportunity that catering presents to prepare whole meals that showcase just how delicious whole and natural and organic ingredients can be.

The workshops will have a gorgeous inclusive morning tea (catering for people with food intolerances), featuring a gluten free welcome cake, low gluten poached pear scones and fresh fruit.

I love any opportunity to include fermented foods and it’s often a surprise to people how diverse the flavours can be. There will definitely be home-made crème fraiche!

It is important to consider the time of year when catering too. So, our Autumn themed lunch will have substantial salads and a lovely large roasted vegetable and goats cheese tart. There will also be some cultured and lacto ferments vegetables with lunch, some homemade sourdough and cultured butter too.

C.A I’m getting hungry just thinking about it, I can’t wait Jean and thanks for the chat!

I do hope you’ll join us in the studio for a workshop and to share an artist’s lunch with Jean, our excellent workshop hosts and me! Please visit the workshop page for more information or dive right in and book in the online shop!