November 2021
ISSUE #014
Hello Potters
Well wasn’t Expressions 2021 exciting. So much fantastic work to see and such a good turnout. Congratulations to the winners of each of the categories. I hope you grabbed a bargain while you had the chance. A very big thank you goes out to our wonderful ‘exhibitions committee’ (including our illustrious President Tamara Vitale) who made it all possible. See the story below for more details of this great event.
It’s a new financial year for the Club so don’t forget to renew your membership if you haven’t done so already. Membership was due in October, so don’t delay. There’s a link to the Membership Renewal Form below. Plus there are some useful pottery tips further down that may make your creative pottery life much easier – so read on.
We really want to see our talented members’ work, so upload your pics to our instagram or facebook page, or email them for inclusion on our social media.
Ed Trost - newsletter editor
club email: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@hotmail.com
Hi Everyone and welcome to our November edition! Well what a month October was for the Club!
Expressions 2021 - 22 - 24 October
The shed and kilns were running hot to get entries finished in time for our Expressions 2021 exhibition (including mine!). We had a wonderful Opening Night with many artists, their families and supporters, local government representatives and community Art lovers coming along. See the article below for all the details of the weekend, award winners and sponsors.
Shed rectification works - early November
We have also been busy clearing out the storage and glazing space of the shed for rectification works to commence this week. So if you can’t find something, ask a volunteer supervisor where to find it while these important works are underway.
SPC Inc AGM - mid November
Can you believe it has been a year since the last AGM?! Members please keep an eye on your inbox for advice about this year’s AGM and if you’d like to nominate for a spot on the committee please let us know!
Zillmere Festival - Saturday 27th November
The Zillmere Festival has been rescheduled and is on this month. It will be held on 27 November, 10am - 3pm, OCallaghan Park - Zillmere PCYC. If any members would like to have a stand at the Festival see the festival Facebook page for information.
Christmas party with SAS Art – Saturday 4 December, 6.30pm, Brighton Bowls Club – $20
Mark it in your diaries!
The 2021 SasArt Christmas Party is to be held at Brighton Bowls Club with live entertainment by Jim and Roger Jellicoe from the Avengers band, along with trivia competitions, with prizes, and more. SASArt will be having a raffle and we’re invited to join with them and Artrageous Artists to celebrate the end of 2021.
If you’re interested in attending please let us know by email - RSVP: 29 November!
Cheers and happy reading!
Tamara Vitale – President, SPC Inc.
Tuesday + Wednesday + Thursday
+ Friday + Saturday Mornings
9:00am—1:00pm
Thursday Evenings
6:00pm—9:00pm
SESSION FEE — $7.00 per visit, payable either in person using your debit or credit card or by EFT to the club’s bank account.
Account name: Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc.
Bank details: BSB 064124
Account number: 10518225
Please let us know via email if you are intending to come to the club so we can maintain COVID-19 regulations on numbers within the studio.
From the Kiln Corner
Just a short note this month from the kiln people as we have been extremely busy getting all of the pottery fired in time for Expressions. The kilns have been running back to back and it has been an intense few weeks. We are hoping that we will be back to normal this week.
On a down note, these are photos demonstrating some sloppy cleaning up. The supervisors would like people to be more diligent in their clean up and to look around to clean where needed – even though it might not be their mess. This is important as the mess contaminates others’ work, or they have to clean before they are able to use equipment, or the supervisors end up cleaning which adds to their work load. If everyone can clean up their area properly it will make it more pleasurable for everyone else. If you have any questions about cleaning just ask your supervisor.
Happy potting.
Greg, Linda, Catharine and Gabriel
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!
REMINDER
Membership Is Now Due
Remember you need to be a member of our club to use the facilities and have first access to join the workshops.
Membership Renewals for 2022
The year has flown by and your membership is now due. Being a member allows you to continue to enjoy the use of the club facilities, buy clay at discount prices, have access to club glazes and firing, and attend a variety of our workshops. This year the club has grown in membership and this strengthens our support base. We have plans to keep offering new and exciting things in the coming year.
