Innholdsfortegnelse for #46 i ClayCraft

Welcome The first snow of the year has just fallen as I write this, and Christmas is drawing close. It’s a been an unforgettable year, and not for very many good reasons. We have been challenged in ways we could never have imagined, and for some businesses it proved unsurmountable. I salute all of you who have managed to adapt, think quickly on your feet and change the way you operate. My heart goes out to everyone who did all of those things and yet still couldn’t win. I hope and wish that next year is better for all of you. This month, we welcome Jeni Jacques, owner of Lemon Studio, as she begins a regular column sharing her experiences of running a studio and offering very useful business advice…

PROJECT ONE ROLL VASE It’s difficult to describe the shape of this vase! It has variously been described as a bubble vase, a wobbly vase and hoop vase, but none seem quite right, so we have settled on ‘roll vase’ because it reminds us of the Michelin man’s squidgy rolls! Maybe you have a better description for it? DIFFICULTY RATING You will need: ▪ 1.4kg (3lb) clay – stoneware or earthenware ▪ Tools for throwing – water bowl, sponge, ribs, cutting wire To decorate: ▪ Craft knife or scissors ▪ Glaze to suit clay type A reminder when throwing – to save wordy repetition! Always compress the clay at the rim after each lift – pinch the rim gently between your fingers and thumb, at the same time resting the…

ME AND MY POT Clay type: Stoneware Firing temp: 1250°C Build technique: I first build a normal complete slab pot, then I cut it into sections, then rebuild the pot again, twisting and rearranging to make new forms. This involves filling new gaps that have appeared and compensating for new loading points. It is all a bit freestyle because when you dismember a perfectly good pot, it has no structural integrity. It’s all over the place. Then I endeavour to stop it from collapsing: often I have to use scaffolding while it dries. A couple of them have needed nooses hung from a lamp to stop gravity taking over! Amazingly they go through the kiln firing and stay strong and complete. Decoration process: I use a variety of liquid pot…

MEET THE POTTER – SIMON SHAW It’s always fascinating to read how potters become established and make a living from their work because, let’s be honest here, being a potter isn’t the easiest way to earn a crust! Achieving the goal of actually being able to pay your bills from the sale of your work suggests a level of success, but being successful is difficult to quantify. Most potters would question the idea anyway because it is ephemeral and depends on so many things, not least the changing tastes of the buying public and the depths of their pockets Many of us who choose clay would argue that clay actually chose us, and our ClayCraft thrower, Simon Shaw, is just one such person. We recently had a lengthy telephone conversation…

Doug’s DIARY (Photo: Layton Thompson) The constant wind and relentless November rain have swept away all but the last colours of autumn. The deciduous trees stand bare and dormant against the grey skies, with the exception of the rusty beech leaves that rattle in the breeze, and a few yellow, resilient blackthorn leaves that hold on stubbornly, as though in futile denial that winter is almost upon us. The forest nearby is, as the forest always is, evergreen and dominant on the landscape and the wind turbines on the distant horizon generate power and money for those with power and money. I’ve just returned after taking the children for a necessary breath of fresh air in the fields behind our house, wearing their new wet-weather suits. They looked so toasty; I…

COURSES Do you run a course that you’d like to see here? Email claycraft.ed@kelsey.co.uk for free inclusion in our listing For free inclusion in this listing, email: claycraft.ed@kelsey.co.uk SCOTLAND STEF BAXTER POTTERY Courses: Handbuilding & throwing day class drop-in. Night and weekend classes. 1-1 tuition & Raku classes. Suitable for all levels. Open access coming. Dates: see website Location; Govan, Glasgow stefbaxterpottery.com CLAY WORKS STUDIO Courses: All levels from beginners to intermediate. Taster courses, general pottery and throwing courses. Open access facility for more advanced makers coming soon Dates: See website Location: Dumfries & Galloway clayworksstudios.co.uk DUNDEE CERAMICS WORKSHOP Courses: Classes for all levels from beginner to intermediate, for individuals and groups. 1-1 tuition available. Open studio access and kiln hire for members Dates: Throughout the year (see website) Location:…

