KilnGod/PleasedOrAngry?

this photograph 

was taken by one 

of the clay space people 

who attended the wood firing 

which i wrote about a couple of blogs ago

i do not know what is happening here 

but i think we just stoked the kiln

and the flames were reaching out for oxygen

whatever it was it looks pretty spectacular

one of the many super moments at the kiln firing

--> ‘lord, grant that I desire more than I can accomplish’ 

 Michaelangelo  

 

OnAnEverydayDay

sometimes

on an ordinary saturday morning

i take a stroll around my house

and i am always and again surprised 

at the beauty in some of the views

so close by

then i wonder why i need to go anywhere

when the image of paradise is in my own backyard

"worrying is praying for what you do not want"

TheFireBeastComesGood

 

 

over the weekend of the 27th april

clay space fired their big wood fired kiln

the project started with a making day

where those interested attended a workshop

to make clay objects for the firing

this was followed by a  wood cutting day

where most of us came to minna's block 

and cut endless pieces of 65cm long wood

 then we packed the kiln

and on the morning of sunday the 27th of april the firing started at 2.30 am

and finished almost 24 hours later on monday at 2 am

above, looking at the fire through one of the air intake ports

  

 on the thursday following an excited group of people opened the kiln

above,  is the view of the fire box with some objects packed in it

beyond which you can see the main kiln chamber with its setting

above,  looking at the stand of fired ceramic ware 

after the door was taken out of the kiln

after a struggle to get to temperature

which we did not achieve the result was very promising

the hard work we all put in was rewarded

with some great glazed pieces

clay space is a non for profit organisation of which i am a director

our aim is to promote ceramics and make it available for anyone interested

we have a classroom and conduct classes 

there is a gas kiln available for rent

apply to: art@petrusspronk.com

'mastery is not a commitment to a goal, but a continuous pursuit'

 

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HumptyDumptyRestored

 many years ago

sometimes during the early 80s

when i returned from my 8 year long journey

and started to seriously consider my ceramic direction

i had my first one man exhibition

in Adelaide

i sold a bowl to an organisation

who gave it as a prize for something or other

the prize went to India Flint's mother

the same India whom i am presently having 

an exhibition with at 

the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery

on the opening day of that event 

she brought me the same bowl in many pieces

 a possum the culprit

i took it home

and with great care and attention

put it back together again

i was able to restore the form

but compromised the surface

in order to make up for that i placed some gold 

in the fillings on the collar of the bowl

'The work will teach you how to do it'

showing off

my part of an exhibition at the  

murray bridge regional gallery, s.a.

titled:

How does your garden grow

From the moment, many years ago, when I first bought a piece of land, I have gardened. Vegetables, herbs and flowers. My latest garden in Victoria, is situated next to the forest. While gardening one day, I realised how the forest is the perfect garden. Self contained, it supports many species. Since that moment I have modeled my garden on the forest example. Observe. Leaving things alone mainly.

‘the exhibition of stillness’

When, during the mid-eighties, I returned home from 8 years of traveling, during which time my true education began, I set up a studio and started making ceramic bowls. The inspiration of these came from a meeting with an American Indian medicine man who, one night, took me outside and, while pointing at the first moon, a thin silver bowl filled with light, said: “We call that the receiver”. I found this a moving and poetic moment. I took it as my direction.

The bowl is a most satisfactory form to work with. From that beginning my bowls have gone through many changes. Always the same. Always different. Until this moment in time, where the bowls are the result of my many years of bowl making.

Then, while walking in the forest recently I watched a leaf slow-falling to the ground, I became aware of the silence of the trees. I found myself listening.

During my ongoing journey along the ceramic path, where each bowl represents a step, I found myself again in the forest and there, written amongst the trees, a message. This became my inspiration for this exhibition.

Using imprints from the forest floor, I have created aspects of that which speaks to us from our family of trees. Aspects such as ‘the nothing becoming the everything’, ‘the primal stillness’, ‘things not known but remembered’, plus ‘the total silence of decay….’

Everyone of my project starts with a return to the source. From there I find a new direction again and again. Something raw with something refined. And there lies the necessary tension in the work. The tension which gets the attention.

