January 2021
ISSUE #004
Hello Potters
Happy New Year!
Well, I hope you had a fantastic Christmas and holiday season. Isn’t it always good to have the rellies around for a quick visit? But, enough of the celebrating – we have a lot of ground to make up – 2020’s gone, it’s time to get down to business. The club reopens on the week beginning 10 January 2021, so put your thinking caps on and get some inspiration for your next clay masterpiece.
The SAS Easter Show is fast approaching and you can’t start work early enough for Expressions 2021 – which will be bigger and better than ever.
Don’t forget, we want to see our talented members’ work, so upload your pics to our instagram or facebook page, or email them for our website.
Ed Trost - newsletter editor
www.shorncliffepotteryclubinc.com.au
Hi Everyone, Happy New Year and Welcome to 2021 with the SPC Inc.!
This is just a short and sweet report this month, I hope you all had a restful festive break and like me, can’t wait to play with clay in the Club’s shed again when we re-open soon!
Has your creative energy been flowing over the holiday season? Have you been working on a new project or have you created new pieces at home? We’d love to know about it and share it on our social media channels and website! (See Ed’s last paragraph above about how to share your pictures with us!)
Cheers and happy reading!
Tamara Vitale – President, SPC Inc.
No, it’s not a birdbath Gus.
These two pieces were made specifically as fruit bowls. One wide, one tall. The bowls were a first-timer’s effort.
Not bad for a noobie.
Club reopens 10 January 2021
Thursday and Saturday mornings
9.00am—1.00pm
Thursday evening
6.00pm—9.00pm
SESSION FEE — $7.00 per visit, payable to the club either by EFT to the club’s bank account, or via the Square system using your debit or credit card on the day.
Please let us know via email if you are intending to come to the club so we can maintain Covid-19 regulations on numbers working in the shed.
Clay to glaze to kiln
From all of us that toil in the back room we hope you all had a safe and happy Christmas break to end the challenging year of 2020. We are looking forward to a fantastic year ahead and we hope to help your playing with clay, fun and productive.
There will be a few changes out the back in the new year to streamline firing. The clay will be accessible with all clays taken to go through members on the Square and have their receipt code number put in the book. This will help in restocking and keeping supplies for you. If you want any special clays, we will try to collect through the club but will need notice.
We have stoneware back on the menu with Kiln 2 up and running to cone 9. The firing forms will need to be filled out completely with all details including membership number and square receipt code number before being fired.
Gabriel and Catharine have been busy getting the current glazes back out in the studio and testing new glazes that should be out on the floor in the new year. A modified buttermilk going through the testing and looking particularly good to fire cone 6 through to cone 9.
Don’t forget to put your maker’s mark on your piece before bisque firing, otherwise it is impossible for the kiln firers to know who belongs to the piece. If you forget and your piece has air dried – you can use underglaze to put your mark on it.
Kiln team Gus, Linda, Tamara, Clare and Roz
Membership Note
Thank you to those who have paid their memberships to the Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc. We would encourage those still considering joining to do so, as we have some exciting things to offer for 2021.
The committee wishes to assure members that the information you have provided on your membership forms is held in confidence and will not be shared outside the club core committee. There are only two email addresses used by the club to make contact with you. In group correspondence, your email address is always hidden and cannot be accessed by another person when an email is sent from the committee.
The main email address for the club is: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@hotmail.com
The membership email is: shorncliffepotteryclubmembership@hotmail.com
Ann Gillespie, membership secretary
Don’t forget to join the club!
You need to become a member of our new club to use our facilities and have first access to join the workshops.
Do you know anyone that shows an interest in your pottery? If you do, why not invite them to come and try pottery for themselves. The first session is free and you know that once you have made something with clay – you’re hooked!
Nolane checking out her recently fired pieces. Don’t they look fantastic.
Christmas Party Review
The SPCI joined SAS (Sandgate Art Society) xmas party for a festive celebration at Brighton Bowls Club. Margaret and husband Ken joined Ed, Max and Linda for a tasty lunch and enjoyed the various Christmas costumes. Ed won a bottle of wine for his ZORRO costume. Only thing missing was a sword to slash ‘Z’ into the woodwork to announce his presence.
Our Xmas raffle winners were picked and they happily claimed the baskets. John Walsh won one and Trevor Proud the other. Quite a win as both were filled to the brim with wine, a few crafts and pottery, plus numerous tasty goodies. Thanks to everyone who donated to baskets and bought tickets. Your generosity brought almost $600 into our coffers which will help us move into 2021. Look forward to seeing you back at the Club in the new year.
Linda Rosenthal
Judging by these photos everyone certainly enjoyed themselves. See if you can spot who is who with these masquerading revellers.
Click on an image to enlarge.
Christmas Hamper Raffle Winners
Drum roll please… Congratulations go to
winner 1 – John Walsh from SAS
winner 2 – Trevor Proud from SAS
(a former SPC member though)
A very merry Christmas must have been had at their places with all those goodies.
Thank you to everyone who bought tickets. And a big thank you to Linda Rosenthal for organising the raffle and baskets. Well done!
