Newsletter Summer 2012
In this issue: Nigel Edmondson Doug Fitch CCA Gallery Ostinelli & Priest Workshop AP Website Update
www.anglianpotters.org.uk
Chairman’s Report Doug Fitch Day event The demonstration day at Mundford, was attended by many and enjoyed by all. Some members at the end of the queue were left with a modest lunch. I wonder whether the ‘early birds’ had a rather large appetite!!!
Selected Members My congratulations go to Angela Mellor, Anja Penger, Christine Pike, and Peter Deans, who were successful at the April selection meeting, and join the list of Selected Members.
CCA Gallery, Cambridge The Selected Members’ show at the Cambridge Comtemporary Art Gallery in April represented Anglian Potters wonderfully well. I viewed it on the first Saturday morning, and Colin Saunders already had a teapot ‘red spotted’. See page 6 for Colin’s report and Anja’s photographs of the show.
Pottery in the Shires Julie Houghton of Corby Kilns, promoted this show in Burton Latimer on 4 and 5 May as part of Craft and Design Month. This new venture brought together 13 potters and attracted
Editor’s Notes
Cover: Lidded vessel by Doug Fitch Photo: Carolyn Postgate
It is difficult to remember now that we have some May sunshine how bitterly cold it was on the Sunday of Nigel Edmondson’s demonstration at Mundford. I hope that members who, like me, were snowed in at home and were unable to make the journey will enjoy the article and photographs kindly supplied by Liz Chipchase and Marion Johns. It does sound as if those who made it had a great time, as did the participants of Ostinelli and Priest’s
many visitors but sales were modest. Peter Cuthbertson, Dameon Lynn, Katharina Klug, Jane Sanders and myself were the AP members involved. It was good to exhibit in Northants, and meet some new potters.
AGM at Mundford By the time this Newsletter is published the AGM will have happened, but I would like to thank all committee officers for their service and support. Victor
workshop later that same month. It is amazing to see the different styles of AP members showing through despite all using the same basic construction techniques. I want to draw your attention to the AP website update on page 13. Now that the migration to the new upgraded website has been completed, the log in method has changed a bit, so we all need to get used to the new system, which uses the email address held on our membership list. Another major change is that it is now possible for all members to have their own profile page, where they can showcase their work to the public. If you have any comments or need help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Geetha, our Webmaster. A reminder: don’t forget to let me know about shows you may be involved in, and I will give them some publicity. Don’t forget, too, to send me pictures and short articles if your summer holiday takes you to interesting places and potteries! Carolyn
Anglian Potters Newsletter Summer 2012 Chairman’s Report|Editor’s Notes|Committee New Selected Members Nigel Edmondson Demonstration Selected Members at the CCA Gallery, Cambridge Running a Gallery in Modern Times Summer Exhibition at Emmanuel College Doug Fitch at Mundford Two Bits of Good news from Norfolk|Members’ Websites Ceramic Helpline|Benefits of Membership Website Update Ostinelli & Priest Workshop Members’ Shows My Favourite Tool|Book Review AP Clay Stores For Sale|Diary|Membership Fees|Advertising Rates
Frank Logan
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Contents
Owl – Ostinelli & Priest workshop
New Selected Members
Angela Mellor Anja Penger-Onyett Peter Deans Christine Pike
This year we have four newly selected members: Peter Deans, who makes functional ware, lovely jugs, bowls and goblets. He started his career in pottery in New Zealand and has a lot of experience in throwing pots. Angela Mellor, who works with slipcast bone china and produces delicate vessels so that the light shines through. She spent some years on the other side of the world in Australia, where she completed her studies and started developing her current work. Christine Pike, with her intricately sculpted work of human and animal figures. Christine trained and worked in soft sculptures and has in the past worked as a designer of puppets and bears for several companies. Anja Penger-Onyett, with her sculptural work and ceramic jewellery. The Elemental sculptures are assembled from individual ceramic elements and the Meteorites are hollow spherical shapes glazed in reduction-fired glazes. The ceramic jewellery is made from simple geometric shapes also glazed with reduction-fired glazes. Congratulations to our newly selected members and many thanks to the Selection Committee and to Carolyn Postgate for sorting out the venue! Anja Penger-Onyett Selected Members Secretary
Nigel’s pot in a landscape – a slide from the laptop presentation
Marion Johns
Like all our demonstrators, Nigel brought along an assortment of his favourite tools and since he works with coarse textured Craft Crank clay these tended to be on the large side. Thus, he uses lengths of saw blade rather than a serrated kidney to scrape back and texture his work, a pizza cutter for cutting slabs to shape, wooden battens for tapping seams together and kitchen scouring pads to smooth off edges.