Advice i received: 'plant something every day'

TheBirdFlightProject

Another of my ceramic projects 
has now been finished

with the assistance and the 

thorough work of Oliver Patsch

we knocked it on the head

it can now be viewed,

and hopefully enjoyed,

at the spa reserve

at Hepburn Springs

dedicated to the people of Hepburn

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"Reality is the invention of unimaginative people"

FreeFlight

i thought i would tell you 

the story of the sound shell

some years ago, the then mayor of the shire,
rod may, while on a walk- about through the Hepburn reserve
asked me, when we got to the sound shell,
if i could do something about the drab greyness of the building
i said that i would give it some thought

when i am asked do create a site-specific work
i go the that site and sit and think about 

what the particular site would like.

i had my morning coffee there for three days
waiting for the sound shell to tell me what it would like.

when a flock of white galahs tumbled, rather then flew,
across the roof of the sound shell, i had my answer.

over a period of time, using commercial floor tiles,

i cut out over 100 birds.

when the problems with the heritage council in melbourne
were overcome i glued the birds to the wall

the following week continued with the project
when Oliver Patsch, bagged the wall
using a coloured bagging mix.

the inspiration for the colour came 

from one of the pumps nearby
which showed a rusty, ochre-terra-cotta, mineral colour.

the walls were bagged instead of rendered, my preferable method,
because the heritage council wanted the integrity of the building,
and the way it was built, to be maintained.
this is the concrete block integrity

the end of the week will see this project finalised

"Poetry is when you make new things familiar and familiar things new"

WorkInProgress

I am presently working on a project

at the sound shell in the 

spa reserve in Hepburn Springs

I was asked some time ago

if I could do something about

the appearance of this feature

I sat with it for a few days on site

and at one time noticed

a flock of birds tumbling 

above the sound shell

this became my inspiration

this was two years ago

and after a long time waiting 

for permits and maintenance work 

which had to be done

i am finally installing the work

"The rewards for practicing patience, is patience."

For Ivor In Friendship

i just had a call from Sam Bowen to let me know that his father

our friend 

IVOR

has passed away

i have lit a candle to light his way 

to that place where we will all meet

then i went into my garden to think 

of all the things I could remember about him

short poem:

I thought to live for two centuries or three

yet here comes death to me,

a child of just 75 years old

short poem: 

I come to my death in daylesford

and here to my delight

i find, beside me, my own parents and brothers

family i can talk to

-->

“The best way to say good bye is to intensely remember all the good things.”

SendIvorAGoodThought

when i received a phonecall today

and a friend told me about Ivor Bowen

that he is very ill in Ballarat Hospital 

I went outside and created this totem for him

to deal ina creative way with my upsetness

those who know him

please send him a good thought

or if you believe in prayer 

send him one of those

it may just relieve his pain a little

plus the aweful nature 

of the news he received

HorseThieves

so that is how we started a gang

over a beer

we had an idea

during our time 

we stole about a dozen horses

we were feared

so we promoted and went to steal cars instead

we did very well

the gang in order:
tom. hendo, petrus

Don't listen to friends, when the friend inside you says, do this.

 

It's simple, it's 2014

a wonderful and creative

new year

to all who look at this

"Restore  Your Sense Of Wonder"

TheBiggestBowlEver

on boxing day Greg and Sally Malcher 

took me to an event in the biggest bowl in Australia

the MCG

a huge bowl, the inside lined 

with cricket enthusiasts

which filled the bowl with 

emotions

mexican waves

love and hate

lots and lots of noise

moment of intense silence

followed by 

wave after wave of human response

to the activities on the field

the field

where australians were seeking revenge

for years of loss of honour

as a result of loss of matches

they got their revenge

with their fourth win in Melbourne

my interest was with the bowl and the sound traveling around it

the emotions of it all

a huge singing bowl

"If everything is coming your way, you are in the wrong lane"

 

Helen'sSoundPaintings

this bowl, from my 2013 exhibition, was

selected for a project by Helen Davies

for an intriguing and wonderful project titled:

52 sound paintings

where the artist celebrates her 52nd birthday

for a year by creating a sound painting 

of the artwork of one artist each week

and i was the lucky artist chosen for the third week

check it out on:

http://helendavey.com/blog/week-3-petrus-spronks-zen-silence/

and then if you like it you can enjoy 

all of the other artists' chosen

and Helen's musical response to them

When a good idea gets out, things begin to happen

 

 

 

EnoughSaid

"During the Second World War, 

Winston Churchill’s finance minister 

said Britain should cut arts funding 

to support the war effort. 

Churchill’s response: 

“Then what are we fighting for?”"