this is ester's work

"when two become one..."

2010-06-01T06:35:00.004+02:00

(...remember that horrible song? but that's not the point.)

i'm shifting over this blog to www.thisisesters.blogspot.com!
jag flyttar denna bloggen till www.thisisesters.blogspot.com!

Izmir

2010-05-06T06:57:00.002+02:00

Next week, i'll be in Izmir! I'm going to be assistant to Professor Jochen Brandt from IKKG in Germany.
I'll post about it once i get back.

2010-05-06T06:56:00.001+02:00

Konstrundan i Majorna!

2010-04-19T21:15:00.004+02:00

(clicka på bilden för att komma till hemsidan)

Detta året ska vi vara med i Majornas Konstrunda, lördag, söndag och måndag!
Medverkande är: Katarina Norrby, Johan Svanbom, Charlotta Klingström, Anna Ulin, Marianne Hallberg och mej själv - men det kommer kanske även att finnas fler på plats som är med i verkstan.
Varmt välkomna till Banehagsgatan 1E, trappa 1, och samlingsutställning på Röda Sten - och alla dom andra ateljéerna också, så klart!
Vi ses!

studio space

2010-04-10T11:52:00.005+02:00

i moved things around in my little studio space, after finally painting and finishing the two new walls that were put up a few weeks ago. it turned out really good! there's alot more space for everything, and for me to work.

Konstrundan!

2010-03-28T05:41:00.004+02:00

Våran verkstad ska medverka i Konstrundan, 24-26 april!

Addressen är Banehagsgatan 1E, våning 1. Tider och mer information finns på hemsidan.
Varmt välkomna!

KHVC

2010-02-17T22:14:00.002+01:00

Now i've got a little page on KVHC's website.
Nu har jag en liten medlems-sida på KVHCs hemsida.

quartzpaste, kvartzmassa

2010-01-17T19:48:00.007+01:00

I thought i'd write a little about the quartzpaste (or fritware) that i'm so interested in. It originated in medieval (11th to 13th centuries) Persia, though there has been similar quartz-based ceramic production much earlier in Egypt. Fine porcelain wares were coming into the area from China, and the quartzpaste was an attempt to acheive the same translucency, hardness and whiteness - using local materials and low firing temperatures.

There are written accounts of the technique; Abu'l Qasim described it in detail in 1301. His recipe can roughly be translated to 10 parts quartz, 1 part alkaline frit, and 1 part plastic white clay. I have learned what I know from Professor Jochen Brandt, who has studied it extensively. In the recipe I use now, there is less quartz than the original, with additions of whiting, ball clay or kaolin, and soda feldspar. I bisque fire to 700-800 degrees C, and glaze fire to 1050 (though this depends on what frits i'm using - with one i could glaze fire to 950).
Jag tänkte skriva lite om kvartzmassan (eller fritta-godset) som jag är så intresserad i. Det kommer från Persien området, mellan omkring 1100-1300talen, även om det också fanns liknande production mycket tidigare i Egypten.
Porslin föremål importerades från Kina, och kvartzmassan var ett försök att uppnå porslinets transparens, hårdhet, och vithet med lokala material och låga brännings temperaturer.
Information finns nerskriven, bland annat från Abu'l Qasim som beskrev tekniken i detalj, år 1301. Hans recept kan översättas till 10 delar kvartz, 1 del alkalisk fritta, och 1 del plastisk vit lera. Jag har lärt mej det jag kan av Professor Jochen Brandt, från IKKG i Tyskland, som har studerat och utvecklat kvartzmassa. I receptet jag använder nu är det mindre procent kvartz, plus krita, ball clay eller kaolin, och natron feldspat. Jag skröj bränner till 700-800 grader, och glasyr bränner till 1050 (fast det här beror på vilken typ av fritta jag använder - med en blandning kunde jag glasyr bränna till 950).
One thing i'm having a little problem with is how to dry out the body to the right consistency: it needs to have quite a lot of water in it in order to mix it evenly, but when i dry it out on a plaster bat, the soluble alkali frit goes into the plaster... in the picture below you can see it creeping out again as the plaster dries. I've tried other ways of drying it, but the bentonite i use in the mixture makes it very slow to dry, and leaves the centre wet... i'll see if i can find a more unsoluble borax-frit that i can use instead...
En sak som jag har ett litet problem med är hur jag bäst ska torka ut massan till rätt konsistens: den måste ha ganska mycket vatten i för att kunna mixa det jämnt, men när jag torkar ut det på en gips-platta, så sugs den vatten-lösliga alkaliska frittan in i gipset... i bilden nedan syns det hur det kommer ut igen när gipset torkar. Jag har försökt lite olika metoder att torka ut massan, men bentoniten som jag använder i gör att det tar väldigt långt tid att torka, plus att mitten förblir blöt... jag ska se om jag kan hitta en mer olöslig borax-fritta att använda istället.
After it's the right consistency, it's ready to be thrown or made into slabs or anything. It starts to get a bit smelly after a few days, so i try to use it up quite soon after mixing it (the alkaline frits start to break down).
När massan är rätt konsistens, är det färdigt att dreja, kavla, eller forma hur som helst. Det börjar lukta lite illa efter några dagar, så jag försöker använda upp det ganska snart efter att ha mixat upp det (frittan börjar brytas ner).

