The Artists@Rollingtone team is calling on artists and arts & crafts enthusiasts from the region to participate in the Annual Art and Craft Show and Sale. Saturday 27th July 2024. More details are in the poster below.
Rolingstone Art and Craft Show
Category: Paluma Arts
Len Cook: Fire & Rain
This coming Friday, the Perc Tucker Gallery will be opening a retrospective exhibition of 4 decades of works from our local award-winning ceramic artist, Len Cook.
The exhibition will open this Friday, May 12 and run until August 2023. On Saturday, May 13, Len will give a talk at the Gallery about his work
Len Cook is one of Australia’s foremost woodfired
potters. The exhibition FIRE AND RAIN draws
together nearly 80 artworks created over 40
years Of ceramic practice with loans from public
and private collections, as well as key works from
the artist’s own collection.https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/facilities-and-recreation/theatres-and-galleries/perc-tucker-regional-gallery/exhibitions
The exhibition highlights the artists lifelong
passion for wood-fired kilns and pots that are
glazed by natural ash deposits over extended
firing in traditional Japanese anagama (cave)
kilns. Len Cook’s practice encompasses domestic
ware, ceramic sculpture inspired by the coral
forms Of the Great Barrier Reef, and his anagama-
fired work.
Join artist Len Cook and curator Ross Searle as
they discuss the works on display in Cook’s
exhibition FIRE AND RAIN.
Floor Talk
Saturday 13 May
10.30am
Music from the mist
For many of us, our village in the mist is a haven offering respite from the bustle of city life and the opportunity for a restorative walk through the forest, immersed in the vibrant sights and sounds of nature. Our local forests, creeks and wildlife have also acted as a muse for artists of many types, including painters, potters, photographers, glass-smiths, sculptors and musicians.
The Melbourne ambient music composer known as Badskin is one of the latter group. She has recently released her second album, “Bush Bash”. Both of her albums (the first is “Where was I ”) feature sounds from the Paluma rainforest magically melded with various instruments and synthesised sound to create an entrancing and at times dissonant aural experience. Within the complex and abstract soundscapes a careful listener will be able to identify whipbirds, frogs, chowchillas and other familiar local species, all blended with guitars, keys, and synths.
This type of music is not for everyone but if you feel like having a listen, her work is available on Bandcamp, Spotify , and Apple Music.
In case you don’t already know, I proudly confess that I have a conflict of interest in recommending this artist. Badskin is the artistic name chosen by our daughter Carla Oliver.
Text by Jamie Oliver
Colwyn’s Watercolours & Wine Workshop
In normal Paluma fashion Colwyn’s Watercolours & Wine Workshop scheduled for 16.00hrs on Saturday May 14th got underway at 16.30 hrs. There were no less than 18 participants and although it was a quiet start, as time went by there were whispered conversations and not-so-whispered conversations. It was remarked that the barman was a trifle noisy.
Everyone was engrossed in putting brush to paper and to the untutored eye some wonderful shapes seemed to appear with minimal tutoring. Around 17.30 hrs there was a break while people had quite plentiful snacks which had been spread out in the meeting room and there was a mini rush to replenish wine glasses at the bar.
But then it was back to work and brushes were being wielded until around 19.00 hrs. The event was obviously a resounding success and the enthusiasm of the painters was extremely evident. Many thanks to Colwyn for the effort in providing such an interesting afternoon. The happy artists are looking forward to a second workshop later in the year.
Text & Photos by Leslie Hyland
Reminder: Watercolours & Wine Workshop this Saturday 14 May
A reminder that local artist Colwyn Campbell will host her Watercolours & Wine Workshop this coming Saturday 14 May. The Workshop will commence at 4 pm at the Paluma Community Hall. The Workshop is FREE.
Colwyn plans to bring along a few objects to set up as subject matter for a still-life. However, if you have your own trinkets or treasures that you’ve been wanting to paint, please bring them along. Colwyn asks that each person bring along three small items like a jug, bottle, vase or jewellery box, of varying sizes and shapes, that can be suitably arranged into simple compositions for a painting.
Colwyn has some art supplies, but if you have your own brushes, paints, paper and other supplies, please bring them along. Bringing along your own brushes if you have them (size 7 or 8 or thereabouts) would be most helpful.
The Workshop will be a fun activity and hopefully the participants will have something to take home to show for their efforts!
The Bar will be open for drinks and please bring along some nibbles to share if you feel so inclined.
Len’s Anagama kiln fires up once again.
