August - Ceramic numbers

3 August 2017

 Trying a different way of making the little "foot" for my soap dishes

 Some of my "nature" numbers have cracked!

 I tried to fix them by adding a slurry of clay and vinegar

 but in the end decided not to take the risk of them recracking during firing

The zero recracked during firing.
I made a decision to rework the cracked 6, 7 and 8...

  so broke them up to resoften the clay and remake them. 

 Working on some numbers with imprinted butterflies.

 I hope they don't end up cracking as well!
3 hours

10th August 2017
A customer came into work during the week and asked if we had ceramic numbers for sale. I told her I was in the process of making some and could send her some photos of my nature numbers. She said she was looking for something around 3 inches high and brightly coloured so that spurred me on to make a second series that I'm calling "Colour Me Happy" numbers. (I plan on glazing them with bright colours in line with the "Colour Our City" Hundertwasser Art Centre development
 happening here in Whangarei

 First I hand-drew the numbers 0 to 9 on a sheet of paper and cut them out.

Then I traced around them onto builders paper.

..and cut them out. 

After that, I rolled out some white clay to 5mm thick, pressed a textured print over the surface and cut out the shapes using the  number templates.
3 hours

24 August 2017

 The rewetted clay after the broken pieces have been sitting in water. The water is decanted off 

and is now ready to rework into nature numbers again.

 which I did at the pottery studio on the 24th

 along with a full set of the smaller number series

They are a bit rough but I enjoy sanding them once they've been bisque fired.
3 hours

August 2017 - Flax foraging, processing and more paper-making

At the end of July I saw an ad on Facebook Whangarei Buy, Sell and Swap. The advert read: FLAX FREE TO GOOD HOME QUITE BIG CAN TAKE ALL JUST NEED TO BREAK IT DOWN..READY TO PICK UP....IN KAMO AREA

Well, I responded immediately in the hope it was still available.

And it was - so next day I took a trip up to Kamo to collect it

My little car was full to the brim!

 Lucky for me I have a hatchback so the seats fold down. Even so, I needed to do a second trip to collect the rest of it.

I wasn't working on Saturday the 12th and it dawned a beautiful sunny day, perfect for sitting outside cutting up flax in preparation for cooking

It was so warm I had to change into shorts and a tee-shirt!

I had the company of my cat, Tibby while I worked.

I wish I had an easier way to cut the flax than just a sharp knife but I do find it quite cathartic and before I know it I have filled up a stockpot for cooking. 

I threw in some banana palm that is constantly reappearing in my garden

..and added the second pot to be cooked up. I add caustic soda, which when cooked with plant materials separates the cellulose and non cellulose matter from the plant. This batch was simmered and cooked for 5-6 hours

The cat moved once in that time..but only to follow the sun.

I still have a lot of flax left but as it is starting to die (and curl making it harder to cut) I need to get it into some water "to keep it" fresh until I can cut the rest of it up.

My outdoor bath makes for a good receptacle for the flax. 

We've had quite a bit of rain the past two weeks so the pool has filled up again. I kept on meaning to empty it and pack it away but I'll need lots of water to rinse the cooked flax so the rain/pool is a blessing in disguise.

I'm left with a big pile of roots to dispose of now. Shame I don't have property to plant them to grow more flax!

Paper Pulp/fibre preparation and cooking: 7 hours

On the 15th August which was a Tuesday I spent the morning rinsing the pohutukawa fibres I had previously cooked up and was keen to make some paper from the pulp.

 I tip the pulp into old pillow cases to rinse out the fibres. Unfortunately this one split while I was squeezing out the water so I had to go search for another one. (I need to get some more from the op shop)

I use plastic rubbish bins for doing the rinsing and water from the pool until it's clearish.

 The rinsed fibres then get processed through my insinkerator.

I recycle any off cuts by soaking them in some water and adding to the pulp mix.


I got lots of sheets of paper made but sadly, at the end of the day when I went to move the stack for pressing the board I had them on broke in half! They all fell on the ground. Fortunately, I've been able to carefully lift and spread them flat again - there's only a couple that creased too much to save. In between couching sheets of paper and draining the moulds I weeded the garden and took photos.

My bunnies ears have always caught my eye  - the white trim intrigues me!

I still have more pulp in the vat and plan more paper making on my days I am not working. Then, I will use it to make books.

Pohutukawa paper making - 7 hours
 (includes rinsing and processing  fibres and couching sheets of paper)

Soap making in July 2017

The view over Helena Bay - my trip out to the Art Gallery at the beginning of the month was very therapeutic and inspiring. After my sister and I had looked around the Gallery and shop, had lunch at the Cafe and took a drive down to Teal Bay - a hidden treasure along the Northland coastline.

The sea was wildly pounding and I took LOTS of photos of it. 

 We took a walk along the beach and collected large bunches of kelp along the way.

 When I got back home, some went on the compost for fertilizing the garden and the rest, I blended in my processor with olive oil for soap.

Seaweed soap on the right..

 I spent the day mid-month making more soap - orange n spice, lavender, chamomile, manuka, rose, kawakawa, feijoa, lemon geranium, kowhai and pohutukawa. These will cure for 2-3 weeks before labelling for sale.

Clean trays drying in the sunshine.

Soap making - 7 hours
Photography/editing - 1 hour