happy christmas, happy new year, happy everything! god jul, gott nytt år, gott allting!

2009-12-24T15:49:00.005+01:00

(en levande julgris means a living christmas pig - in Sweden there's a tradition of eating ham for christmas. i think it's alot better to let the pigs live, and eat other things instead!)

more glaze results on the quartzpaste body, mer resultat på kvartzpasta massan

2009-12-18T23:24:00.004+01:00

yesterday i fired up the little kiln again with the glazes that worked out best from my tests, and got results that made me happy. i fired alot higher than i did in Glasgow, to 1060 degrees C, which is a wee bit too high for this body i think, but look at the transparency! and the glaze-fit was really good, no cracks or crazes in sight. (so far!)
igår brände jag den lilla ugnen igen med dom glasyrena som såg bäst ut från mina prover, och fick resultat som gjorde mej glad. jag brände högre än jag gjorde i Glasgow, till 1060 grader, vilket är lite för högt för den här massan, men titta på transperansen! o glasyren verkar passa jättebra, inga sprickor eller crackeleringar i sikte (än så länge!)

i made these little birds from a mold that i made when i was in 2nd year in Glasgow! so they're not exactly news. but i still like making them, nevertheless.
jag gjorde dom här små fåglarna från en gips-form som är från när jag gick på andra året i Glasgow! så dom är inte precis en nyhet. men jag tycker trots allt om att göra dom fortfarande.

and here is the tail of a bird, to show how the transparent glaze turned out.
och här är stjärt-fjädrarna av en annan fågel för att visa hur den transparenta glasyren blev.

but everything didn't turn out well: this was a bowl/dish before i fired it, now it's some kind of strange disc cuase it slumped so much in the kiln. so i'll have to work on that one, and fire a little bit lower...
men allting blev inte så jättebra: det här var en skål/fat innan jag brände det, o nu är det nån form av konstig platt grej för det föll ihop så mycket när jag brände det. så jag får jobba vidare på det, o kanske bränna lite lägre också.

result, resultat

2009-12-17T22:55:00.002+01:00

here are the little picture tiles after they've been fired, to approximately 1130 degrees C. they're not glazed, that's the frit in the quartzpaste body coming out. and they're transluscent! i should have taken a picture this morning when the sun was shining...
här är dom små bilderna när dom är brända, till ungefär 1130 grader. dom är inte glaserade, utan det är frittan i kvartzpastan som kommer fram. o dom är transparenta! jag skulle ha tagit bilderna i morse när solen sken...

i decided to make a few more...
jag bestämde mej för att göra några fler...

i fired the little kiln today with some more glaze-tests (on the quartzpaste body), so tomorrow i'll find out how they turned out. (fingers crossed!)
jag brände den lilla ugnen idag med lite fler glasyrprover (på kvarzpasta "leran"), so imorgon får jag se hur dom blev. (håll tummarna!)

from now on... från och med nu...

