Mudbird website service announcement

Hello friends, if you've been looking for my shop website you'll find it's not there. For most of this year I've been a bit unwell & since June I've had to stop making ceramics... I know, I'm really sad! It wasn't expected and hopefully only a season. Every now and again I'll hold some sales on my Facebook page with my remaining stock. I do have a limited amount of Emerge jewellery left so if you are in need, please email mudbird(at)gill.co.nz

 xx Gill

Tribute to the ChristChurch Cathedral and her Rose Window.

I'm just thrilled at how my brand new Emerge Rose Window designs came out of the kiln a couple of days ago. The design is a tribute to the ChristChurch Cathedral Rose Window that was sadly destroyed during a series of large aftershocks resulting from the February 22nd 2011 Earthquake that struck Canterbury. I have been asked and asked to create a design that incorporates the Cathedral as it holds such a sweet spot for Cantabrians and is the iconic symbol for Christchurch. 

I went back and forth between a simplistic design of the church itself or another part that symbolized it. 

The Rose Window won!

The ChristChurch Cathedral in all her glory, back in the good old days.

The Cathedral battered and bruised.

I took the photo above on the 17th December 2011 after one of the larger aftershocks finally took the window out. Only 6 days later we experienced another very large 5.8 Magnitude earthquake which destroyed more of the Cathedral. I'm so glad I wasn't this close to the church at the time of that one!! The bracing was there to try and save the front that was badly damaged.

These are the stickers I use on all my Mudbird Ceramics products when packaging.

You never really know how pieces will look when making them for the fist time, until they have been through their 2 firings. So some would say it's luck that they worked and some would say it was well planned artistic-ness... is that a word??

I call it SUCCESS! I designed the stamp in black and white in a design program, slowly tweaking curves and lines and shapes until I was happy with the final design and envisaged that the black part of the stamp would look red when glazed. I wanted a Rose Window design that was not the same as any others floating out there on the web, and I'm pretty sure it's a one off! It's my artistic interpretations and you can see the full design better on the Tile. The classic Rose window design is so beautiful it wasn't hard to be pleased with the design anyway. Thank you to the Stone masons from the 1800's (or earlier I'm sure) for creating such beauty to begin with. 

I'm no graphic designer but I do have a few skills to be able to make it work. Probably took me 5x longer than a graphic artist and I probably broke all the rules, but I'm happy with the outcome.

The Necklace.

When the bisque fired pieces came out of the kiln they were white and I was captured by the textured pattern and couldn't keep touching the discs, and then during the glazing process I was getting more and more excited. When I rubbed back the red glaze to reveal it in the pattern I thought it was going to be a winner  (well for me anyway!) So when I opened the kiln after the glaze firing a few mornings ago I shouted for joy and did a happy dance all the way around the house! Much to my 2.8yr olds delight, he thought he had a crazy mummy for a few minutes there.

The 3.5 inch tile with hook inset into the back.

I got the stamp made up in 2 sizes, one for jewellery and one for a tile and dish. I made up some discs to be necklaces and made several square tiles and a couple of round tiles and small dishes. 

The 3.5 inch round tile. Yet to be decided if it should be a coaster or remain a tile.
What do you think?

Now... using the liquefaction silt in the clay can get very tricky sometimes and I have to admit I had contemplated never making a round dish again. Because mixing the silt into the clay is a very delicate operation, sometimes the clay misbehaves after firing and I end up with a lot of reject dishes that I can't sell. But this smaller shallow dish seems to agree with me and the clay so I think I'll persue this design.

The mini shallow dish.

A Trio of symmetry.

So that's what is new in the land of liquefaction silt & clay in the Mudbird Studio. A pretty good combo I think. I've been making these Earthquake Commemoration products since July 2011 and have been touched with all the feedback from my lovely customers. There are Emerge pieces all over the world. Many I have sent and many taken by my customers on their travels. Given as gifts or bought as mementos to hold a piece of Christchurch close to their hearts. And it is literally a piece of Christchurch, from the silty soil below our city mixed with my clay.

It brings me joy to create something that has such meaning, something so beautiful that has come from something so ugly and detroying and I thank you for helping me to continue to do it.

x Gill

Workshops & Wondrous things!!

Wow - nearly at the end of March and I'm just getting going again on my blog. I have a million things to blog about and think I need to play catch up, I'll have to blog backwards to my summer holidays. I feel like I've packed 6 months into the last 3, although the first 1.5 months was pretty slow... 

so lets just say its been a very productive last 6 weeks!! 