Favourite tools
Nigel began his demonstration by assembling one of his slab built landscape pots. The sides of these are made from slabs that have been placed over a former of plywood bent to give a gentle curve to the clay. These two curved sides are joined together with strips of clay some 3 inches wide using slip made from dried, reconstituted and sieved crank applied with a slip trailer. The edges are tapped together with a wooden batten, checked for verticality and then placed on a slab of clay that will form the base. The outline of the pot is marked on this and then the base slab is cut approximately 5 mm larger all round and drainage holes are punched out. The base and pot are scored, slipped and joined together and the extra 5mm of clay is drawn up to form an angled lip that will not retain water. The top of the pot is then cut to give a pleasing curve and the whole pot is textured, first by scraping back with the saw blade and then by lightly polishing with a rubber kidney to soften the effect. A central panel is then decorated in Nigel’s distinctive manner. He uses a combination of texture and colour on this panel to give the effect of rock strata. The colour is applied with a sponge and is basically a white slip (1 part ball clay:1 part china clay) to which Scarva high firing colours may be added. The texture is provided by a variety of
means including: impressing the clay with a volcanic rock, wiping on soft clay with a palette knife, attaching small balls of clay (Peter Beard’s clay body, which is very white) or thin rolls of crank clay to emphasize the appearance of strata.
Marion Johns
Liz Chipchase
It was unfortunate that Nigel Edmonson’s demonstration day coincided with the only substantial snowfall of the winter in our region. Happily, in spite of the conditions, Nigel managed to make the journey from Cumbria to Mundford and was joined there by some 40 determined Anglian Potters from around the region. As is usual in a crisis, everyone rallied round to make the best of things. By 10.30 the car park entrance was cleared of snow and ice, an austerity lunch had been obtained from the village shop and the chairs were arranged so that even without a projector and screen we all stood a fighting chance of seeing Nigel’s presentation on the laptop. Nigel’s current work concentrates on the production of pottery for the garden. This may take the form of pebble pots, slab built plant containers or large sculptural pieces all decorated with texture and slips and enhanced by careful placement of Sempervivum plants. It is interesting to compare this work with some of his earlier pieces where the decoration was heavily influenced by Moorish architecture and tiles. In those cases decorative slips were used in strict geometric patterns on smooth clay surfaces to give very formal controlled-looking pieces, quite unlike his current work. His change in style was influenced by his move to the Lake District where the landscape captured his imagination and he decided to incorporate it into his pots. Thus the texture and stratification of rocks, the muted colours of the vegetation and the towering silhouettes of the surrounding mountains are all reflected in his work.
Marion Johns
Nigel Edmondson Demonstration
Similar but rather less extensive decoration is used on his pebble pots. These are constructed from two shallow bowl-shaped slabs formed over hump moulds joined together with a coil of clay. The coil is smoothed on the outside using a wooden batten and the closed pot is then centred on a banding wheel so that two concentric rings marking the foot of the pot can be applied. Drainage holes are then cut within
Marion Johns
Marion Johns
Marion Johns
Building a snowman on the football pitch at Mundford
Marion Johns
this area. The pot is turned over and re-centred on the banding wheel and a circle of clay, equivalent in diameter to the size of a 1 litre flowerpot, cut from the middle. The inside edge of the coil joining the pots can then be smoothed out to complete the seal between the two halves. The outside of the pebble pot is textured as before and decoration applied. Nigel had a series of half-circle templates of different sizes and used these to mark out a pattern radiating from the central hole. He pressed pellets of brown or white clay into the pot to highlight this pattern and flattened them by gently beating with a batten resulting in a mosaic of clay circles. After biscuit firing the decorated areas of the pot are painted with a mixture of iron and copper oxide (2 parts iron to 1 part copper) and this is then sponged back to leave the oxide in the crevices of the pattern.
