topics
Learning and Making
Process documentation for ceramics, musical instruments, and creative skills
33 posts
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Sydney Ceramics Galleries
There are some excellent galleries in Sydney that focus on displaying the work of local artists and providing exhibition space. A labour of love for most gallery owners as the market is not large.
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Ceramic Destinations in Tokyo
The most popular post on Slowlane has been Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto, this post seeks to provide the same information for a Tokyo visitor.
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Arkansas Living Treasures
Following a link from Fine Woodworking I came across an inspiring collection of videos featuring a group of traditional craftspeople who live in the US state of Arkansas.
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Making and Work
Reflecting on what it means to identify as a Maker — and how the satisfaction found in the workshop with wood and clay becomes harder to locate as professional life shifts toward management. Matt Gemmell's sharp distinction between Makers and Takers provides a useful lens.
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Daily Rituals
Great infographic showing the daily rituals of interesting historical figures. Smoking, coffee and beer appear frequently.
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Making a Flamenco Guitar
I have linked to this video showing the making of a beautiful guitar before, but its so good its worth another run.
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We should build mandolins
A beautiful Fretboard Journal video portrait of Tom Ellis, who has been building mandolins from his rural workshop since the late 1970s. A quiet celebration of the kind of dedicated, long-term craft that produces instruments of genuine character.
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Jean Nicholas Gerard, a potters potter
Goldmark have produced another fascinating 'day in the life' video, this time featuring French potter Jean-Nicholas Gerard who makes beautiful slipware pots.
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Why have Enterprise Architecture
A short video produced by Mastering Archimate and T36 that makes the case for why Enterprise Architecture matters — a useful resource for explaining the discipline to stakeholders.
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Makers at work
Those Who Make is an extensive video series celebrating the work and philosophy of contemporary makers and craftspeople — well worth exploring for anyone drawn to the culture of skilled hand work.
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Craftsmanship, one mans inspiration
Moving essay from David Sparks meditating about the influence of his father on his own pursuit of craftsmanship.
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Visualisation techniques
A link to an interactive periodic table of data visualisation techniques — a broad and surprising compilation, with many methods you won't have encountered before.
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Chinas rising soybean consumption-reshaping-western-agriculture
A disturbing piece by Lester Brown: saving the Amazon rainforest now depends on curbing global demand for soybeans — which means both stabilising population and, for the world's more affluent people, eating significantly less meat.
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Ode to invention, Maira Kalman
Maira Kalman's graphic celebration of Benjamin Franklin's inventiveness, part of her year-long NY Times series exploring American history and democracy. A gateway to her wider work, including a beautifully illustrated edition of Michael Pollan's Food Rules.
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Made by hand in brooklyn
Made by Hand is a project creating beautiful videos that celebrate the resurgent maker scene in Brooklyn.
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John Dermer
A visit to John Dermer's annual exhibition at Kirby's Flat — arriving early, only to find a dozen cars already in the car park and half the work sold before ten past nine. The pieces that remained were beautiful; we brought home an exquisite salt-glazed bowl.
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Swedish spoon-maker 1923
A remarkable piece of film footage from 1923 showing a Swedish craftsman making wooden spoons entirely by hand — a quiet record of traditional skill that woodworkers will find both humbling and inspiring.
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Challenges of creating for the web
A pointed comic from The Oatmeal on the realities of making things for the web — the gap between what creators intend and how the work is actually received. Painfully recognisable.
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New Listening
I first heard Chris at the Blue Mountains Music Festival a few years ago, and I'm excited to see he is coming back again this year.
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The Anarchists Tool Chest
Christopher Schwarz's Anarchist's Tool Chest is much more than a guide to building a tool chest — it's a philosophy of craft, ownership and self-reliance. An inspiring read that prompted plans to build a chest and invest in quality hand tools.
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Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto
A guide to the best ceramics destinations in Kyoto — Kawai Kanjiro's house with its magnificent climbing kiln, the Kyoto Ceramics Centre on Gojo-zaka, the Nomura Art Museum's tea bowl collection, and the Raku Museum. Essential stops for anyone drawn to Japanese pottery and the mingei tradition.
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Mike dodd video
Mike Dodd makes beautiful ceramics. Goldmark have produced an uplifting video of Mike talking about his work and life.
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A cabinet makers notebook
James Krenov's A Cabinetmaker's Notebook is cited by many contemporary woodworkers as the book that changed their lives. A meditation on sensitive, considered work — not a manual of techniques, but an invitation to a different relationship with materials and making.
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Guitar zero
I am reading a new book by Gary Marcus a scientist who in his professional life studies languages and cognitive science. In this book he explores the research behind the popular belief that its much more difficult for adults to learn a musical instrument compared to the ease with which children can pick it up.
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CNN occupy wall street
Douglas Rushkoff argues that Occupy is not a protest but a prototype — a practical experiment in a different way of living. Its lack of demands is precisely the point: it isn't asking anything of the existing system, which is what makes it both unsettling and genuinely new.
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Balehaus - an experimental building
Bath University's Balehaus project uses prefabricated straw-filled wall panels to create a high-performance prototype building — a promising demonstration of locally sourced, low-impact construction materials that raises the question of when such approaches might reach Australia.
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BEN - bicycle empowerment network
Its Blog Action Day - my plug is for BEN the Bicycle Empowerment Network of Namibia. Established by Australian Michael Linke who had previously edited Australian Cyclist.
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Notebooks and Manifestos
A love of notebooks — the Make magazine Makers Notebook with its graph paper pages and embedded manifestos, and the endlessly versatile Moleskine. The Crafter's Manifesto makes a compelling case: things made by hand have hidden meanings and magic powers that purchased objects simply cannot.
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A slow sunday at the art gallery
A Slow Sunday at the Art Gallery of NSW — returning to the Harold Cazneaux exhibition, a remarkable body of pictorial photography that still impresses for its atmospheric use of light and location. Also the Taisho Chic exhibition of Japanese art from the 1920s and 30s.
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Biodynamic wine in the news
Australian biodynamic wine is attracting growing media attention, and the quality is finally being recognised more widely. A roundup of recent coverage, with recommendations for mixed cases from organicwine.com.au including Krinklewood and Tamburlaine.
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Guerrilla bagging
Horrified by the damage plastic bags cause to marine life, Claire Morsman launched Morsbags — a grassroots network of people making reusable bags from recycled material and giving them away. From a January 2007 start, the project had spread to seven countries and produced over 20,000 bags.
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A very small farm
William Paul Winchester's A Very Small Farm is a memoir of quietly extraordinary simplicity — life on twenty acres, building house and barn, putting in a garden and orchard, taking up beekeeping. It belongs to the tradition of Thoreau's Walden and rewards return visits over the years.
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Australian Organic Wine
Here in Australia we have a vibrant wine industry including an increasing number of vineyards producing organic and/or biodynamic wine. We are especially keen on the wines from Mudgee in central NSW.