FOUR new ranges have been 'birthed' in the mudbird Studio in the last month and production is well underway for release. So hold onto your horses, this is going to be a loooong post!

I closed up shop just before Christmas, so I could spend a wonderful summer with my family. I was due to start back mid February with Mudbird,  and I'll admit... I did dust off the studio key and enter into the chaos I had left behind  (after manic Christmas market making & the like) but creativity didn't just flow like those endless summer G&T's  (I wish!... seriously I'm more of a pina colada girl)

So that did frustrate me a bit as I wanted to make... I wanted to create but I was a bit stuck. I though there is no point forcing it, it will come! 

(So I started taking flower photos for a bit of a boost! I'm on instagram if you want a nosey. )

I had a little tidy up and got out my sketch book. I made sure I left it lying about in plain sight, should the urge to sketch a new idea or design should fall upon me. Nothing happened on that front. But what did happen, as one day while driving through the CBD as we know it now, a little sign that I nearly missed has been the reason for many an idea! I got a little lost as there are no landmarks left, and also on some street corners there are NO road signs. I guess the council thought we no longer need some of them as there is nothing there to look at or visit. So I turned into what is Tuam street and saw a sign saying my favourite ever Antique store had a new home. I was so excited as this place is where I used to buy my printers type, printers trays, wonderful vintage tools and more. I'm the kind of gal who likes to do it the old fashioned way when it comes to stamping. I'd prefer to buy a set of heavy metal type from the late 1800's (yes you read that right) than buy some 'dime a dozen' rubber stamps. I was heart broken when the Feb 22nd earthquake demolished my favourite shop and wondered if I'd ever be able to rummage through trays of type ever again. I even rang the owner on his cell phone to see if they were all ok! (they were thankfully)

So I tracked them down (they had moved twice since that sign had been put up) and to my delight found another set of type to add to my collection. 

(Since that day I have been back a few times and added a 3 more type sets.)

So... you are probably wondering why I'm so excited about type? Well that day I came home, rolled out a slab of clay and got to work.  About 5 years ago I started making Ceramic tags - you could say that was my flagship product. Lots of others make them now and they are not so unique, but I have always loved them. I made them for a season then moved onto other things, but now they are coming back. First I made several cardboard templates of the tag shape and got to work. I started with a 'Tea' , 'Chai' & Earl Grey' tag. I then jumped onto my social network sites to ask what teas people have in their kitchen.  I wanted to make gorgeous little tags to hang around tea jars. Pressing my new set of type into wet clay to create those words was all it took to break the creativity dam - and then the ideas just flowed. They still haven stopped and my brain is full. I feel like I need a clone again, but this time for a positive reason... to create & never stop!

Ideas brewing (oh yeah... see what I did there?)

After making and firing a few different designs, I decided which one

 I wanted to make and have had my new custom cutter made up!

And after the 'Tea Tag' idea was underway I got to work on another idea. This is not so new... but new in the sense of getting it out there and planning on offering it as a new range. I have ALWAYS made custom pieces, but not advertised it. I've made them for pregnancies, births, birthdays & weddings (and even funerals). So after working with a lovely Bride to be and brilliant Wedding planner last year, I decided to properly launch my much anticipated Wedding range. They were so encouraging and the feedback was delightful - it was all I needed to get the sketch book out to create these new pieces. Now, I don't always write down ALL of my ideas first, for the piece below I cut a circle of clay and eyed it up... Then I just picked up my type and started 'writing'. Inspiration often comes after the clay is rolled out... no time like the present and especially the pressure of wet clay drying gets the mind working. After this, I did sit down and nut out a whole lot of text dishes. 

It was certainly a fun evening coming up with phrases for the dishes.

From that ^ to this....

 A Wedding proposal perhaps?

For the Wedding Ceremony...

 Perfect gift for the happy couple!

Ring bearer dish for the big day  - tie your rings on with the ribbon.

And there is a WHOLE lot more coming like this... ring bearer dishes, wedding bouquet charms, cufflinks... There will be a range of 'ready to buy' - perfect for the engaged couple, and also a customized range where the happy couple can have their names & wedding date stamped into the dish or anything they like. I'm happy to use special lace from the wedding dress, special quotes and ideas... the beauty of the bespoke range is it is made to order. I come from a photography background, running my own company for many years. I LOVED photographing weddings and working with the happy couple  - so this range brings joy to me as well!