What do a bicycle inner tube with the case of a biro pen, and a milk bottle with a quill attached have in common? The answer; they are both used as slip trailers in the Fitch & McAndrew workshop in Galloway, and are just two of a number of different types. Hannah McAndrew explains the tools used to create this traditional technique Doug Fitch and I make slipware pottery. My ‘thing’ is decoration. Of all the various ways of decorating that slip offers, it is the trailing of it that fascinates me. Doug trails less often, and his methods and tools are somewhat different from mine. He often describes our contrasting styles by saying that the type of slip trailing that he and I do is akin to our handwriting.…

Underglazes and stains Linda Bloomfield is a scientist turned potter. More glaze recipes can be found in her books, Advanced Pottery (2011), Colour in Glazes (A&C Black 2012), The Handbook of Glaze Recipes (Bloomsbury 2014) and Science for Potters (The American Ceramic Society 2017). Her new book Special Effect Glazes, and the second edition of Colour in Glazes are both out now There are many options for adding coloured decoration to ceramics, including underglaze, stains and colouring oxides. In this article, I will explain what each of these is and how to use them. I am obsessed with making my own coloured glazes using colouring oxides, the raw materials that are used to make glazes, stains and underglaze colours. There are eight basic colouring oxides: cobalt, copper, chromium, manganese, iron,…

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PROJECT FOUR DECORATIVE RELIEF TILE The subject of this tile is an image of Buddha, but yours can be of anything you choose. Tiles like these make lovely gifts when mounted on wood or framed, and can easily be individualised by glazing them in different colours DIFFICULTY RATING To make the mould ▪ Card template of chosen size for tile ▪ Tracing paper and paper for design plus pencil ▪ Plastic sheet, rolling pin, roller guides (5-10mm thick) ▪ Clay for making the model ▪ Modelling and loop tools ▪ Potters plaster and equipment: bowls, weighing scales, water measuring jug ▪ Surform Determine what size you want your tile to be and make a card template to use later. The example shown is 15cm square. Cut out a paper template…

Confessions of a novice A SLIP-CAST BAUBLE PART TWO My first homemade mould had come together beautifully, so perhaps it was inevitable that the decoration would be a bit of a disaster At the end of my last blog, I had finished making my first slip-casting mould and managed a successful test on the kitchen table. “Be careful,” editor Rachel advised, “it’s addictive,” and I could see what she meant. I pictured making a mould of the huge pot I thrown in two parts in the summer, casting endless repeats in the blink of an eye, but that was running before I could walk. First, I’d need to make a batch of baubles using the mould I already had. I set aside a day in which I would cast as…

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PROJECT TWO HOME DÉCOR PROJECT This is a sculptural project inspired by the shape of an artichoke. Make this form simply as a lovely thing to have in your home or garden or as a finial for a staircase or gatepost. Scale the size up or down to suit DIFFICULTY RATING You will need: • A groggy stoneware clay, like craft crank. 1.6 - 1.8kg (3.5 - 4lb) ▪ Several short lengths of dowelling in 5mm and 10mm diameters ▪ Rolling pin, plastic sheet, 10mm and 5mm thick roller guides ▪ Ribs and wooden tools for blending ▪ Whirler ▪ Cookie cutters in two sizes ▪ Tile cutter (optional) ▪ Card template of given shape ▪ Glaze of choice to decorate Weigh out 0.5kg (1lb) of clay and form it…

BACK ISSUES £5.99 PER ISSUE INCLUDING P&P ISSUE 36 • Thrown simple plate • Handbuilt-plate formers • Bird wall plaque • Pinched dish trio • Foot rings Pt 1 • Spotlight on Botz ISSUE 37 • Thrown salt and pepper shakers • Hand-built birds salt & pepper set • Hanging bells • Foot rings ISSUE 38 • Throwing large • Adding a thrown foot ring • Mould, cast Majolica mug • Wetheriggs Pottery • Carolyn Tripp ISSUE 39 • Thrown cut-rimmed bowl • Cutlery and utensil handles • Hollow-rimmed dish • Floral jug • Rich Miller on tiles ISSUE 40 • Egg cups off the hump • Throwing mixed clays • Slip-decorated slab plates • Leach 100 • Corona vase • Sarah Monk ISSUE 41 • Mugs thrown five ways…