On Monday (September 27th) after months of preparatory work at the potter’s wheel, and a couple of days of hauling wood from out at Hussy Road, Len Cook’s famous wood-fired Anagama kiln has awoken after a year’s slumber and is erupting flames and smoke as it progressively consumes several cubic metres of wood. Len has stacked the kiln with an impressive array of original pots that will slowly be turned into stunning works of ash-glazed art by late Friday.
It will take several more days of cooling down before Len is able to open the kiln to discover how the pots have been transformed. Despite the years of experience that Len has with this process, it’s never certain how the pots will respond to the sometimes whimsical moods of the Anagama. I am sure that there will be some fantastic results, with most pots destined for art galleries, or the shelves of serious ceramic collectors.
Anicca exhibition opening a great success
On Friday evening the exhibition of new artwork by our local artist Colwyn Campbell was opened by Sue Tilly and Ross McLennan at the Drill Hall in Townsville.
The event was well attended and dominated by Paluma residents who not only admired the stunning pieces on display but also purchased several of them.
The Buddhist concept of Anicca (impermanence) clearly pervaded the artwork. The detailed depiction of fallen leaves and other organisms associated with decay and recycling of life, combined with the repetitive colourful patterns resulted in images that were (to me at least) both abstract and yet highly realistic.
Congratulations to Colwyn on the success of the exhibition, which will remain open until May 20th.
Text by Jamie Oliver, photos by Juanita Poletto
Unpacking the Anagama
Last Saturday (Oct 31) Len and Tania, with fingers crossed in anticipation, entered the still warm belly of the Anagama kiln to find out how successful this year’s wood firing had been. I think the photo below shows the general reaction: a smile on Len’s face as he surveys the assembled pots.
To recap the events leading up to this, the process was quite simple in the telling:
1. Insert unfired pots 
2. Add a few tonnes of wood 
3. Burn (m-f) Burn for 100 hrs 
Voila! Beautifull smoke/ash glazed pots!
As Len tells it, the secret to this year’s success was getting sufficiently high temperatures in both the front and back of the kiln. While Len and Tania carefully monitored the digital temperature display throught the process, the final indicator that the heat was right was verified by the appearance of the “kiln cones”. Six cones were set up in the front and back of the kiln and the hope was that at least 5 of these would melt or soften enough to droop. The photo below shows the array of front cones from this year’s firing with the same front cones from a previous firing behind them. Clearly this year went better than previously with even the last cone drooping noticeably.
There was a huge range of pots that emerged from the kiln and each one had a unique glaze with rich colurs ranging from brown, to red, gold, green, cream and even swirls of black from carbon soot trapped beneath the glaze.
Some of the favourites individual pots of those who helped in the unpacking are shown below, but you will need to inspect them once they have been sorted and presented in Len’s studio to decide on your own personal favourite.
JLP 
Text by Jamie Oliver
Photos by Juanita Poletto (JLP) & Jamie Oliver
Len’s Anagama is alive and smoking again
Len Cook’s famous Anagama wood kiln was fired up this Monday after a two year break, and those in the village would not have missed the smoke and fire belching from the chimney over the last four days.
As of writing, the kiln has been going for over ninety hours hours and is due to be shut down and sealed up on Friday evening. This year Len was supported by a visiting potter from down south, Tania Edwards, with occasional neighbourly assistance from Jamie.
The Anagama firing is always a visual spectacle, with a roaring firebox that consumes tonnes of wood, and side stoke holes that occasional belch fire, and a chimney that sends smoke and flame skyward for 100 hours straight. Len is reportedly pleased with the firing this year, having reached temperatures in the front and back of the kiln that should be sufficient to produce some spectacular pots. However the outcome won’t be known in until next Saturday when the kiln will have cooled sufficently to be unsealed and inspected. I’m sure the results will be pretty impressive.
In the mean time, here is a selection of pictures from the firing.
Text and pictures by Jamie Oliver
Townsville Sketchers visit Paluma
Today the Paluma Pottery hosted a group of artists from the Urban Sketchers Townsville Group for lunch.
The group made a day of it, stopping at little Crystal Creek to sketch the only functional stone arch bridge in Queensland, and then visiting Len Cook in Paluma. Its great that Len is continuing to encourage artists working with various media to come up to the village and enjoy the mountain air, although today was not a good example of our normally cool temperatures!
A sample of one of the sketches by Alison McDonald is shown here. More examples of the results of their visit can be seen on their facebook page.