Ok, so thats TWO ideas, so I'll share one more for now. I've been wanting to expand my Emerge range and have been designing a new stamp for a while. Good things take time, so I spent a little longer on this next design, tweaking and adding to make it perfect and original! I'm not a native Cantabrian, but I do love Christchurch and have called it my home since I was 19. And the one iconic building I have always loved is the Christchurch Catherdral. Like many, not only in Canterbury but also worldwide, I am so sad that it has been destroyed. For those that aren't familiar with my Emerge range, it is a commemoration range that is made with liquefaction silt. It is mixed with the clay to create special pieces with real meaning. These are collector pieces and I hope will become a part of history for the people of this City.

I had 2 stamps made for me ( I love my custom stamps!) I have  a few designs up my sleeve, but what is shown below is the makings of the Rose Window Tile & Jewellery set.

And while I was making I make a little dish as well. These pieces haven't 

had their first firing yet and that is something I must get done!

 I can't tell you how much a really truly LOVE this new design. All the time and effort put in to getting it right really paid off. I hope to add these pieces to the range by mid April. 

If I don't, please give me a nudge!

And last but not least - and thanks so much for reading this far... I'm very excited to announce I'm taking workshops this year. I have listened to all the requests, on FB, in emails and in person at markets and am rearing to go. I have a long list of workshop ideas and can't wait to start. You'll find a link to the registration form on the top left of my blog, and I'll do another post int he next fews days to tell you more. You'll have to be quick though as the first one starts in 2 WEEKS!!

xx Gill

p.s and a little thank you for reading my blog, if you register for a workshop and put 'Mudbird March Blog' in the 'where did you hear about the workshops' I'll give you $5 off!

Hot off the Press!

Yikes, where did May go? Thought I'd better squeeze in a post this month before it ticks over to June 1st tomorow. I can't believe we are 1/2 way through the year, but I guess it has been kind of busy lately! I counted up that since February 22nd earthquake, I've had 12 markets... TWELVE! That's busy and wonderful all at the same time. Great for Christchurch that there has been such a creative scene. I've got 5 lined up for the rest of the year and there is another 5 or so to add to that! So if you are in Christchurch there are plenty more opportunities to get your handcrafted shopping fix!


In May the studio was humming as there were 3 markets that I attended, so I am taking a break from markets in June, to catch up on building up stock levels, an exciting commission { accounts / paper work - better put that in, incase my husband reads this } and working on wholesale orders - Yes, you read that right... I'm going to start wholesaling, just small to begin with. I've got a very long list of requests to supply to some wonderful stores, but I'm a one woman band, with 3 young kiddies and I do need to sleep ( contrary to popular belief that I don't need and sleep!).


So anyway - exciting news this week. Yesterday I was in the Christchurch Mail newspaper on page 4! The lovely Cate Broughton came over last week to interview me about my Emerge range, kind of like an update after my article in Zest Magazine ( 27 July 2011). It's been 10 months and I can't believe how much work I have packed into those months. Imagine what I could get done it this was Full time...!

I've also been contacted by TVNZ Breakfast show on TV1, and I'll be filmed next week (all going to plan) to be part of the reporters round up by Lacie Wilson. Pretty exciting to say the least.


I've also had fun making a new range of earrings and necklaces that I've called "Lovebirds" and to celebrate over 1100 likes on Facebook, I'm setting up a wee giveaway. Details will be posted in next few days.


Keep warm x Gill

May's TV Debut & Markets.

I'm nervously counting down the days until my segment airs on Hearts in Crafts on TVNZ7 ( episode 5 ) May 5th, Saturday at 6.30pm.

It's a wonderful 13 part series showcasing some of New Zealand's creative and forward thinking people. 
From the TVNZ7 website:
 "Hearts In Crafts is the first of its kind, a show all about embracing New Zealand's appetite for craft; sharing the stories and meeting the personalities of some of this country's finest crafters. 

While reflecting on traditional crafts, Hearts In Crafts reveals emerging and contemporary crafts, and most importantly profiles the people passionate about craft. From the internationally renowned craft masters whose craft is their life's work; to the exuberant hobbyist who can't get enough; to the environmental saviours turning trash to treasure and the meeting places where likeminded crafters gather to share and learn. Crafting knows no bounds as viewers will discover over the course of our 13 part series."

Coming up in just 6 days is my first Market in May. It's the fun filled Sumner Rocks Village Street Party!

When: Sunday 6th May, 11.00 am 4.00 pm
Where: Wakefield /Marriner/ Nayland street precinct, Sumner Village ( Streets closed off, entertainment galore!)

Then the new monthly shopping evening, complete with bubbles and nibbles - all for a Gold coin donation!

