Newsletter No 5

Dear All, we hope your winter hasn't been too arduous so far; the cold water in the bucket doesn't help though.

Glaze making journey with found materials with Andrew Carran

First we started with a very busy clubnight which was very informative with lots of glaze samples, soil maps of the greater Christchurch region and lots and lots of information, so much to take in.
 Six of us and Andrew got together to work on our own glaze projects. We had soils, sands, loess and clays from the harbours to Gore Bay and all the way to the Craigieburn Ranges. We started with preparing our particular base material by breaking it up and siveing it into very fine particles. 
Lunch was a wee outing to a lookout overlooking the Canterbury plains. Andrew shared stories about the old brick works in town, where the raw materials came from and clay works in a number of different locations in the distant foothills of the Southern Alps; a highlight of day one. 
Then it got pretty messy, with measuring, mixing, adjusting our glazes and glazing many test tiles. We are now in the process of firing our glazes to Cone 5/6, Cone 7/8 and Cone 9 before we potentially adjust them some more to desired outcomes. Can't wait to see all out test tiles. Photographs of the work, so far, are attached. We'll have the test tiles and other work some time in the near future.

Wood firing with Mt Pleasant and Halswell potters group on Sat 27 July
Schedule leading up to the Saturday July 27
Make pots now.
 Wood firing with Halswell pottery group on July Saturday 27 at 8am
Mt pleasant group bisque firing, leave work in our rooms in the wood firing box to be bisque for Saturday 13 July.
Your work will be in the rooms for glazing, 2 glazes will be available a celadon and a shino glaze.  
 Deliver to Halswell on Friday 26th at 10am for loading the kiln (or someone to do it for you).
Halswell potters bisque firing to be organised 
Firing the kiln will be on Saturday 27th 8am start; all pots in the kiln will require a 2 to 3 hours of firing time from the pot owners.
The firing cycle could be up to 10hrs so be prepared to do the time please, bring along a shared lunch if you are on the lunch time duty. Tea & Coffee supplied.
Firing times: please let Shona know claytech1@gmail.com or fill in the time you would like to play with smoke, dust and fire. The schedule will be on the notice board in the club rooms,
Friday 10am: sorting the shelves and props, kiln washing then sorting into sizes and loading the kiln. This will take a while; 3 to 4 hours depending on the work sizes.
Firing schedule for Saturday:
8am to 10am           10am to 1pm        1pm to 3pm          3pm to Finish This last time is important as we want to soak as long as we can holding the temperature to get heat work done, settling the ash on the glazes, etc.

Four people on the fire boxes, two people collecting the wood for them means a total of six people on each shift. You can stay as long as you like; all day if you want. This is a fun learning day all pyromaniacs together. 

This firing is open to all members of Mt Pleasant and Halswell potters groups.
Any questions please email Shona claytech1@gmail.com or ring 0226797729 

​Classes
In an attempt to provide a sense of progression for our students, we are changing the nature of some classes to achieve this aim. Alex's Wednesday night class in terms one and three will be 'Beginners Handwork' classes and terms two and four will  be 'Beginners Wheel' classes. All the other classes will be mixed ability classes. Our real aim is to have all our students progress to attending Tuesday club days where you'll meet other club members and spread your pottery wings. All classes are full for term three.
Alex is running Slip and Glaze courses on Saturdays, 3rd and 10th of August. Prices yet to be determined.
Renate also runs advanced throwing classes on the last weekend of the month; three hours on a Friday and again on Saturday. This program is run as two five session semesters, February to November.
Exhibition 2019
Calling on all potters, new and old, to start your exhibition project early.

• Make what you are good at; exhibiting is not the time to experiment.
• Pick only your very best pots and if you're making a set, make sure they belong in a set.
• Then submit to our exhibition later in the year (deadline Fri 11 Oct)
• This is always a good focus to be working towards and a great time to share.