2009-12-14T04:10:00.004+01:00

...i'll be writing both in english and swedish.
...har jag tänkt skriva både på engelska o svenska. hör av dej, om det är någon av dom gamla posterna du skulle vilja att jag översätter!

quartzpaste, continued...

2009-12-12T22:36:00.004+01:00

last week i fired some little glaze tests for the quartzpaste (fritware) body, and a couple of them look alright! as you see, some of them weren't quite so good... so that is exciting. the blue one is the same glaze i've been using for the earthenware clay, but it seems to be a good fit on the quartzpaste! the other glaze-tests were just varying proportions of borax frit, kaolin and quartz. fired to 1050 degrees C.
förra veckan brände jag några små glasyr-prover till "kvartzpastan" (fritta-leran), och några av dom ser ut att ha blivit bra! en del, som ni ser, mindre bra... så det är roligt. den blåa är samma som jag har använt hittils på lergods, men den verkar passa bra på kvartzpastan utan några krackeleringar. dom andra är bara olika proportioner borax fritta, kaolin och kvartz, brända till 1050 grader.

i also made a little thing that i really enjoyed! i haven't fired it yet, but soon i will. i just made a little thin tile of the quartzpaste body, covered it with black, and scraped away till i had a picture. i'm looking forward to making more...
jag gjorde också en ny liten grej som var jätteroligt. jag har inte bränt den än, men gör det så snart jag kan. det är bara en tunn liten platta av kvartzpastan, täckt med svart, och sen skrapade jag till jag hade en bild. ser fram emot att göra fler...

for those of you in Gothenburg...

2009-12-01T21:33:00.000+01:00

yes, already: Christmas sales begin

2009-11-12T18:43:00.006+01:00

the Christmas exhibition at Sintra starts on Saturday already, so i've submitted some things for it as well. as you can see, i've gotten really quite commercial and have made christmas-tree decorations! what next...?

thanks to my very generous friend...

2009-10-25T19:39:00.004+01:00

... i have been able to make some progress with the frit-ware tests! Isabelle, at the Owl & Lion gallery in Edinburgh, gave me a little test-kiln and a whole load of other useful stuff this summer when we were visiting Scotland!!! it works really well, and has been brilliant for testing different recipes. it was harder before, since no-one else in my studio fires to the same temperatures, and i didn't want to fire a whole big kiln with only 5 little tests in it.
so a million thank you's again to her.
now i just have to get a good glaze that doesn't chip etc, and then i'll get back to making turquoise birds and bowls again :-).

result

2009-10-25T19:24:00.007+01:00

i was a little bit disappointed when i opened up the kiln a few days ago. i had been in a bit of a rush when i was glazing and packing, so the glaze on some of the bowls was way too thick and (of course) stuck to the shelf. i can save the small ones thanks to J's dremmel machine, but the big one will the hares will probly have to go to the place where all the other unsuccessful pots go: we have a special bin and hammer in our studio, where (with some satisfaction) we crush and break and destroy things that haven't turned out so well. so next time i'll try not to be in a hurry...

but a few of the other things turned out alright. i'll take some proper pictures of them before putting them out for sale.
soon it's time for Christmas sales, both at Sintra and our studio, so i have some ideas for that...

waiting, waiting, waiting...

2009-10-21T21:44:00.001+02:00

i've got a kiln-load firing this very minute...
i can't wait till it's ready and i can open it up!
i'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

hot air

2009-09-30T23:11:00.004+02:00

last week i went and bought myself a hot-air-gun. the best thing i've done in a while, i think!
it means i can speed some things up (e.g. lifting a shallow bowl off the wheel-head) and also: i can put on slip with a brush instead of pouring! i.e. no drips, it uses much less slip, it's alot quicker, and generally neater and bettter.
so that's pretty good.
Johan Svanbom, who works in the same studio as me, gave me some coloured earthenware slips earlier this year -dark blue, yellow, green & pink- which i rehydrated and am now trying out. tack, Johan! can't wait to see how they turn out when they're fired...

and it's ready!