Shop Me Pretty

When: Friday 18th May, 6.30 - 9.00pm
Where: Ohoka Hall, Mill Road, Ohoka

And to finish off this busy month is the wonderful...

'Winter' Encraftment Market

When: Saturday 26 May, 10am - 3pm
Where: Jack Mann Auditorium, Canterbury University, Christchurch

So all in all, May is shaping up to be pretty busy, well the lead up is already busy with the studio overflowing with drying pieces, bisqued and glazed designs. My kilns are cranking 24/7 as I build up stock!

All this info is up on my website plus more! ... Markets & Fairs

See you at the Markets... or on TV. Please visit my FACEBOOK page for some feedback. x Gill

Thank You - Charity Donations

Just before the end of last week I made 3 amazing deposits to 3 different charities! If you an Emerge lover then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about! Over the last 7 months ( Since the launch date of 27th July 2011) my customers have been able to choose which of the 3 different charities they wanted me to donate 30% of the proceeds of their purchase to.


The 3 Charities are:


* The New Zealand Red Cross
* The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
* Adopt a Christchurch Family




The Emerge range is made from liquefaction silt, collected from my home in Woolston. Here is a link to  the Emerge pieces which gives a great explanation about it all.


   Mudbird Emerge Range




So it is with great pleasure, to announce that with the help of all you lovely people from ALL over the world, we have raised very close to $3000 to give to these charities! That is amazing and also very humbling to think of all the support you have given my business as well along the way. I am still continuing to make the Emerge range, and still letting my customers choose their charity.


Thank you once again x Gill

One Year On - 22nd February 2012

A personal count:  I didn't sleep well last night, very restless and I dreamt about February 22nd. Not vivid memories of the day but what the date February 22nd really means. With the 1 year anniversary & memorial of the tragic earthquake (that took over 180 lives) being held tomorrow, it is I'm sure on the mind and heart of everyone.


It's still really, really hard not to be affected by the stories of the survivors and the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Christchurch on February 22nd 2011. Tear still flow freely when I read stories, look at photos of past and present Christchurch and sometimes even when traveling through the city, a visual reminder of what has been taken from our city. It's not familiar anymore and it's filled with grief.


I think some people still have a lot to process and a lot to talk about (well I do!), and a lot to heal from. If it was a 'one off' event we might have been able to move on, heal, and restore our lives back to normal - but with constant reminders of wet liquefaction still coming out of the cracks in the ground at our house, constant shakes (some larger than I'd like) and possibility of it all happening again on a larger scale, it's quite hard to forget. I don't want to wallow in it and I don't lie in bed worrying that another one is about to hit, but I don't think it's over.  The morning of the February quake day, I left the house with my baby to meet up with my husband for lunch. As I left the house I 'felt' a quake was coming so I took my box of newly glazed ceramics off the bench and put them on the floor in the hallway. I think they were the only things not broken! (I have done similar things with other larger shakes and was not surprised at all when the 23rd December shake struck)


The DAY: I remember when the earthquake struck one year ago, and how I was holding onto my husband in the middle of a flooring store with 100kg rolls of lino breaking out of the chains that held them to the wall, and crashing to the floor. I kept on thinking why wasnt my husband standing still, he was rolling the baby stroller around the shop, trying to dodge falling things and keep us safe. I just hung onto him for dear life. I grabbed my phone...12.51 pm and my first thought was of my 2 children, then aged 4 & 6 at Kindergarten and School. I did a quick calculation... was it still lunch time? Were they outside? Were they safe? We were about 20 mins drive to pick them up, but it took over 4 hours to get to them, not to mention the scary aftershocks that were rolling in. Seeing people crying in their cars was pretty common.  I got a call from my Aunty in Australia telling us people had died in the CBD - it was hard to believe as I was just in a huge crawling traffic jam in suburbia. If I had known it would have taken that long to get there, I would have gotten out and run all the way to my children. As we got closer to them the roads got worse, the liquefaction, flooding and giant holes in the road were everywhere.... I remember a little bit of rain starting to fall which made it even drearier.


 My husband dropped me of 1/2 a block from my daughters school while he went to get our son. I ran thru raw sewerage, mud and dodged holes in the broken roads to get her - my heart has never beaten so fast as it had been hours since the quake. I fought the panic now I was getting closer to her. I knew she was safe but I just wanted to get her. I remember crossing back over the road gripping her hand and someone pulled over in a 4wd offering to help me, give me a lift somewhere. The disaster made everyone in Christchurch one giant family that day and the months following. We all had the same thing in common and it was a strange thing, you could look into someones eyes and you knew they had felt the terror too. My poor 4 year old had been through too much and had to wait outside by the gate in the cold with a Kindy teacher for 4 hours... there was liquefaction everywhere in the Kindy grounds and inside was very unsafe.


