January 2024
JANUARY 2024 | ISSUE #040
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Hello Potters
President’s Report
Happy New Year Potters
As the new club President I would just like to introduce myself. My name is Suzanne and I have been a member of the club for a couple of years. I still have plenty to learn about pottery but I am passionate about our club, I love how positive and encouraging everyone is and think it’s a perfect place for us all share our love of ceramics.
A number of committee members stood down at the end of 2023, a huge thank you to Tamara, Douglas and Gus for their hard work and input over the years. The new committee was elected with Claire, Melina, Barb and Ken as general members. Amy as Secretary, David as Treasurer, Rose as Vice President and myself as President. Thank you all for volunteering your time and we look forward to an exciting 2024.
Happy Potting
Suzanne
Membership Renewal
Your memberships are now up for renewal via HelloClub. If you have any issues logging in please email ShorncliffePotteryClubInc@gmail.com and we will assist you.
New memberships are still closed until we have confirmed how many existing members are renewing so please renew by mid January to stay active.
shorncliffepotteryclubinc.helloclub.com
Shelves
As always shelves in the club are at a premium so if you don’t intend to renew your membership or are not using the facilities in the club regularly could you please clear your shelf and remove the name tag.
Volunteers
Our club exists because of our volunteers. Without them we would not function, so I would like to start by thanking them for all their hard work wether it be as a Supervisor, kiln team member, glaze maker, cleaning bee participant, and everything in between.
This year we are creating a number of new roles to help spread the load as sadly the load hasn’t always been spread evenly. A huge thank you to everyone who has put their names down for these roles. We will be in touch with you soon to provide further details but if you still want to join it’s not too late, fill in a form in the studio or email the club.
SPC Inc AGM 2023
REPORT
There were quite a number of SPC Inc Members who attended the AGM which was nice to see people taking an interest in the running of the club. It is after all ‘your club’, so you should have a say in how it progresses, what it does and how it does it.
We said goodbye to most of the outgoing committee and thanked them for all of the hard work and time they had contributed. And then we voted in the new committee. There are a number of new faces - Suzanne Bell is the new President, Rose Kelly is Vice, David Grugeon is the Treasurer, Amy Stevens is the Secretary and the rest of the committee consists of Ken Bull, Barbara Fletcher, Clare Houston and Melina Wales. So with a collection of old heads and some new heads, the committee has some major issues to address. We look forward to seeing how they manage a vigorous growth spurt of the club, with the day to day running of it. Not to mention the ongoing status of the kilns. It will certainly be a big year ahead of us.
If you have ideas or suggestions for the committee you can email them at:
Have You Activated Your Membership Account?
shorncliffepotteryclubinc.helloclub.com
Hello Club is the portal that we manage our membership database (new and renewing) and events through, and hopefully more things in the 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, 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:
From The Kiln Room
Well it’s been tough the past month with the kilns not working properly. Hopefully the technician will be available soon to address the issue. Thank you for your patience with this situation, we know that a fair few people were trying to produce pots and other items for Xmas and weren’t successful. The kiln team tried their best to manage the workflow at its most busy time of year. The operating kilns were barely cooling down before they were unstacked and re-stacked again for firing. We are hoping to alleviate this bottle neck in 2024. Bring on the new year!
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.
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:
The Great Pottery
Throwdown Festivus is Here
If you are fortunate enough to know what a VPN is, and how it can be used to watch overseas cable television, then here’s a show for you. The Christmas episode of The Great Pottery Throwdown was on UK Channel 4 Christmas Day and will most likely be available on-demand after that. And while you are there stick around for the forthcoming ‘series 7’ with all your favourite presenters, that commences the following fortnight in the UK.
Can’t wait until we all can view it here in Australia. Must be close. I will let you know when it is due for broadcast here.
Vessels Nest in Perplexing Ceramic Sculptures
At once minimal and endlessly confounding, the elegant ceramic vessels that Matthew Chambers creates are precisely scaled iterations of the same shape. His hypnotic sculptures are comprised of individual, wheel-thrown pieces in varying sizes that are embedded within a larger form.
Each abstract work is unique in color and position, sometimes displaying single monochromatic rings at incongruent angles or striped colors flush in their alignment.
courtesy This is Colossal
We have popped all the tips, hacks and techniques that have been published to date in these newsletters onto a ‘Tips’ page on our club website so that you can refer to them easily.
How to Get Rid of Mould on Clay
Finding that your pottery clay has gone mouldy is very common. Clay needs to be kept moist to stay workable and it contains organic matter. These are perfect conditions for the growth of mould. So, what can you do if you open up your bag of clay and it’s growing green and black mould? Here are a few tips on how to get rid of mould on clay.
Some ways to get rid of mould on clay include adding bleach, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, Dettol, or Epsom salts to your clay. Alternatively, you can slice the mould off, or wedge it in.
Some potter’s swear that a little mould on their clay makes it more plastic and easier to use. For them, getting rid of the mould is not the objective. They simply wedge it into the clay and start making pots.
Courtesy The Pottery Wheel
Our New Committee
President: Suzanne Bell
Vice President: Rose Kelly
Treasurer: David Grugeon
Secretary: Amy Stevens
Committee Members:
Ken Bull, Barbara Fletcher, Clare Houston, Melina Wales
Newsletter Editor: Ed Trost
edtrost1961@gmail.com
email: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@gmail.com
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