Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast: Ep. 4 Ba-Boom!

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with musicians and educators Shon Klose and Svetlana Bunic. Working under the name Ba-Boom! this two woman collaborative travels through Australia's Outback teaching a variety of musical styles in remote aboriginal communities. Their short term courses often culminate in a performance, challenging the participants to overcome their fear as they take the stage for the first time. As well as increasing the mental fortitude of the children the curriculm also addresses their physical well-being by teaching practical life skills like cooking, sewing, and physical fitness.

In the interview we discuss their experience working as traveling musicians, their cross disciplinary approach to education and their perspective on sustaining first world cultures. For more information on Ba-Boom! please visit http://ba-boom.com.au. You can also keep track of Ba-Boom! by "liking" their new Facebook page. Click here to visit.

Click here to see a video of Shon and Svet playing with the Ltyentye Apurte drummers at the Alice Desert Festival.

In the Studio: Huggable Fence Jars

I came home super charged from my trip to Australia. I had been throwing large forms for other people but I hadn't gotten to decorate one myself in quite a while. These jars are a leap back into larger work. They are about a foot tall and almost 10 inches wide. I've tried to set up the proportions to give them a monumental feeling. They are a huggable size that you feel compelled to touch.

The making process starts with throwing the bodies and lids. I trim them as soft as I can before adding the fence pattern with a cake decorating bag. As the trailed slip hardens I tighten up the pattern with an exacto knife. Porcelain slip is then brushed on with a total of three coats. The underglaze goes on next and the sgraffito drawings form the final layer of decoration.

These went in the bisque this weekend so I hope to get them out tomorrow. I'm in a good spot in the studio. My show commitments are far enough away that I can start working on new ideas. I'm pondering a new body of work based on Shanghai but I'm not sure what form it will take yet. Feels good to be treading new ground even if it is still in the sketchbook stage.

Way Outback: The Red Walls of Uluru

In the noon day sun Uluru glows a deep orange red. The combination of blue sky and shadow on the rock's speckled surface creates an intense mixture of line, color and pattern. Much like Monet's Rouen Cathedral this landscape evolves dramatically based on the angle of the sun. I had the pleasure of visiting Uluru when I was flying into the local airport, which served as my entry and exit point into the outback.

Uluru, named Ayer's Rock by settlers in the late 1800's, is a massive sandstone feature located in Australia's Northern Territory. Long seen as a sacred site by the local Anangu people, it has become one of the most heavily visited tourist sites in Australia. I was tempted to follow the long line of adventurers that were climbing the outer spine of the formation but I realized this would be like climbing around Chartres cathedral. Beyond the spiritual disrespect, the rounded edges of the rock are also very dangerous. Peaking at a little over 1100 feet over 30 people have died trying to reach the summit in recent years. From the top you would have a clear 360 degree view of the flat landscape. From that vantage you could see Kata Juta, a large rock formation 50 km away, that belongs to the same geologic group.

We drove around the rock to a site with easy access to the Mutitjulu waterhole. After a short hike we came to a pond that regularly collects water that has trickled down from the top of the formation. The semipermanent water source has been attracting animals and the nomadic Anangu for thousands of years.




About 100 yards away from the waterhole a cave is filled with paintings that hint towards this site's use as a ritual ground and place of learning. The graffiti-like paintings reminded me of the images that happen after you shake an etch-a-sketch drawing.

The rock itself is the location of many aboriginal Tjukurpa, or creation stories. Here is an exerpt about Kuniya, a Python Woman who's struggle with the Liru Poisonous Snake Men is believed to help create the shape of the rock.

A long time ago, Kuniya the Python woman, travelled to Uluru to lay her eggs where she herself had been born. There she heard that her nephew had been killed by the poisonous Liru snake men. Enraged she travelled around the rock to the Mutitjulu waterhole, where she come across a Liru man laughing at her.

Kuniya began a powerful dance. She took a handful of sand and threw it to the ground. Where it landed bushes and plants became poisonous.