Memberships are due from the 1st October, and to ensure that your membership is current, payment needs to be made by the end of October. The fees are remaining the same, but we are streamlining the process using a digital format. This format will make it so much easier for the membership secretary and will make the information in our database more accurate.
Please fill in the online form on our website:
www.shorncliffepotteryclubinc.com.au/membership
Select your payment method on the form (via direct deposit into the Club’s bank account, or via Square when you are next at the Club’s shed) and hit ‘Send’. The form will then be automatically emailed to the membership secretary.
Alternatively we have a PDF form we can email to you, which you can complete and email back. Please make a request for the form to:
shorncliffepotteryclubincmembership@hotmail.com
Ann Gillespie – Membership Secretary
Being Respectful, Feeling Safe
The club’s Code of Conduct was written to guide the safety and respect of members. Developing friendships, being co-operative, sharing ideas and skills as well as being respectful to each other in words and actions is something in which the club takes great pride. When members are working in the SPC Inc. studio or interacting with other members via electronic means, everyone has a right to feel safe and not harrassed.
The Code of Conduct can be found in your membership documentation or you can request a copy from the Membership Officer here or you can read it here.
Club Clay Options and Details
These are the current clay bodies that we generally have in our store. If you have another clay that you prefer, speak to Gus or Linda to see if they can get it in for you.
Raffle Winners
We’re happy to announce that the lucky winners of all those gorgeous goodies were all entrants of this year’s Expressions exhibition, and they are:
Raffle basket, whiskey and artwork: Lachlan Kennedy (entrant)
North Lakes Pilates x 10 classes and a bottle of wine: Margaret Hickson (entrant)
Ocean View Estate banquet experience and bottle of wine: Tamara Vitale (entrant)
Thank you to everyone who bought tickets in this year’s raffle and Congratulations to the winners!
Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc. has signed up with Containers for Change - a simple recycling system for cans and bottles. It’s easy to do. Take your recyclables to a Containers for Change site and use our unique Scheme ID number for the money from the recycling to go directly into the Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc. bank account.
Club’s Scheme ID number: C10465553
If the Scheme ID isn't working (argh technology!) and you get cash instead from the recycling machine, just pop the money in the tea jar in the club’s kitchenette.
Each month in the newsletter we will update the amount generated from the recycling. So don’t throw out those cans and bottles – recycle them for the benefit of the club and watch the dollars grow.
$61.60
thank you!
Club Tuition for Members
by Members
Tuition could be in wheel throwing, handbuilding and glaze making. The rate is $35 per session for up to 3 hours, but could be less dependent upon session length. From this, the club will take 20% commission. All payments must go via the club.
The club entry fee of $7 will apply for the learner member, but the tutor will be admitted as a volunteer for that session.
If this is something that you would like as a tutor or a learner please contact the committee using the club email : shorncliffepotteryclubinc@hotmail.com
Expressions 2021 Review
COVID may have beaten us last year, but Expressions made a strong comeback this year! It was held over Friday 22 to Sunday 24 October in the Callan Centre, at St Patrick’s College in Shorncliffe.
The Expressions Committee worked hard to bring the exhibition to fruition and it wouldn’t have happened without the initial support of St Partrick’s College, for generously hosting us - Thank You! We are very grateful for the facilities the College made available to us and we had many visitors comment on how great the space was to hold an exhibition. “It really gives you the space you need to be able to view artwork properly!”
We also have a HUGE Thank You to give to our sponsors - our local State Member of Parliament and 2 local government Councillors, and all the small businesses who have been hit so hard in the last 18 months, who still stepped up and provided sponsorship for prizes for our Awards. We encourage all our readers to please support the businesses shown in our Sponsorship banner below.
Thank You also goes to the 61 artists who entered 123 pieces into our judged section of the exhibition, particularly to our first-timers who were hesitant. How great does it now feel to have had your art as part of an exhibition?! Thank you everyone for creating such interesting and beautiful pieces. It was so lovely to walk around the exhibition and see so many different types of art and the degree of quality shown. This was evident in how difficult it was for the judges including Jackie Gasson, who did a remarkable job, to make a final decision on the works.
