Mary MacKillop Minature Edition

This is the minature bronze that has been cast by Fundere Fine Art Foundry as an edition of bronzes to be sold by the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide.

The bronze sculpture is 33cm tall and is presented on a wooden base with the foundry's mark on the backof the wooden base.

The artist has signed the piece and the sculpture is numbered.

Information about the sculpture can be obtained by contacting Jane Juniper at Catholic Communications on 61 8 8210 6117 or email jjuniper@adelaide.catholic.org.au

This is a minature of the full life sized sculpture of Mary MacKillop who will now be Australia's first saint.

Description of the new Studio

Front wall of studio showing glazing racking and front window.
Side wall showing my electric kiln in the corner with pottery trolly, wheel and portable patina table.

Back wall shows the drying cabinet, my tool cabinet, the downdraft working area and the bench for working waxes and investing waxes ready for bronze casting and the kiln in the corner.
Large tall racking for sculpture and materials. Clay is stored on the bottom shelf.The yellow trolly is a lift table, which was used for the over life sized Mary MacKillop sculpture.
The view from under the pergola. The other door is my husband's workshop.

I have finally moved into my studio, painted a few surfaces and unpacked boxes of all sorts of stuff.
No wonder I could no longer fit into my old shed, it was bursting at the seams. It was clear to me that I really was a hoarder of the worst kind. I began by trying to get the 25 kg bags of feldspar, silica, Gerstley borate (yes),
dolomite, ball clays, etc, into the shelving space that I had earmarked for glazing materials and there was no way it was going to fit.I gave some quantities to the club and to a couple of interested potters and had to get rid of at least half the quantities I had as I really only do some casual potting for now as I am working as a sculpter now.

I also had to move my 400kgs of sculpture clay and stored this also on the bottom shelf along with some bags of various clays I have.
My husband connected the kiln so on one side of the studio is kitted out with a trolly of ware boards for thrown pots. with the kiln in the corner then the trolly then my throwing wheel and I still need a wedging tableand at the end of that wall is my glaze storage shelves next to the large window at the front of the studio which looks out on the garden.
The side wall closest to the tall door houses new shelving with the clay at the bottom and will house unfinished sculptures and completed sculptures, as well as equipment for printing, glass and sculpture.
The back wall has a drying cabinet(the very old kind that was used for drying clothes, before the tumble dryer),a tool cabinet, a new downdraft working space for fetting metal sculptures and a working bench I will use for waxing and investing sculptures with my welding and investing materials below the bench. (The kiln is at the end of this wall).
I need to take some photos to show you the layout.

We had a lovely Christmas day with our family all home to open presents and then having lunch cooked for us by my daughter's family, as it was their first Christmas in their new home.
Shaun invited Tanya to stay with him over Christmas holidays and Lisa had the Teakle families join us for the meal also.
The weather was lovely and sunny and not so hot, so we were able to relax for the day.

Mary Mackillop to be made a Saint.

It's wonderful news

I finally have my studio.!!!

My window was finally fitted today after being promised on Friday and after waiting all day it did not come till this morning.
We were so browned off with the constant disappointment of the window not turning up ,we went ahead with sealing the floor which 2 days to cure and when it did not arrive yesterday we put on the second coat and it was hard enough to walk on today so we put some protective rubber on the floor and the window was installed.
We really need the sealer to harden before we start shifting all the gear back in so tomorrow we will begin to move in.
Apart from the time it took to complete, it looks a great space for me to work in. I need to buy some shelving and a workbench but I will get my electric kiln installed and my pottery stuff and then measure up the bench and shelving. It will be wonderful to get back into my own space as I have been working in the house and on the verandahfor the last 5 months.
The Viewing of the miniature went well, and they have had two definite orders and three more probables. About 40 people attended the Viewing and the food nibbles they served were delicious.

update

Just an update on things here. The studio now has a door and a lock as well but no window yet, it was going to be Friday then today so I'm hoping tomorrowthe window will be fitted.
We still want to seal the concrete floor but it will need to have two days where it can cure so we are waiting for everything to be finished and then we can go ahead and seal it AND then we can finally move everything back again.
There is going to be a viewing of the 'Minature' tomorrow afternoon at the Archbishops Residance.
They have about 30 people attending.
Erin travelled to Canberra on Monday for gymnastic Nationals Competition and was competing with team members today. Her mother was watching and sent us her scores as she did each apparatus and she did very well in uneven bars and vault and the team managed to get to the finals in vault but missed out selection by one team in unevan bars.
They compete tomorrow in vault, and they fly back tomorrow night. She has had an exciting time and has been staying with the athletes at Australian institute of Sport. My granddaughter is only 12 and I am so proud of her.

New Miniature of Mary MacKillop ready for sale.

Thank goodness the hot weather is over for the moment. On Thursday, the temperature reached 43degrees c which is the hottest November day ever recorded. Usually we have nice weather with a few warm days leading up to Christmas and then the hot weather is normal in January, February and March in South Australia. To have extreme hot weather at the beginning of Summer is maybe a warning of things to come?
I am sitting at the computer writing this with the window openand cool air coming in and this is soo welcome, and there has been very light rain but only enough to wet the pavement, so I hope it will rain a little heavier soon.
I left for Melbourne very early on Tuesday and was picked up by Sean and taken to Fundere Foundry where they are casting the miniatures of Mary Mac to be sold as an edition.
There were a few minor things to be corrected, then we coloured the bronzes as the original had been coloured, although the colouring is very very subtle. Three artist proofs have been produced and stamped accordingly, one for the church to have as a piece for buyers to see, the second is mine and the third one is for the foundry to use as check against future casts so that they have a standard piece to go by. They also had the base boards stained ready for the bronzes.
The next dayI was able to see the Ricky Swallow exhibition at Federation Square which was wonderful to actually see the pieces in person. I then caught a tram out to the foundry and we waxed the pieces and let them dry and finally boxed them up for me to take the two sculptures back to Adelaide.
Each sculpture weighs 10 kg so to handle the transportation we boxed the two together and I had that as my luggage and my hand luggage included a bronze Seated dancer that the foundry also cast for me which weighed 7kg, so I was heavily weighed down for my return flight home.
The meeting with the church included a visit by the Archbiship, who was pleased with the minature.
There will be a viewing of the minature sculpture on Wednesday 2nd December 2009 for interested buyers. Please contact Jane Juniper at Catholic Communications on 08 8210 8117 or email jjuniper@adelaide.catholic.org.au

The new floor to the studio was finished on Tuesday and it looks good. I really felt for the 4 men cementing as the temperature has been HOT . There were three Italians over 60 and a young labourer to help them. It was stinking hot but they lugged barrow loads of concrete from the front drive to the back and had the job finially finished by 1.oopm and they were then off to set up the next job for the next day up in the Adelaide hills.

I was amazed at their stamina and their good humour on such a hot day.

The weather here has been 39c and over and it is expected to last until Monday when it will return back to the mid 20'sc. The studio looks great with the new floor in but we will not see a resumption of the internal walls till late next week, so I am again disappointed at the delays.

I will be going over to Melbourne on Tuesday and Wednesday to the foundry to finish the patina on the minature artist proofs and will bring them back to Adelaide with me.

There has been orders for 2 so far and a third waiting to see the the finished piece.

It's good to see a few orders come in.