If unsure contact the convener (Renate) on 0211336620


Kiln operation
The last few weeks have been a bit of a shambles; huge disappointment in the operation of the kilns and subsequent adjustments and slippage of the firing schedule. Unfortunately kiln 1, having just been repaired, has had a meltdown and will be out of action for a little while. This makes the following more important:

Kiln scheduling, for club members, will now become the responsibility of Shona and Hilary. What this means is: that if you require some work to be fired, it must be put into a box, labelled with your name, firing type and the date (your phone number might also help in case there is a need to contact you). All the items in the box must have your mark on them. If any of these parameters are not met, the items will not be fired. If anyone has any issues with what is being asked please get in touch with Shona, Hilary or me. 
Drying shelves
These are a wonderful asset and put up at some effort to provide us with a facility for drying our pots. They are not a storage facility. Items for bisque firing should not be there any longer than a week; then they go into your box, labelled and ready for firing. Items that have been glazed, ideally, shouldn’t be on the shelves at all. Think about it, get the glaze on and get them into the box with their label ready for Shona and Hilary to get them fired. So, if you have any wares on the shelves that need firing, do the decent thing and get them done.

Collecting your fired items
Bring some cash with you! We can’t do EFTPOS and you know you have to pay for the firing of your pots. Prices are on the notice board.

This has been a bit-of-a-rant, but none of this is new. These rules have been in place for longer than we’ve been at Phillipstown and your pots are your responsibility.

We'll send out a notice when No1 kiln is back on line and we also intend to put another controller onto kiln No2; this will give some more flexibility regarding firing programs.

Your Committee
We are delighted to advise that we have two new members on our committee; Hilary Cowburn who will be assisting with the supervision of the firing of the kilns and Jackie Negus who will take over the writing of this publication. We welcome them aboard and their input into the successful running of our club.

CLUB DAYS & CLUB NIGHTS


Club Days are on Tuesdays, 10am to 3.30pm and 7 to 9pm.
Club Demonstration Nights are on the second Tuesday of every month. 
We are hosting guest speakers and demonstrators who will be sharing their knowledge and expertise on a wide range of topics relating to pottery and ceramics.
 A $5 donation please.
To get most out of our Demonstration Club Nights please get in contact and let me know which topics you would like to know more about. I will try and make it happen! 
Renate 021-1336620, rgaletzka@gmail.com


Saturday Club Day, 1st Saturday of the month, 10.00am till noon 


Saturday Raku Club Day with Leigh-Ann…


July


Tuesday, 9th, 7pm
Club Night: Printing on Clay demonstration evening with Shona Clarkson
Printing on clay, a special way of making a small personal screen to print on your work.
A sat workshop will be available to make your own small screen. As we need to order materials for each person attending the Saturday workshop will be later in the month. On club night date and workshop details will be advised to those who would like to attend.
 
One day workshop 
Make your own screen for printing on clay
Price to be advised


August


Saturday, 3rd and 10th
9am to 12noon on each day
Glaze and Slip making with Alex
Learn the basics of glaze and slip making  and a variety of application techniqhes
Price to be advised


Tuesday, 13th
Club Night: Everything Glaze Materials
Bring all your unanswered questions relating to glaze making. Our very own expert, Ken, will have an answer for everything! Like: What’s Silica?.. Why did that glaze run?.. Why is that glaze stuck to the bottom and what can I do? What makes my glaze blue or white or red or..? 


September


Tuesday, 10th
Club Night: Topic to be announced … Make a suggestion, txt Renate on 0211336620


Possibly Weekend workshop with Yi-Ming Lin – Sculpture. Please txt Renate on 0211336620 to gauge interest


October


No Club Night 


Saturday, 12th
Annual Exhibition Submission and Selection Day, 10am


Friday/Saturday, 18 – 19 Exhibition 
At Mt Pleasant Community Centre Hall
All hands on deck, please volunteer for all the jobs large and small that will help make our exhibition a success 


November


Tuesday, 12th
AGM and world famous auction 


End of Year Party
Day outing to Birdlings Flat with Action Firing (pit firing) and picnic at the beach. Bring family and partners, this will be fun fun fun!
Date to be announced closer to the time, with consideration to tides. If total fire ban should be in place event will be postponed to autumn 2020.
Watch this space. (This has got to be a fantastic opportunity for something really different - Graham)


Whew, I'm fairly sure that we've covered all the important subjects for this month. Matariki at the Hub on Saturday the 19th June for a hangi, you'll need to contact Viviana for a ticket, 03 379 3256.


Happy potting - Graham
On behalf of your committee.