2009-09-30T06:45:00.002+02:00

my website is now ready:

www.estersvensson.com

thank you to Andy and Marcus (round of applause: )!

soon...(ish)

2009-09-21T06:35:00.003+02:00

yesterday i registered a domain for my website, that i'm working on (thanks to Andy and Marcus for your help)! it'll have pretty much the same things that you've already seen here, but in an easier format.

i'll let you know when it's finished.

i'll keep this blog going as well, but it'll turn more into a news-inspiration-work&thoughts-in-progress thing than it is now.

new machine

2009-09-16T21:09:00.002+02:00

i did something i've thought about doing for a long time: i bought one of those printer-scanner-copier machines! it was a really cheap one, but so far seems to be doing a good job. so you might be seeing a few more drawings in the future...

Sintra window exhibition

2009-09-16T17:42:00.003+02:00

i've got a little exhibition of little bowls up for the next three weeks, at Sintra, a shop/gallery here in Göteborg. i've also been accepted as a member there for the next year, so i'll have other work there too from 1st October.

here's what it looks like:

2009-08-09T15:55:00.003+02:00

here is some work i did before leaving for a little trip to the States.

the little tiles are a project that A has been working on this summer, it was interesting to learn a little about the mathematics behind Islamic tiles. they're really fun to play with.

i also did a transfer firing, and added some gold to a few pieces, which was fun.

so now i'll be without the studio for a month, but it's a good chance to do lots of drawing and thinking.

dolls

2009-07-20T23:20:00.005+02:00

i've started making some dolls. so far there's a couple of heads, and 6 little porcelain arms.

it's summer...

2009-07-20T20:28:00.004+02:00

... and i've not posted anything for a long time! i have been spending some time in the studio, though, and here are a few pictures of little bowls.

Young Guns

2009-06-17T20:41:00.002+02:00

You've seen these pieces before, but my brother helped me take some proper photographs of them. (TACK Marcus!) They will be included in a show in Sydney next month, if anyone happens to be in Sydney.
"During July, 2009 Sydney College of the Arts, the visual arts faculty of the University of Sydney will be hosting the exhibition YOUNG GUNS – a survey of international ceramics artists in the SCA Main Gallery. The intention is to highlight the innovative and varied contemporary ceramic art being created by emerging practitioners from around the globe."

2009-05-25T23:09:00.002+02:00

a few details

2009-05-23T23:52:00.002+02:00

finally, the first firing in the new studio!

2009-05-04T21:38:00.002+02:00

2009-05-04T21:35:00.001+02:00

2009-05-04T21:24:00.003+02:00

fish dish

2009-05-04T21:13:00.006+02:00

lonely little bowl

2009-05-04T21:10:00.001+02:00

small bowls

2009-05-04T21:02:00.005+02:00

2009-04-10T23:16:00.002+02:00

slow start

2009-04-02T21:54:00.002+02:00

it's taken a little while, but i am now finally throwing again. thanks to family, aunt, and friends, my little studio space is all sorted. i even get some sun (that is, when it's actually shining...) through the windows.
i'm using lovely red earthenware, quartz-slip as usual, and will glaze with same old lead-bisilicate as in Glasgow. i've not got enough for a kiln load yet, but will fire next week, so eventually i'll put some pictures up of actual finished work -it's a long time since i did that! but here's a little picture of some work-in-progress anyways.

2009-02-22T21:45:00.001+01:00

2009-02-10T22:38:00.000+01:00

Tesoros Medievales

2009-02-10T09:35:00.002+01:00

Last summer, in Barcelona, i bought a book from Del Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya. There's some really amazing images and drawings. I was getting some inspiration from it yesterday.

2008-10-02T07:50:00.001+02:00

ROAR! exhibition

2008-09-06T06:34:00.002+02:00

I'll have some work showing in London, as part of a little exhibition called Roar! at the The Gallery @ Oxo & Bargehouse, click here for more information.
BIG THANK YOU to for brilliant Wendy Kershaw at Glasgow School of Art who's organised all my stuff (since i'm in Afghanistan and unable to do it myself), and also to Jill Gerber at the Compass Gallery in Glasgow.

