Rosie Bird

Rosie Bird is a contemporary ceramic artist based in Meanjin (Brisbane).

Her work uses clay to trace the quiet interactions and disruptions that shape natural systems.

10/11/2025

Making watercolour paints from clay.

Here's the latest from the studio.
I've been playing around with using slips to paint on ceramics and thought why not make some watercolours that work on clay and paper.

I'm using a combo of wild clays and commercial clays and mixing them with water and CMC powder to make the paint more brushable and help It adhere to the surface.

I've stored them in a cute little watercolour tin from Amazon so that I can use them on the go. It will be interesting to paint them on clay and fire them too as the colours will completely change.

05/11/2025

🐛🐌🦗🪲🦎
Usually random recipes from the internet with no reviews. If I'm feeling frisky I might even change the recipe.

I have ruined many pieces this way but if it saves me an extra firing I'm down.

This batch turned out alright. The emerald green was a wild card because I added untested colourants to a base recipe but it is actually my favourite. The way it pools with the floating blues is gorgeous.

The spider and grasshopper were a fake(cone 6 oxidation) celadon which resulted in this beautiful icy blue. 🧊

The spider, cicada and caterpillar were my first go at a reduction celadon. I was hoping for green and got an amber which I'm not mad about. The caterpillar was on a different shelf in the kiln and went grey. 🤷

The rhino beetle was a rutile green that looks like snot but is kind of a vibe. I hate the fluorescent slug but you win some you lose some.

🐛🐌🦗🪲🦎

Who else tests glazes on their good pieces?

20/09/2025

It is the last week to see Ode-to Gwyn, closing on the 25th of September.
It's a beautifully curated exhibition featuring lots of talented artist.

If you haven't had time to check it out yet, don't miss it!

Ode-to Gwyn is showing at main gallery

photos:

20/05/2025

Wild clay pots in their natural environment!

I was lucky enough to stumble upon this rare sighting of these little pots hanging out in their birthplace - the very clay pit they were sourced from.

They were once mud, and are still mud-transformed by human hands and fire.

14/05/2025

Galled Vines, 2025
Stoneware 9 with rutile blue and cranberry glazes. Gas-fired to stoneware.

This is one of my newest gall vases - and a great example of how firing atmosphere can dramatically alter the outcome. Both this and the larger piece (refer to the second image) were made with the same clay body and glazes, but their results couldn’t be more different.

The larger vessel, fired in a heavier reduction, came out with a darker reddish clay tone, a greenish rutile glaze, and bright red cranberry. This smaller piece, on the other hand, was fired in a mostly oxidising atmosphere - resulting in a pale grey body, a cooler blue rutile, and a soft, transparent green cranberry glaze that almost disappears.

It just goes to show how much chemistry and fire shape the final work.

10/05/2025

I am amassing quite the collection of wild clay pots. I can’t believe how many different colours and textures I am coming across and the diversity that can be found in just one suburb alone.

All of the pots pictured are from the North Brisbane/Moreton Bay region from the Sunshine Coast down to Mt Coot-Tha.

When I first started my wild clay journey, I thought I would have to travel far and wide for unique clay samples but there is a big hole in my garden that suggests I don’t have to venture out much at all.

While I would love to sample clays from interstate and several hours away, there’s something special about using local materials and I feel more connected with the pieces they create.

Thanks to this fixation, I have discovered some real hidden gems in my surroundings and have been spending a lot more time outside with my dog. Therefore, I conclude that it is a healthy fixation.

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06/05/2025

Frosted Gall Vessels, 2024
Cup and Lidded Vessel - Porcelain and white stoneware.

This sculptural cup and lidded vessel set are a part of my gall collection. The glaze reminds me of the crisp frost that coated leaves on winter mornings growing up in the UK. Not a common sight here in Australia but I don’t miss the cold.

01/05/2025

I've been experimenting with wild clay for the past six months alongside my clay companion, Pablo. Yesterday we returned to the spot where it all began - a quiet creekside in Eatons Hill (Doug Stevens Park, now affectionately dubbed *DSP*).

As my first attempt as finding wild clay, I could barely tell sand from soil but I got lucky with a riverbank exposed by recent flooding.

Pablo, who has never been a digger, decided to join in and now digs whenever I do.

Surprisingly, DSP turned out to be a rich mid-fire clay, firing to a deep chocolate brown at cone 6( 1220°C). At stoneware temps, it starts to melt but works beautifully as a slip. It's short and silty, tricky for hand building, but throws well.

In the photo: All pots are mid-fired. The three on the right are pure DSP; the ones on the left are blends with raw materials like kaolin and frits. The pale ones contain less DSP and are the only clay version that holds up all the way to stoneware.

The altered clay loses some of its warmth but brings out a dark speckle at high temperatures which is an interesting result that I will may work with in the future.

I’ve definitely found a lot more workable clays since then but DSP holds a special place in my heart.

Address

Brisbane, QLD

Website

https://rosiebird.com.au/

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