Constructing a pebble pot and a slabbed vessel Finished pebble pot, detail
Liz Chipchase
Nigel’s passion for texture is particularly apparent in his ‘monoliths’, tall columnar pieces that look as if they might be hewn from a rock face rather than built up from clay. In essence the ‘monoliths’ are built using much the same techniques as already described and because Nigel’s kiln is of limited size the larger ones are built in sections that can be joined after firing. Painstaking application of clay layers and the use of many texturing techniques results in pieces whose natural appearance is emphasised by the plants that cling to little pockets and seams in their surface. In some cases the clay surface is an actual representation of Cumbrian geology: Nigel recounted that on one of his walks he found a particularly toothsome rock surface half way up a mountain and felt compelled to return with a rucksack full of clay to make some impressions of this. It was our good fortune that to a man of such determination an East Anglian snowstorm was no deterrent. Liz Chipchase
Selected Members at the CCA Gallery, Cambridge
Anja Penger-Onyett
Anja Penger-Onyett
Anja Penger-Onyett
For at least two reasons it shouldn’t be me attempting a review of this Selected Members’ show at the Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery in Cambridge. Firstly, as one of the exhibitors, I’m too personally involved. Secondly, I only saw the show on its final day after much of the work had been sold. However, it does need saying that Anglian Potters put forward some very good work in a prestigious gallery and that this was in no small way due to the efforts of Anja (who, until recently, was not even a selected member!). Whether the public was aware that the show was of our specific group I don’t know. There was certainly no AP banner. Perhaps to regular visitors – those already familiar with some of our members’ work – the gallery seemed much as usual. Public there certainly was! Surely Trinity Street must be one of the busiest thoroughfares in Cambridge for actual pedestrian numbers. For me it was an experience to see a ‘machine for selling art’ working flat out. (See Anja’s article on the CCA’s use of electronics in the running of a busy gallery on the opposite page.) There were no red spots. It was wrap and go. I understand from others that what I saw of the display was only of the particular moment I visited. Because of the turnover, all was in a state of flux: what was in the window one day would be in a glass case the next. Yet there remained an overall sense of display and good labelling and definition between artists. Somehow, amongst all our pots, were paintings! The gallery’s eggs were obviously not all in one ceramic basket! Perhaps, as the paintings were hung at eye level, the pots tended to be positioned either high or low. At one point I found myself looking down on to a group of four dishes impressed with leaf patterns, and I did appreciated their quietness, their simplicity and ceramic qualities. In contrast I found some other work far too sophisticated, as if every trick in the artistic handbook had been used. But is it for me to offer such opinions? Thinking about the show and this review it struck me that the world we potters inhabit is such an interesting one. Our concerns are with little scratchings and squeezings, bumps and hollows, rough bits and smooth bits, which are of such importance to us that they can raise such strong responses. We are fortunate in our association, with its exhibitions, meetings and newsletter, because it enables us to emerge from our cocoons, air our beliefs, and listen to those of others. Colin Saunders
Running a gallery in modern times..... I have been doing this job as Selected Members Secretary for a while now and in that time I have dealt with a few galleries. I thought I would tell you what was different about dealing with the Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery (CCA). In times of ever-rising printing and mailing costs, the CCA completely avoids sending anything out by letter. No Private View invitations to be printed, no letters to be sent. Instead, anyone who is on the mailing list gets an email Newsletter announcing the upcoming exhibition and giving the names of all participating artists. You can click on each individual artist’s name and a new page opens, which gives information like the artist’s statement and a few pictures of their work (see picture 1). Again you can click a button which then shows more of the work of that artist or even better, the pieces that are actually being exhibited (see picture 2). That is if the artist takes pictures of the work which is going to be delivered to the gallery in the next few days! Knowing me and some other potters the pieces might still be hot when they end up in the delivery box! I have to admit that can be a bit cumbersome, but if it is possible it ends up as an online catalogue giving up-to-date information including prices etc. Maybe someone at the other end of the world falls in love with one of the pieces and buys it over the Internet???? Everything is possible. The use of the Internet doesn’t end here. If artists are lucky enough to sell pieces
of their work, the gallery reimburses the artist directly by bank transfer. No cheques! And we all have to get used to that, don’t we? I don’t think the CCA is very unusual in doing all this. I haven’t met this procedure before but I have to say I do like it! Anja Penger-Onyett Selected Members Secretary
Summer Exhibition, Emmanuel College Entry forms for the Summer Exhibition at Emmanuel College will be sent out by email (or post to those who haven’t supplied an email address) around the end of the first week in June. If you haven’t received a form by then, contact Jackie Watson on 01603 261 951 or email jackie@wolvercott.co.uk
Picture 1
Picture 2
Heather Graham
Top left: decorating tool. Above and right: The hollow rim of the puzzle jug; hole piercing; after the collapse! Below left: a selection of glazed bowls
Carolyn Postgate
Carolyn Postgate
Heather Graham
Heather Graham
Heather Graham
Another highly successful AP Demonstration day! Where do they find all these potters who are willing to travel from the far reaches of our fair land and venture into darkest East Anglia? These brave folk risk their sanity by entering the land of the Anglianus Potterouties; a strange tribe who spend most of their days playing with mud. Even though Doug had travelled from deepest Devon this must have been quite daunting for him! Doug proved to be a skilled thrower, an entertainer and a pyromaniac! I like the way that he bases many of his pots on the English Mediaeval style. It’s always good to have one eye on the past. Doug digs his clay from a field in front of his studio. This was a new one on me; I thought that clay came in plastic bags from Shotley or Rampton! Doug set about throwing (with consummate ease) a puzzle jug. These were intended for use in inns and public houses as a humorous drinking challenge and are a centuries-old tradition which still survives today. I began to get quite concerned when he filled the just-thrown jug with water to prove that it worked! We were all way ahead of him at this point as we know that you have to fire clay to make it waterproof! The ensuing flood was to be expected!
