November 2023
NOVEMBER 2023 | ISSUE #038
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Hello Potters
SPC Inc AGM 2023
Saturday 2 December, 12pm
Where: The Shed
RSVP to attend asap. Committee nominations due: Saturday 25 November
All SPC Inc Members are invited to attend the Club's AGM to meet fellow members, enjoy some nibbles and hear from the club's current committee on the year that was. Then all committee positions will become vacant and a new committee will be voted in.
While all committee positions will become vacant it is known that the current President Douglas, Treasurer Tamara, and General Member Gus, will be stepping down from their roles without seeking re-election.
With only 8 weeks to go, Tamara would like to start training someone who is interested in becoming Treasurer ASAP, to ensure there is a proper handover.
If you are interested nominating for Treasurer or any role, or if you have any questions about a role, please reply to this email ASAP and let us know!
Happy potting!
Douglas and Tamara
November – WTF?
Are you asking the same questions as us, how can we be at the beginning of November already? Is it really all downhill until Christmas?
We say No! Instead we say - let's have an event each month until Xmas!
Sunday 19 November - Mould making with Amy!
What would you like to cast and make again and again, and again?
Limited to 10 participants!
Get more information and sign up here to secure your place: Sunday Social #2 - Mould Making with Amy | Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc | Hello Club
Saturday 2 December - SPC Inc AGM!
We want as many members as possible to attend! We also need members to step up and nominate for roles on the committee.
Can you help our 40-year-old community club continue on in some way?
Get more information and RSVP here: SPCInc - Annual General Meeting 2023 | Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc | Hello Club or by return email.
You will need to log-in to your Hello Club account to get access and sign up for these events. Hello Club is also how you will re-new your Shorncliffe Pottery Club membership for 2024. It's easy! Every member already has an account!
Remember - the AGM is an important part of club life. Without a committee our club won't exist!
Happy Potting
SPCInc Management Committee
Shorncliffe Pottery Club Members Chat
Shorncliffe Pottery Club Members Chat | Facebook
This is a new Facebook group for members to share information, ask questions, etc. This is a member's only group, with questions to answer before admission.
Have You Activated Your Membership Account?
Hello Club is the portal that we manage our membership database (new and renewing) and events through, and hopefully more things in future.
It is important that our members activate their account as Hello Club is the only way our current members will be able to renew their membership for 2024, along with signing up and paying for courses and workshops etc.
ACTIVATE DON'T CREATE! It is also important that you activate your account and don't create a new one. All members have been pre-loaded into Hello Club so you can continue on with your current membership number, but with just over 50% of our memberships to still activate their accounts we urge all members, particularly if you intend to continue your membership into 2024, to contact us now by return email about how to activate your account. (Activation emails were previously sent out when we launched Hello Club but those links will now be inactive and unable to be used.)
Email the Membership Officer at this address:
shorncliffepotteryclubincmembership@gmail.com
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 studio or interacting with other members via electronic means, everyone has a right to feel safe and not harassed.
The Code of Conduct can be found in your membership documentation or you can request a copy from the Membership Officer here or read it here.
Thanks to all of our wonderful members who came along and lent a hand with the cleaning. We now have a spick and span shed including a new gallery area to display your fine work. Remember every little bit counts so let’s all focus on keeping the shed neat and tidy for the coming year.
Open Studios a Success
The shed was open for the two weekends of 2023 Open Studios with a total of 88 visitors. Many of our visitors expressed an interest in membership when our books reopen in January.
Our little Members Gallery was busy with sales of $1046, not bad going consider the most expensive item sold was $65, congratulations Shirley. And Amy was delighted to make her first offical sale since entering the world of pottery. The smile on her face said it all.
There were hand building workshops with delighted participants and I don’t recall talking about pottery so much in my life.
A very special thank you to everyone who volunteered and also to those members who stocked our gallery with so many beautiful wares.
Douglas
Dark Fruit by Astrid Salmon
Winner, Siliceous 2023
Ceramic Arts Queensland
Handbuilding Workshop a Success
The Goddesses Are Out of the Kiln
Ange with her ‘Goddess’ from a recent Goddess Workshop. Great work!
If you haven’t quite had enough Open Studios there is also the Australian Ceramics Open Studios (ACOS) about to happen. It is an annual, nationwide, weekend event that celebrates clay, community and creativity.
Hosted by The Australian Ceramics Association, ceramics studios around Australia open their doors to offer a peek into their making, practical demonstrations and the opportunity to take home a handmade piece.
So if you are looking for something to do on this weekend, have a look at the interactive map on their website and venture into someone else’s studio.
Clay Gulgong
Is a biennial event that takes place in a region of north-western New South Wales, that is globally recognised for its strong links with the field of ceramics. Mansfield Ceramics is committed to bringing the best national and international artists to the beautiful town of Gulgong. So put it in your diary the next event is scheduled for:
15–21 April, 2024.
For further information:
50 Years of Handy Hints
We are fortunate to have received a very useful book titled “Collected Wisdom – 50 years of handy hints” from the Ceramic Study Group, Australia supplied to us by Clare H. from her trip to Gulgong. It is a collection of tips and techniques gathered and published in their newsletters since the 1960’s. Each month we will bring to you snippets of their collected wisdom.
Plus we have popped all the tips, hacks and techniques onto a ‘Tips’ page on our club website so that you can refer to them easily.
May 2013
Reconstituting dry clay tip
Reconstituting dry clay? Put dry clay you have broken up in a bucket and cover with hot water. It breaks down much quicker than with cold water.
Removing slops from bucket tip
Getting the clay slops out of the bucket is much easier if you have lined the bucket with a cloth or bag made out of synthetic material.
Recycling dried and wet clay tip
At the end of a session, layer dried scraps of clay from handbuilding with slops from the wheel in an empty clay bag. Seal the bag and pummel it with your hands (or feet) and within a few days you should be able to turn it out onto an absorbent surface and knead it up.
President: Douglas Ainsworth
Vice President: Ken Bull
Treasurer: Tamara Vitale
Secretary: Rose Kelly
Committee Members: Suzanne Bell, Barbara Fletcher,
Gus Saunders
Newsletter Editor: Ed Trost
email: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@gmail.com
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