Changes...

2008-06-29T13:20:00.003+02:00

Today i'm moving from Scotland. I don't know how long for, but i'm leaving all my boxes of ceramics and everythings here - i've got a feeling i'll be back. This means that i won't be able to do much after all with the little on-line shop (etsy.com).
If you live in Glasgow, though, there will be some of my pieces and a few drawings in the Compass Gallery as part of the New Generation show there opening on 3rd July, and the Cyril Gerber Gallery.
I've got a month or so of holiday now to look forward to, in Sweden and Europe, and then it's off to Afghanistan again for a few months. I'll keep you posted.

Online shop...

2008-06-12T01:15:00.009+02:00

on a website called etsy! It's a place where you can buy handmade items from all over the world (though mostly the US), now including me.
The address is www.estersvensson.etsy.com
There's not much on there yet, but there will be soon.

degree show images

2008-06-07T18:04:00.013+02:00

Here are some images of my degree show work, for those of you who aren't in Glasgow.
It's made from predominantly fritware (or stone/quartzpaste), except for a few earthenware bowls and egyptian paste tears. I learned this fritware technique from a German ceramist, Prof. Jochen Brandt at the IKKG (Institut fur Kunstlerische Keramik und Glas) in Höhr-Grenzausen in Germany, who has done extensive research and achieved brilliant results.

My work this year has been influenced by the time i spent last year in Afghanistan, working for and organization called Turquoise Mountain, with a group of potters from the village of Istalif.

These bowls are a collaboration with Jila Peacock. I made the bowls, and Jila wrote the names of birds from the poem Conference of the Birds in lustre.

Red Road flats

2008-06-05T23:36:00.001+02:00

ibrox street

2008-06-05T23:14:00.003+02:00

I wanted to put a bird up on the wall of the Immigration Centre, the Home office on Brand street. But there is staff there at all hours of the day and night, so after chatting to the guard on duty i decided to put it up close to the Unity centre (http://unitycentreglasgow.org/). It's just opposite.

forth & clyde canal weeping birds

2008-05-28T19:08:00.003+02:00

degree show information

2008-05-26T23:32:00.002+02:00

Saturday 14-06-08
until
Saturday 21-06-08

Atrium gallery,
GSA Foulis building
167 Renfrew Street
Glasgow, G3 6RQ

Saturday-Sunday: 10am-5pm
Monday-Thursday: 10am-9pm
Friday:10am-7pm

Saracen Head Lane weeping-bird

2008-05-26T23:19:00.000+02:00

degree show coming up

2008-05-04T00:14:00.008+02:00

the degree show is soon! it opens to the public on 14 june, welcome!
go to www.gsa.ac.uk for directions and times, i'll post them on here as well closer to the time.
here is a little preview of what i'm working on.

i've been having some problems with glazes... but the shards are also rather beautiful.

tears, tears, tears made from egyptian paste.

work in progress.

i put up the first bird, it's on duke street just after the high street crossing, on the old railway-depot wall.

the next morning i went back, and already a few tears had disappeared!

night birds

2008-04-18T00:33:00.002+02:00

(you can find them in the west end)

slip drawings

2008-04-07T23:41:00.003+02:00

bowl sketches

2008-04-06T20:36:00.003+02:00

some more frit-ware birds

2008-04-06T20:26:00.008+02:00

these, and others, will soon be found around Glasgow, here and there on walls and places.

whistles, autumn 2007

2008-01-15T11:05:00.001+01:00

fritware/stonepaste, autumn 2007

2008-01-14T23:02:00.000+01:00

second-hand wares with screenprinted transfers, autumn 2007

2008-01-14T22:50:00.001+01:00

stoneware with screenprinted transfers, autumn 2007

2008-01-14T22:37:00.001+01:00

earthenware with quartz-slip, autumn 2007

2008-01-14T22:02:00.000+01:00