Heather Graham
Doug Fitch at Mundford
Heather Graham
John Freeman
Heather Graham
Carolyn Postgate
Heather Graham
Heather Graham
Heather Graham
Heather Graham
His second pot was a Harvest jug used for beer or cider at that time of the year. I was disappointed that he didn’t bring any Devon beer or cider in order for us to test one of his fired Harvest jugs! The short videos from Doug’s daily blog were interesting, especially the one that gave a whole new meaning to ‘throwing’ pots when we saw his method of dealing with rejects! We had another really enjoyable day spent in the company of a potter who made it look easy with his relaxed, carefree approach. However, at the same time he engendered respect and an appreciation of a real craftsman at work. Left: decorating a tall jug Anton Todd with a glazed example below. Right: Harvest jug being slipped and decorated, with finished jug below. Below middle: flame-drying a vase and audience participation to decorate it.
Kilns for ceramics New and second-hand equipment Kilns and furnaces serviced and repaired Potters wheels – pugmills
Essex Kilns Ltd Tel 01621 869342 email contact@essexkilns.co.uk www.essexkilns.co.uk 10
Two bits of good news from Norfolk Congratulations to Michael Wickwar, a recently-joined Anglian Potter, who has been awarded the Medal for Excellence for 3D Creative Craft by the City and Guilds, for his imaginative ceramic creations. This prestigious award recognises the achievements of students who produce exceptional work, and show a true journey of progression. Michael reckons that, although it is not exactly a Masters in Fine Art, it is more than he ever hoped to achieve, but also recognises that he “has gone from being a rich builder to a poor ceramicist”! At the Lion Awards evening at The Round House in Camden he was also awarded third place in the Lifetime Learner awards. With the encouragement of his tutors and fellow potters in AP, he will be concentrating on his ceramic sculptures and looking forward to taking part in more exhibitions. Congratulations also to Michelle Daniels, an Anglian Potter with a wealth of experience, who combines her creative life with teaching at Wensum Lodge. One of her Raku vases, inspired by her travels in Thailand, features in the Reviews section of the latest Ceramic Review. Jackie Watson
Members’ Websites: www.angelamellor.com www.brendagreenart.co.uk www.cathydarcy.com www.ceramicsbuyanja.co.uk www.corbykilns.co.uk www.christinepike.com www.getfiredup.org www.heathergrahampotter.com www.helenhpottery.co.uk www.helenmartino.co.uk www.iangeorgeceramics.co.uk www.janburridge.co.uk www.janehollidge.co.uk www.jjvincent.com www.johnmasterton.co.uk www.judsonsinfrance.com www.katharina.klug-art.com www.lolaswainpottery.com www.madeincley.co.uk www. madelainemurphyfinetableware.com www.maggygardiner.com www.mariamcullumceramics.co.uk www.obypottery.co.uk www.patsouthwood.co.uk www.potterycourses.com www.potterycourses.net www.richardbaxter.co.uk www.robbibbyceramics.co.uk www.rockwellpottery.com www.rowanhumberstone.co.uk www.stephenmurfitt.co.uk www.susancupitt.co.uk www.suffolkstoneware.co.uk www.swaffhampotter.co.uk Contact the Editor if you want to add your site to this list.