The Workshop Committee is currently seeking information from potential guest presenters for 2021. Workshops in the past have been well received and in the New Year we looking to build upon, extend and challenge the skills and abilities of our members.
In coming newsletters the Workshop Committee will be seeking members’ feedback on the workshops that are being proposed. Members of course will always have first option for participation in any workshops that the club promotes.
NEW SANDGATE GALLERY
The new Reason Gallery has recently opened to the public.
The art gallery & studio is operated by Catherine Reason Macauley,
a dedicated artist with a passion for beauty, love & whimsy.
Reason Gallery @ 133B Deagon Street, Sandgate.
Open Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon, 10am–4pm
ceramics, artwork, jewellery & more.
Contact: 0401 332 549
My Visits to Open Studios
2019 / 20
On the Open Studio days in 2019 and 2020 I went on four open studio visits. I found the studios all very interesting, very varied and different from each other.
Carol Watkins at Hinterland Ceramics, based near Cooroy, Queensland.
(www.hinterlandceramics.com) (Instagram @carol_watkins_ceramics).
Carol Watkins is a very well established woman ceramicist, with studio space underneath her highset house. She particularly focusses on saggar firing and raku and smoke firing. Her pieces have lovely forms, and are often bottle shapes with burnished exteriors. Carol has participated in many exhibitions, and is closely involved with Cooroy Butter Factory Arts Centre.
Rowley Drysdale at Quixotica, near Cooroy, Queensland.
(website www.rowleydrysdale.com.au) (Instagram @quixoticaartspace)
Rowley has taught ceramics at Tertiary level for many years and has developed a whole artists’ space on a property outside Cooroy. There is a Kiln area with three wood-fired kilns, one of which has a brick self-supporting Nubian arch. There is a teaching studio with five wheels, gas and electric kilns, an extensive library and an exhibition gallery built on the edge of a lovely dam. The gallery has many bowls and cups for sale as well as larger vases and wood fired pieces. Rowley also teaches many workshops throughout the year, which can be found on his website.
Jennifer Radley at Radley House Studio, Mt Tambourine, Queensland.
(website radleyhousestudio.com.au )
Jennifer has been an Art teacher for over 15 years, and has recently set up a home studio in a converted double garage. She runs classes, and has people just come by and work together in her art space. She had some lovely dishes and cups for sale as well as handmade paper and soaps.
Made OF Australia Ceramics Studio, Stapylton, Queensland.
(website MadeOfAustralia.com.au) (Instagram @madeofaustralia)
This place was on a different scale, being housed in a large warehouse. There was a studio tour and artists talk by Founder and Director Anna-Marie Wallace that explained their unique firing process. They first high fire all the pieces to full vitrification in an electric kiln, and secondly use a gas kiln to reduction fire in saggars with native Australian materials, which creates markings on the ceramics. Each piece comes out individually marked and totally unique. The pieces are not glazed, but sealed with a patented ceramic sealer that involves Nano technology (liquid quartz sealer). This is a production facility with each saggar firing producing around 600 pieces. There was also a sale space with tables so you could lay out the pieces and choose the ones with the markings that you like best. Made OF Australia also offers Workshops and Internships – more information on their website.
By Clare Houston
Slab Rolling Tip
If you don’t have access to a slab roller, a good way to ensure your slab is even, is to lie two pieces of timber along each side of where you are rolling. Make sure that they are the same thickness as your desired slab, and the distance between them isn’t wider than the rolling implement. That way the roller doesn’t press too hard along any edge creating an uneven thickness.
Don’t forget to rotate the slab when you are rolling it to avoid any grain buildup that can cause warping later on. Once the desired thickness is achieved discard the timber pieces to begin your clay slab creation.
Clay: Thick and Thin exhibition
Finishing soon is the NSW North Coast Ceramics exhibition at M|ARTS in Murwillumbah, entitled Clay: Thick and Thin. This exhibition is an opportunity to see some of the NSW North Coast’s most practised ceramicists display their best pieces in a Gallery setting M|ARTS
Just 90 minutes from Brisbane it is perfect for a day trip. It runs till 16 Jan 2021.
This is a curated show and most items will also be for sale.
While you’re in the neighbourhood have a look at the recreation of Margaret Olley House at the Tweed Regional Gallery and see how she lived and worked as an artist. It’s well worth a visit.
5 Glazing Tips and Tricks
This image is a link to a youtube video. When you click the link a new window or tab will open and display the video in your browser. If you find it useful, a good tip is to bookmark the video, so that you can find it again easily.
Maybe you have a pottery tip to share. Send to Ed here
Woo Hoo – You made it!
Why not make a ‘new year mug’ to commemorate such a remarkable achievement of ‘getting through 2020’.
Happy New Year from SPCI
President: Tamara Vitale
Vice President: Ken Bull
Secretary: Caroline Schleimer
Acting Treasurer: Ken Bull
Committee Members: Gus Saunders, Linda Rosenthal,
Clare Houston & Ann Gillespie
Newsletter Editor: Ed Trost
Contact: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@hotmail.com