The Liru man kept laughing and Kuniya took her digging stick and hit him over the head. Kuniya’s anger was so great, that she hit the Liru again and this time she killed him. The deep cuts Kuniya inflicted on the Liru can still be seen in the rock today.

Kuniya and her nephew were transformed into Wanampi, the rainbow snakes. They are still living at Mutitjulu today and, if the waterhole ever dries out, they make rain to fill it again. 

(Excerpted from www.australiaworldheritage.com)

Click here to view a short film that I made to accompany this post. 

This will be the last post in the Way Outback series. Click below to read the other posts about my time living in Ernabella, South Australia.
Way Outback: The Road to Ernabella
Way Outback: Night Writing
Way Outback: Chasing the Light
Way Outback: A Story for the Eyes
Way Outback: Animal Kingdom
Way Outback: Paint, Money, and Land

Songs for the Open Road

As the odometer climbs the mixture of gas receipts, wind blown hair, and out of key sing-alongs meld into a memory making machine that is the Road Trip Soundtrack. Every trip has one. Its existence is casual born from a spontaneous shuffle of songs. Some of them stick while others are forgotten. The memorable songs become permanent push pins on the wall map of my mind marking locations that I hope to return some day.

I was relieved of driving responsibilities in Australia by gracious friends who allowed me a spectators view. I found myself humming these songs as I watched the desert landscape change right in front of my eyes. I've added them to the music player at the bottom of the blog for easy listening. You can also click on their name to see videos for the songs. Enjoy!



Michael Kiwanuka- I'm Getting Ready
This British singer has a voice like Richie Havens but a delivery that harkens back to the calm assurance of Nick Drake. I'm Getting Ready is one of many good songs on Michael Kiwanuka's first major release.



Of Monsters and Men- Little Talks
Accordion, crowd chanting and upbeat folk rhythms. What more do you need for a good summer band? Little Talks and the opener Dirty Paws are my favorite off the album My Head is an Animal.



The Shins- Simple Song
The Shins fourth studio album Port of Morrow didn't get the best "superfan" reviews but I thought it had a handfull of good songs. Fall of 82', 40 Mark Strasse and Simple Song all have catchy melodies layered underneath James Mercer's never aging voice.




Traveling Wilbury's- Poor House
The house I was staying had a motley collection of sci-fi paperbacks, DVD's and CD's. Among the gems was the Traveling Wilbury's Vol. 3. I had heard the "hits" from this super group when I was a kid but rediscovering it as an adult gave me a whole new perspective. You can't go too wrong when Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty are in your band. My favorite tune Poor House has an upbeat rhythm that gets my toe tapping every time.



Tedeschi Trucks Band- Midnight in Harlem
The husband and wife team of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi are the blues equivalent of the royal couple. Amazing in the own right they have surrounded themselves with a tour de force group of backup musicians that make soulful blues rock. My favorite tunes are Midnight in Harlem and Bound for Glory both of which highlight Tedeschi's voice and Truck's slide guitar.

Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast: Ep. 3 Janet DeBoos

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with studio potter and educator Janet DeBoos. Renown for her finely thrown porcelain, Janet is featured in numerous international museums and publications. She says of her forming methods, "I work at the limits of thrown porcelain, finishing all work whilst the ware is still wet on the pottery wheel, and throwing as thinly as it is possible to do without complete collapse. I do not turn or trim the porcelain... but try to always 'go with' the clay and retain the freshness of the act of making. It becomes almost a game that I play with myself-pitting technique against material." The resulting pots have a freshly touched feeling like a spatula sliding through whipped cream.

In the interview we discuss her experience designing for a Chinese ceramic factory. Her desire to use the hand made aesthetic in the factory setting is an idea I wish would grow in China. Many industrially made forms are stiff and lifeless lacking any remnant of human interaction in the making process. Evidence of the designer's hand might revitalize and personalize forms that are otherwise lost in a sea of mass production. Click here for a Craft Unbound article on Janets work in China.