Which brings me to the Award Winners…
Our Opening Night was held on Friday 22 October, at 6pm and attendees were quick to purchase pieces… our sales tables were kept busy right up to 7pm when the awards ceremony commenced. Thank you to all the artists, their family and friends, our local government Councillors, Jared Cassidy and Sandy Landers, and the art lovers for attending. It was great to see so many people enjoying the arts.
Congratulations to all winning artists, there certainly were many fine pieces of art:
Painting First Place: David Cross - Nundle Terrain
Painting Highly Commended: Mark Hourigan - Not always bad news
Pottery Hand Built First Place: Clare Houston - Cascade
Pottery Hand Built Highly Commended: Ann Gillespie - 3 tubes
Rowley Drysdale Quixotica Wheel Thrown First Place: Clare Houston - Crackle set
Pottery Wheel Thrown Highly Commended: Liz Hardcastle and Andrew Richards - The Tree
Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc Encouragement Award: Heather McQuade - Saint in the time of COVID
Pettit Pottery Encouragement Award: Ann Gillespie - Large Vase
Sculpture First Place: Paul Kateley - Steely Steed
Sculpture Highly Commended: Blaire Garland and Russell Solomon - Female Avatar 1
Mixed Media First Place: Grace Cross - In a Monastry Garden
Mixed Media Highly Commended: Noreen Flood - Cloud Reflections
Photography First Place: Linda Neil - Detritus: Fantastical tales of mulch
Photography Highly Commended: Linda Brant - Morning at the River
Overall Encouragement Award: Amanda Gardner - Making and Unmaking Series #2
People’s Choice Award: Wendy Cook - Are You Listening To Me?
Thank you to everyone who came along to view and support the Exhibition and the artists by purchasing pieces, and also to all those who donated a gold coin (or more) on entry which generated $240 to go towards maintenance of the Club’s shed.
Lastly, I would like to give a huge thanks to - Ann Gillespie, Clare Houston, Linda Rosenthal, Heddy Shears, Jean Smith, Jenny Kingdom and Margaret Pettit for all your help in organising this event. It looked like a Mt Everest task ahead of us when we first started but we got there in the end; and to the club members who volunteered their time along side us to do shifts at the exhibition - Carmela Anile, Gabriel Knauth, Ken Bull, Rebecca Mason, Sarah Schulz and Susanne Vincent.
Members volunteering their time truely is the backbone of our Club.
Thank you,
Tamara Vitale, SPCInc President
PS: Below are photos of some of the pottery pieces that were on display at the exhibition as well as some of the Award’s presentations and our wonderful helpers. More photos are on the website www.shorncliffepotteryclubinc.com.au/expressions
TACA Open Studios 2021
The Australian Ceramics Association (TACA) will be hosting the 2021 OPEN STUDIOS event on 13 and 14 November across Australia. It is a weekend event that celebrates clay, community and creativity. Ceramics studios around Australia open their doors to offer a peek into their making, practical demonstrations and the chance to take home a handmade piece.
Visit the website for details about open studios in your area.
The Zillmere Festival is now on 27 November 2021.
Keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates:
2022 Biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards
ENTRIES OPEN : 1 NOVEMBER 2021
EXHIBITION: 22 JULY – 25 SEPTEMBER 2022
The biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards has long aimed to increase public exposure to a high standard of pottery from around the nation. A showcase for both well-known and emerging artists, this competition displays the diversity of ceramic art currently being produced in Australia.
The City of Townsville Art Collection Award of $10,000 continues to provide both opportunity for artists to become a part of one of the nation’s most significant ceramic collections, as well as ensuring the continued growth of this important subsection of the City of Townsville Art Collection.
