Neighbourhood Houses

Hello Community, Let's stay connected! Thank you so much for your warm feedback to the last newsletter! Today, we will meet John, the pottery teacher! Let's find out how he is doing and get some creative tips.   What are changes the Coronavirus(Covid-19) situation has brought to you? I cannot go out for a coffee for  morning tea and exercise. Cannot socialise with my friends and potters group. On the positive side I am currently trying to help the Flemington/Kensington Art show committee meet using teleconferencing rather than meeting in person.   Any tips on spending time at home? Do everything you would normally put off. Play with your cat/dog/hamster etc. Do something you would not normally do eg. listen to the radio I like Radio National. Go for a walk. Try making something in clay (or plasticine, papier mache, polymer clay etc)! If you have children introduce them to art craft (the messier the better). Google has heaps of really good information.   Any contents you'd recommend? Netflix, Podcast, Youtube... Any of the above. My personal favourite is ABC IView. Try something  new -anything as usual Google is your friend, but don't spend too much time with the computer (I do). The shows I like: Dr. Who, Vera, Endeavour Shaun the Sheep, Call the Midwife, Midsomer murders, Agatha Christie's murder mysteries . Generally police procedural movies, murder mysteries and science fiction.   Your Pottery sessions are cancelled. What can people do on their own? As potters we do not need much to make ceramic art so just a block of clay, a surface to work on and basic tools allow us to create the art, though firing might be a challenge. There are lots of other materials to make sculptural art such as plastacine, papier mache, polymer clay, and air dry clay. Many of the things I mentioned can be made with common household items.  You can even recycle things you would normally throw out. If you have children it can be great fun to work on art together just the top items for a Google search. https://artfulparent.com/kids-arts-crafts-activities-500-fun-artful-things-kids/ https://www.parents.com/fun/arts-crafts/kid/   https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/crafts-for-kids/ If you don't have children don't dismiss these suggestions, try them out yourself. The reason children love this stuff is because it is fun and they do not care what anybody thinks of the results.   A message to your class participants Keep on pottin' :) In the imortal voice of Vera Lynn "We'll met again, don't know where, don't know when.....". (For all of you who might know who Vera Lynn was).   About John: John is a versatile and creative community leader! Oh, how we love his sense of humour... At Newlands Neighbourhood House, John facilitates White Gum Potters - a group of enthusiastic amateur potters of varying experience, always willing to help each other improve. You can see their work at http://whitegumpotters.wordpress.com John says:  I am a retired computer/software support engineer turned artist. I am a Sculpter , music producer and photographer. Also interested in 3D printing and animation.  I am currently working on combining my technical knowledge with my sculpturing talents. My first project is to create a Rudolf the reindeer with a working flashing nose! after which  I hope to  have Rudolf sing his song! Photography: http://elstonphotographydiary.blogspot.com Sculpture: http://elstonsculpture.blogspot.com.au Animation: http://vimeo.com/111073959 Music: https://soundcloud.com/jselston   What do you think? If you're inspired, go ahead, and share with us! Let us know how your clay activity went, send us a photo if you have one! If you are also a fan of murder mysteries and science fiction, let us know what your favourite show is. Let's stay connected. We are all in this together :) From the NECCHi team