Her most recent body of work integrates surface design from Chinese, British and Australia decorative motifs. She builds up layers of pattern with terra sigillata, sgraffito, glaze, and decaled images. I appreciate the density and contrast of the decorations she layers on her pots. The interaction of the motifs reminds me  of contemporary quilt design. For more information on Janet please visit the ANU website. Her recent work is available on line at the Sabbia Gallery.

Way Outback: Paint, Money and Land

Dot, dot, dot...dot, dot, dot...dot, dot, dot. Ernabella painters use thousands of individually placed dots to create shape and form. The style predates European pointillism by hundreds of years harkening back to rock paintings executed with crushed ochre pigments. Cave painting was used as a teaching tool for social customs and important knowledge. In the image below you can see three concentric white circles and a red squiggly line from a Yankunytjatjara cave I visited near Ernabella. Motifs like these are symbols representing significant features in the landscape. The paintings often served as maps that led people from water source to water source.



The move from rock to canvas is a relatively recent phenomenon with the introduction of western methods in the mid 1930's. This signaled the beginning of commercial art for a people that have no history of commodifying art. The first widely acclaimed aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira, became famous not for a traditional aesthetic but for painting his homeland in a western style. He was a transitional figure that introduced aboriginal art to an Australian society that didn't consider aboriginal people to be citizens. In 1957 he became the first Aboriginal man to be granted citizenship largely due to his famous painting skill.

The sale of paintings has become a dependable source of income for individual artists as well as the art center in Ernabella. Their work is sold throughout Australia and abroad. An elder of the community Dickie Minyintiri won last year's prestigious $40,000 Telstra prize as Australia's top indigenous artist. Money however can have a polarizing effect in aboriginal communities. Every Friday money from art sales is dispersed in a tradition called "money story". This was always a day of great activity as people came to "hum bug". This is the practice of begging elders and other family members for money. It was sad to see elderly women hounded by nephews, nieces, and younger relatives only to see those same people turn down their own opportunity to make art and money.



Visually there is no patented style in Ernabella but similarities exist in materials and content. The main subject matter is the land itself. It serves both as image and place setting for aboriginal creation myths. There is a strong tie between the painter's specific homeland and the stories they tell. I often heard artists refer to the subjects of their paintings as being their "father's homeland". The desire to commemorate family land is something I could strongly relate too as my own studio practice revolves around this central drive.

You might notice from looking at the paintings that they are painted from an aerial view looking down at the landscape. This is unusual because most of the artists have never seen the land from the air. The aerial view became a core part of their aesthetic prior to plane travel. This understanding of space is based on extensive walking. Walking is a past time, a form of transportation and a way to understand the world. Even in early childhood the Anangu travel long distances by foot. Many modern societies are detached from the landscape because we travel in cars or other fast moving vehicles. We might live in the same area all of our lives and not come to understand the subtle differences in elevation or shape of the land around us. As a thought exercise try to visualize your current neighborhood. Can you name all of the streets? It is hard enough to remember a small western style neighborhood much less hundreds of kilometers of mountains, ridges and streams. The Anangu possess a GPS-like knowledge of the land around them. This connection leaves an indelible mark on their art, creating a unique aesthetic that is all their own.

This video shows the land surrounding Ernabella. The mountains and valleys are part of the eastern end of the Musgrave Ranges. My next post in this series also looks at the connection between the Anangu people and land. It will feature a video of Uluru, a sandstone monolith that rises out of the desert. Way Outback chronicles my time in the remote outback town of Ernabella, South Australia. I spent a month there collaborating with aboriginal artists. For more information on the project you can visit the Kickstarter page that helped fund this project by clicking here.


Click below to read the other posts from the series
Way Outback: The Road to Ernabella
Way Outback: Night Writing
Way Outback: Chasing the Light
Way Outback: A Story for the Eyes
Way Outback: Animal Kingdom
Way Outback: Paint, Money, and Land
Way Outback: The Red Walls of Uluru