We made the slow journey home in disbelief. We were assessing the liquefaction and wondering what home was like. Unfortunately we were hit hard with the silt, not 100% coverage of our property like others in the eastern suburbs, but pretty darn bad. I remember seeing what was left of my daughters pink bike poking out of a huge silt volcano and I thought oh no... Inside was like a war zone, I shudder to think how well I would have fared if I had been inside when it happened, let alone my wee baby boy who was 6.5 months old at the time. With the upright force of 2.2 G's, our heavy cabinets and big bookshelves just sheared off the earthquake brackets on the walls then were thrown forward. Desks thrown over and other heavy items a metre out from the wall. We went inside the obstacle course and picked up the biggest broken things, the kids played outside in the silt. I tried to stop them but realised they were distracted and happy, so left them to it, unaware of what was inside. We left the house to stay on the outskirts of CHCH at my sister's house and came back a week later to start the clean up. We have a wooden home with wooden floors and it just moves with the quakes - and boy does it MOVE!...which is actually far more frightening than experiencing one on a concrete floor home. The noise gets you every time. Liquefaction flooded under the floorboards on top of the polythene, making it like living above  a swimming pool of silt, I'm thankful at least it wasn't a concrete pad otherwise the house would be no longer. We've got raised and sunken piles but overall I don't think its 'that bad'.

A personal necklace I made to wear for tomorrow's 1 Year anniversary.

AFTER: I am so fortunate not to have lost anyone close to me, but I have friends that lost best friends and family. I cannot imagine the grief they are feeling right now with Wednesday looming closer.


My 2 eldest children seem to have come out ok. My wee baby was only 7 weeks old when we awoke to the confusion and terror of the September 4, 2010 earthquake - he is now 19 months old and all but those first 7 weeks of his life have been filled with earthquakes and aftershocks. He slept through both the September & February earthquakes, but screamed in fear during the 2 earthquakes in June as books and objects fell off the shelves around him. It was heartbreaking to hear. I managed to run and scoop him up outside during the Dec 23rd 6.0 quake so he wasn't too frightened.


It's been a very weird existence... I never thought I'd be part of something like this. I never knew Christchurch was so earthquake prone... but after much research it's actually a very common thing. This is the 3rd time the Cathedral has lost its spire from earthquakes, there are so many reports of violent earthquakes in CHCH city since the 1800's, with reports petering out in the 1940s's. Why didn't we know?


The quakes have become part of life, although they are never ever welcome. There are still the ones that cause your heart to stop and the adrenaline surge in the night as you wait to see if it will escalate, and there are the ones where you have to look at the mirror moving or the trees to see if it was one. We know what magnitude earthquake at what depth causes liquefaction at our home, it's happened 3 times now. After the shock and stress the February mess caused we got rid of it all. But after June I decided to do something positive with the silt and use it in my cermaics.  We even kept a wee corner of it in the property. We'll never run out of the stuff tho, it's all under the floorboards and I just need to dig below the grass to find pockets of it.


 And the rest they say is History! From the business side of my life, The Emerge range was born and then released on July 27th 2011- it was my way of coping, an excellent and therapeutic way to move forward and have a purpose after that tragic day. It became a personal thing also. I wanted to create and give back, in order to help others move forward. I never imagined the positive impact my designs would have on people, not only from Christchurch but all over the world.. to have a little bit of home in their hands - but not as a dreadful reminder, but as beauty, created from the ashes. Mudbird has become quite the appropriate name, altho the name was thought of well before the earthquakes.


My heart goes out to those who have to deal with the enormous grief and loss all over again tomorrow -  Wednesday the 22nd, but especiually to the survivors, the ones who were trapped in crushed buildings and brickwork. I hope they know they are not forgotten, as their lives must be so much harder, bearing physical scars of that day and the memories. We all have stories to tell, we could fill 1000's of pages of our thoughts, tears, feelings, emotions and experiences that day, and sometimes I think the rest of NZ must be so sick of it all by now - but it was a huge thing to live thru, something so shocking it's hard to forget and its still raw. It was a tragedy that rocked the whole country, and the country came right in behind us with support which was amazing.


Kia Kaha Christchurch, stay strong  xoxo