GEORGIE PORGE DESIGNS PRESENTS

Ancient pottery techniques with a modern flare.
Everything you see tonight began in the ground.

Scroll down into the pit ↓

CHAPTER 1 · WELCOME

Hello, I'm Jess.

Lead ceramicist at Georgie Porge Designs. Welcome to my Fire & Ash mini exhibition at Tomm's Bar, Tamworth. Thank you to Sally for the space, and to my friends and family who helped pull tonight off.

“I love the chaos in the unknown. Patience and faith in the process lead to truly remarkable creations.”

This all began when I wanted to explore less mainstream methods in the ceramic world. My Oma made ceramics and pit fired when she was younger, and that sparked my curiosity. Wanting to use more natural materials led me to ash glazing.

Come and grab me, let's have a cocktail and a chat!

CHAPTER 2· DOWN INTO THE PIT

The pit is a layered cake.

Dug with a tractor bucket into red clay on family land outside Barraba NSW. Layered like one of Nigella's best cakes (or a Shakespeare play). Tap each layer, top to bottom.

  • A final layer of wood seals the pit before lighting.

  • Layered over the colourants to catch the flame.

  • The main ingredients, and what makes the colour. I keep mine natural: organic

    waste, gum leaves, seaweed, cuttlefish bone, coffee grinds, copper and animal hair.

  • Delicately arranged into a nice cluster.

  • Placed carefully so it can't fall in onto the pottery.

  • A cushion that protects the pottery from below.

CHAPTER 3 · THE COLOURANTS

What paints the pots?

Everything in the pit is household waste, repurposed.

Tap the arrows to see what each ingredient leaves behind

  • Seaweed

    Soft greens and organic markings.

  • Copper wire

    Greens and blues stained into the surface.

  • Rusty nails

    Warm oranges and rusty blacks.

  • Coffee grinds

    Deep, smoky browns.

  • Eggshells & fruit peels

    Subtle blushes and flashes.

  • Cuttlefish bone

    Pale, chalky marks.

CHAPTER 4· THE BURN

Light it. Then wait.

Then comes the moment of truth, where the excitement (and sometimes disappointment) lives.

5-8 hrs

open burn

+24 hrs

under the tin

2-3 days

under the tin

CHAPTER 5 · THE SECOND FIRE

Ash glazing

A process I'm still learning. Sieved wood ash (from an indoor fire, BBQ or paddock fire) is combined with feldspar and china clay, brushed onto bisque pottery, and fired at around 1250°C for 12 hours. The colour depends on where the ash came from, so no batch is ever identical.

  • Beautiful greens.

  • Can throw peaches and all the earthy tones in between.

  • The base of the table lamp's glaze.

  • Layered over walnut, it reacted into the crazed finish on the lamp.

In the electric kiln, pieces are generally fired to cone 6. It's an insulated little hot box reaching up to 1300°C, firing for around 12 hours. Opening it feels just like lifting the pit tin.

CHAPTER 6 · MEET THE PIECES

Tonight's stories

Find them around the room, then tap to hear how each came to be.

  • The Flower Pots

    The idea came out of nowhere. I laid two slabs over a wooden bowl and joined them while I was

    working on my joining and coiling skills. I meant to add a round rim, but while procrastinating I etched

    random patterns into the top. I was committed! I carved out different shapes, and once the design was

    down pat I taught my mother the process. Two of the pots on display tonight are hers.

  • The Table Lamp

    I knew I wanted to make lighting. Starting from my simple fruit bowl design, I made an organic,

    botanical lamp over a dome mould and added the foot for the light fitting as the base began to dry. Pit

    fire and risk breaking it, or experiment with layered ash glazes? I couldn't surrender this beauty to the

    pit. Walnut ash glaze with green tea on top reacted into an accidental crazed look that I love. Will I ever

    replicate it? Probably not. That is the beauty of ceramics.

  • The Sunken Vase

    I wanted to see how far I could stretch certain clay bodies. I joined two domes of clay and rehydrated

    the top section so it could stretch and sink in on itself. It sounds easy, but a clay body drying at two

    different rates can cause serious problems. Luckily it survived my harsh approach and went into my

    second pit fire, wrapped in seaweed and copper on a bed of horse hair. I'm thrilled with the result.

  • The Disaster Vase

    Made with love, but sadly a sacrifice to the pit. It was my first rectangular shape, and I was devastated

    when it was dug out. With advice from my Oma, I learned to love its broken edges. She showed me the

    cracked and broken vessels around her garden, right at home with greenery growing around them.

    Maybe that's the destiny of this not-so-disastrous vase.

EPILOGUE

Family, friendship & creativity

That is what Georgie Porge is all about. Thank you for spending the evening with the work.

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