Collective madness                                        12/08/14

So, the 6th Raku workshop and its just getting crazier and more beautiful.

We coincided with a mega full moon (yes it was intentional), which made everything even more magical. 

We started at 2pm, with finishing and glazing while listening to good music to get us into the groove.

 The atmosphere was really good and positive with vibrations of excitement and anticipation. We are aware that the result is unknown and always unexpected and we need to be prepared for cracks, breaks and explosions!

As the twilight entered, so did some friends, who made the evening extra special with their presence.

Thank you Eva and Thabo, Diego and Matisse for participating and contributing to the harmonious ambience.

Then came the fire.....or fires I should say as we managed to complete 4 firings with the amount of work the students produced. You were all so prolific!

We made pizza and I think we succeeded in devouring about twenty between all of us...... the woman in the kitchen shifting between grating, slicing, cutting, mixing, talking, laughing, nibbling and spreading. 

As the creations were lifted out of the fire, glowing hot at 1000 degrees, with the huge moon staring down at us, I really think one could sense the magic and mysterious all around us.

The results were extraordinary. But we will have to wait for some good pictures (thanks to Stephanie), to show you all. In the meantime, I have one close up of a beautiful effect on Natacha's piece.

The next workshop starts on the 27th August...........
 
 

A Raku fire and a rainbow                                                           28/06/14

                                                                                                          

So, it's Saturday evening and I look back at the week which passed so fast.

I think it was Thursday night Tovi did a Raku fire:

and this is what came out:

On Saturday evening I saw a lovely rainbow which felt like a symbolic ending of a relaxing day, the one day we purposely do absolutely nothing except eat, sleep and contemplate the universe:

Dear friends of Mystica                                                                          23/06/14
                                     
We decided to start a blog so we can share with you all the happenings at Mystica.

For some reason, we feel that time is going faster than usual, like some cosmic turbo boost and we are getting confused because it feels like we just start the week and then its already the next Monday.  Does anyone feel the same way? It also seems like we just begin planning the week and its over......it kind of happens on its own......and then we begin a new week with a new plan which falls away while we are creating.

So, let me share some of the plans and maybe you could help us to make them happen!
As those of you who are with us every week know by now........we love experimenting.

Tovi is into the alchemy of glazes and loves to improvise just like with his cooking (a little of this and a little of that and a lot of spices and piment)! The best part of the firing process is to open the kiln after an all night firing session and see the surprises. The most unexpected results are the most enjoyed and appreciated. Of course, we have to find the balance - it takes years of experience and knowledge to be able to get a beautiful surprise! A paradox maybe?

Anyway, so we were thinking about another way to experiment so we can enjoy unexpected results. 

So, we are thinking about glass. We have collected hundreds of bottles and we begin experimenting with re-cycled glass. Our first attempt was interesting:

Shown here together with a ceramic goblet called 'Pisa', the effect was rather funky!
So, our plan is to take this further and experiment together with crushed glass, broken glass, colored glass, glass and clay together, slumping, inlay and more. 

Here are two pictures of a lovely result which Tovi succeeded to get from a wood-fire series in Africa:

That said, our aim is to carefully create a special environment, taking all the elements into account, which will bring out the best results for the melted materials. 


  Other than this, I thought I would post a picture of last week Wednesday's session, which was kind of magical and we all got so carried away we continued till 10 pm. 

Lets see what surprises we get from this project called 'The Joints Project '. The objective is to show the Joint, rather than to hide it. Thank you to Natacha for bringing her box of car parts........you are such a good sport. Stephanie's table was filled with work as she took the challenge to its fullest and Lynn, showing her skills, working around a cone with as many joints as she can create. 

Thank you for a beautiful evening.