Ceramic Artist: Mahala Hill, Armoured Mist Frog, winner 2020
Biennial North QLD Ceramic Awards
Thanks to club member Michael May (#thespinningpotter) for this Instagram post on a historical Brisbane Potter. Michael recently came across this headstone in his local Nundah cemetery. Not knowing anything about this person he started to dig into their history.
Johann George Fischer (born 1825 - died 1894) and his son George Adolph Fischer operated a Pottery business from 1868 - 1878 in Breakfast Creek. The following maker’s mark stamps from their pottery are quite the collector’s items.
A book about Johann and his family is in the Narangba library. Fischer; Pottery in the Family: The Family History of George Fischer & his son George Adolph.
An Antidote to the Digital World
The tyranny of working and communicating digitally is one reason for the recent appetite for crafting – it is the perfect antidote to the online world. And of all the crafts, perhaps pottery does this most successfully. The messiness of working with wet clay and the need to follow a process, forces practitioners to put their phones and computers aside. Now is a time when many of us yearn to slow down, and focus on a single, absorbing activity.
"Clay acts almost as an antidote to the overwhelming nature of the digital world. It interrupts your compulsive email-checking. Your mind has a single focus, so the practice can feel meditative or therapeutic. There is no way to speed up clay drying or firing, there's no 'clay-microwave', ceramics takes as much time to make today as it did 2000 years ago." says Justin Waverek
Story courtesy BBC.com
To all our valued members who are having a birthday this month, we hope you have an exciting day and are spoilt rotten by your loved ones:
Ciana Crispin, Linda Douglas, Kew Gibson, Linda Hanson, Shirley King, Jo Masterman, Cassie McCosker, Anne Murray, Patricia Robinson, Caecelia Skipsey, Deborah Smith, Helen Wood
If we have missed anybody, our sincere apologies – drop us an email so that we can include you next time!
Artists & Crafters Exhibition
2 & 3 April 2022
Brisbane Showgrounds
We are proudly holding our inaugural 'Heritage to Contemporary' Exhibition over two days in April. Featuring Independent Artists, Crafters, Teachers and Suppliers. You are invited to join this new Art and Craft community!
Come and meet, chat and learn something new! Shop for unique artisan items for yourself, your home or your loved ones.
Join our newsletter to stay informed: artisanexhibitions.com
Burnishing A Pot
Burnishing clay is a technique that gives pottery a smooth sheen without using a ceramic glaze. It involves rubbing the clay with a hard object, like a smooth pebble or the back of a spoon. Note, the pottery you are burnishing will only become as smooth as the object you are using. Any nicks or uneven bumps in the burnishing object will damage the clay surface. The action compresses the surface particles of clay, aligning the clay platelets. This creates the reflective surface.
Burnishing is an ancient tradition and evolved before glazes had been developed. Whilst burnishing does create a moisture repellent surface, especially if waxed, it is not watertight. As such, burnished pottery is largely decorative and can’t be used as functional ware.
Burnished pottery needs to be fired below 1000°C otherwise it loses its polish. It is often used as a way of preparing pottery for pit firing, saggar firing, or raku. All of which involve firing at lower temperatures.
Clay can be burnished when it is leather hard by holding it in your lap or on a cushion. There is no right or wrong way of rubbing the clay. It’s important however to change the direction of your stroke because if you continue rubbing in one direction you can get lines and ridges in the clay.
It’s also possible to burnish pottery on the wheel. After trimming, grab your burnishing stone or metal spoon and hold it against the pot as it rotates.
You can also burnish bone dry clay however you need to add some source of moisture. To do this is, add a little water or oil, or a mixture of both, with a sponge. The lubricant will be absorbed quickly into the bone dry surface. So add a little at a time with the sponge and burnish that area before moving onto the next.
story from the pottery wheel
President: Tamara Vitale
Vice President: Ken Bull
Secretary: Caroline Schleimer
Acting Treasurer: Tamara Vitale
Committee Members: Gus Saunders, Linda Rosenthal,
Clare Houston & Ann Gillespie
Newsletter Editor: Ed Trost
email: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@hotmail.com
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