Friday, April 29, 2011

A holiday, a graduation, and the tools that Troy made...

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you all have had a relaxing and enjoyable holidays. Here in Australia the Easter holiday coincided with ANZAC day which meant that most of us had a five day weekend, which has been blissful. But uni work is again knocking at my door. It is around this time in the semester that everything begins to snowball, and you wish you had kept all those well made intentions not to get behind again this time around. Such is the lot of a largely unorganised art student.

All in all it has been a fantastic week though, my partner graduated on Thursday after three years of hard slog. He looked fantastic in his trencher and robes and I was so proud. He has moved straight on to a Masters degree now and is now almost through the first of the three semesters that it will take to complete. Well done darling, you deserve it!


The the next day I recieved a box in the mail from Troy at Bungart Studios which could mean only one thing - new pottery tools!!!! And let me tell you that box did not disappoint, it was stuffed to the brim full of amazing pottery tools of every size and shape and as an extra surprise, a beautiful wodden spoon! I was blown away. I contacted Troy after I stumbled upon his store whilst trawling through Etsy listings for pottery tools, and decided to put in a request for a custom order for a few quality tools. As always I was working on a shoestring budget so was overjoyed when Troy generously offered to send me out an "artistic care package". I was hoping to get a knife tool (my favourite pottery tool), a rib or two, and if I was lucky, one of the amazing handmade paintbrushes. Here is a picture of what was in the box:


You should have seen my jaw drop. It was like my birthday all over again, I couldn't believe that all of these amazing tools were mine.

Here is what was in the box:

- First there was the paddle which is the item I originally contacted Troy about making. It is made from Japanese Flowering cherry and is flat on one side and textured on the other. It's thick, wide and heavy, just like a good clay paddle should be. Best of all despite it's size it's great to handle and will be extremely easy to use.


- Second two knife tools, one made from Purple Heart, the other from Ebony. As I mentioned before, knife tools are my all time favourite and these two are only going to continue that tradition. They are both large, long and sturdy not to mention beautiful! Purple heart wood is always so stunning and the ebony is so black it's hard to believe that it is just the natural wood colour.



- Third two mini ribs one made from Purple Heart, one from Cocobolo. The little beauties are fully functional despite their diminutive stature. I'm going to wear them as a necklace as well as using them!


- Fourth two hand made paintbrushes. These could quite possibly be my favourite things in the whole package, they are exquisite. They remind me of the wands from Harry Potter only with bristles on the end and they are amazingly soft and smooth. I'm going to use them for slip decorating if I can bear to dirty them.


- Fifth a selection of ribs. There is one Osage (the yellow one), one Cocobolo (dark wood with the attractive grain stripes), one Zebra wood (self explanitory really, looks like zebra print) and one Brazilian Cherry (mid colour wood). There is also a knife rib made from Zebra wood. These ribds look so awesome and they feel even better. I've always struggled with using the ribs that I currently own, I find them hard to get a good grip on so when I do use them they tend to muck up my bowls. These ribs couldn't be more different, it's like they were made for my hand. They feel so natural to hold I can't wait to give them a go.



- Lastly there was a surprise that I really really love, a little wooden spoon. Spoons are Troy's passion and are the majority of what you'll see in his store. This little spoon is truly a work of art and everytime I pick it up I don't want to put it down.




I think that what really makes these tools so magical is how ergonomic they are. Each and everyone of them just feel like an extention of your hand, they feel natural and easy and right. Please visit Troy's store and have a good look at his works. I can't express just how amazing his pieces feel to hold and use, it's an incredible experience. Troy's wood tends to tell a story, his doesn't buy bulk planks from the hardware depot. The wood that goes in to the pieces has a history and tell a story. It is the true joy of experience that makes the handmade so superior and incomparable to the mass-produced. Troy's pieces are extremely reasonably priced and he is a friendly, helpful and easy going person to do business with. Go visit Bungart Studios and buy yourself a fully functional piece of art, believe me they are worth every cent and more.

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you have a great week!

Here are the links for:
Troy's Etsy Store (Bungart Studios)
My Facebook page
My Etsy store

Much love,
Rachael

1 comment:

  1. Hello, I'm here via the Sydney Etsy team. :)
    This post really brought a smile to my face. Your pottery tools look amazing! I would love to see what you have made with them.

    ReplyDelete