21 degrees

The only temperature I am truly comfortable in has been unattainable recently... the scary summer is making day long appearances then hiding in the clouds. Yesterday was so unbearably hot that today when I opened the door decked in my swimming togs and ready for refreshment, I was surprised to find the summer trapped inside and a fierce winter outside. Its so confusing we swam anyway.
After the glamorizing of the house yesterday a new flatmate was selected to move in in November, this is good news because looking for people is not fun and uses all of my computer time in boring and occasionally frustrating ways.... not today!
Some Images to share....

Gwyn Hanssen Pigot, Travellers 2000.Porcelain beakers and bowls arranged rhythmically play with shadows, scale and end use (how could you possibly separate one to use in an inferior domestic act???)























Jane Atfield T-Towels, Washing Up Series 1, 2000
Pillows Lounger, Hanging Things and Stuffing Things Series, 2000.
"I am interested in the familiar elemental forms found in archetypes leading to simple and functional objects that evoke strong associations and narratives, often addressing environmental issues."
A discussion on sustainable craft here.
The most satisfying design surely addresses concerns of ethical obligations to the consumer and the environment, I have always worried about making more crap for a market that doesn't need it. How is a healthy desire for products created? When I say healthy, I mean more aware of production (how it was made why it was made where it was made how many times was it made) and more importantly its role in your life - the end use (does it become more valuable to you or less valuable what is its life span is it recycled is it loved????) After thinking about it too much will you still buy it? what am I to do with all of this frickin pottery? Re-gifting and waiting for Christmas cant solve the dilemma of someone guilty of making more crap without addressing any of these issues.
Anyway some more distraction perhaps...

Ettore Sottsass From the Rocchetti Series 1956-59
I am completely in love. I picked up this book (Ettore Sottsass Ceramics, Chronicle Books 1996) in Adelaide after a boozy tour around the Barrossa (check out Torbreck wines, amazing) and despite being infinitely inspired by an array of pure forms, colours textures and his own meanderings and gallery notes, none of my pots look like this (I have tried, will post some picks later after I recover from how awful they are).
Interview with Sottsass 2000

Alessandro Mendini Manici (Handles) Vases for Studio Alchimia, 1984

These vases are a sweet relief, and give me confidence to attach as many handles as required to my own wonky vase tomorrow....












I found Lydia in one of my design books,
Design of the 20th Century, Charlotte and Peter Fiell, Taschen 2001

These are from a book called Heaven and Earth, Unseen from the naked eye, Phaidon Press New York 2002. The pink image is a desert in the United Arab Emirates, Imagine achieving this surface on a ceramic.... Below, Rainbow Trout eggs. You can see the embryo inside, a beautiful painterly contrast to the symmetry of the eggs on the black background. Destined for interpretation on fabric!


The Ganges river delta, desert irrigation in Saudi Arabia, like a painting by Klimt and Sudan's patchwork of irrigated fields.
Heres hoping for a comfortable 21 degrees tomorrow in a perfect(ly inspirational) world!