SHORT COURSES Form, function and family – wheel thrown porcelain Chris Keenan 31 August – 3 September Decorative ceramics with sculptural press moulds Kate McBride 14 – 16 September 17 – 21 September
Raku – making, decorating and firing techniques Tim Andrews
14 – 18 October
Throwing functional pottery including cookware Alison Sandeman
26 – 29 October
A creative approach to ceramic tableware Sandy Brown 30 November – 3 December
Tim Andrews
Making bowls with vitreous slip decoration Carolyn Genders
For further information and a list of all our short courses, visit our website www.westdean.org.uk/college West Dean College, West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0QZ ,bookingsoffice@westdean.org.uk 0844 4994408 New to West Dean? Get a 10% discount when you book by phone. If you pay in full online you will receive a 5% discount. Prices already adjusted.
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Ceramic Helpline
Selected Members to contact: Alan Foxley: handbuilding, reduction firing 01799 522631 Colin Saunders: mould-making, transfers, slipcasting 01379 588278 Victor Knibbs: electric kilns, oxidised stoneware, modifying clay bodies 01480 214741 Deborah Baynes: raku, salt glaze, stoneware, earthenware (reduction & oxidised) 01473 788300 Beryl Hines: general, raku, earthenware 01473 735437 Usch Spettigue: raw glazing/ single firing 01473 787587 Margaret Gardiner: salt / soda firing 01279 654025 Sonia Lewis: high-fired ware, porcelain 01353 688316 Angela Mellor: bone china paperclay and slipcasting 01353 666675 If you are willing to give advice and be added to this list, please contact the Editor.
Benefits of Membership Amongst the many benefits of becoming a member of Anglian Potters is the opportunity to show your work in the ‘open’ exhibitions. We recognise that for those who are just starting out as makers, and are still finding their way in terms of skills and knowledge, exhibiting can be a daunting business. Is my work good enough? Am I ready to show what I make? Friends and family may be encouraging, but possibly biased in their views (or even just being kind) so may not be best placed to offer you the advice you need. You can of course visit one of our exhibitions and make judgements on the standard of work of your fellow members. If you think, “I could do better than that”, then maybe you should try! Another option is to use the support offered by some of the Selected Members who willingly offer help and encouragement to any member seeking advice about their work. These reviews are informal but can offer guidance on how you might progress your skills or might suggest areas to which you could give further consideration. The outcome should help you decide if you are ready to expose your work to a wider public. The best time to arrange a review is at one of the demonstration days, when there will be more selected members present. A short meeting just after lunch is the usual pattern. The Selected Membership provides Anglian Potters with a broad knowledge base, and those willing to give advice on many skill-based areas give their contact details in the Newsletter. Members who are looking to apply for Selected Membership are also advised to have a review of their work prior to making a formal application. This can be arranged through the Selected Members Secretary, Anja Penger-Onyett Applications can only be accepted from those who have been a member for at least a year and have shown work in the annual open exhibitions. As a guide, the qualities the Selection Committee will be looking for will include: • Demonstration of competence and employment of relevant skills/knowledge. • A personal approach that is not directly derivative of another maker. • A good understanding of any functional aspects, and how they might relate to the overall form. • Evidence that aesthetic consideration have been given to the form, surface decoration where applied, (including glaze) and finish. • A commitment to contribute to the broader activities organised by Anglian Potters. Ray Auker Vice Chairman The members’ profile page on the new website
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AP v2 is up & running! Thank you for everyone’s patience and co-operation during the wait for this upgraded version of the AP website. • The objective is to allow the latest news and events about AP members and their work to be available immediately to everyone. • It gives Anglian Potters a professional showcase for the public and potential members. • All AP members can now login and update their profile description and images if they want their work to be publicly viewable. • All suggestions and feedback for improvements are always welcome.
Login
• Login instructions have been emailed to the email address registered with the membership secretary. Those with no email will receive their username and login instructions by post. • Password: please remember to change your password upon first login using the Account tab in Edit My Profile, following the password rules. You can also request a login reminder for username or password reset. • To change your registered postal or email address, please contact the AP Membership Secretary.
Members Suite
Upon login, the Members Suite menu will be available on the left. Important Info – provides you with all the necessary instructions and details about what you can do from the Members Suite menu. Member News – any announcements or news for the members will be posted here by Committee members. Submit an Article – If you have any news you would like to share with other members, you can submit an article to be approved and published. Edit My Profile New and Existing Profiles: • Online help is available if you hold the mouse over the blue (i) buttons. • Your public profile information is stored under each of the various tabs. • Please complete all relevant information about yourself, your work and your studio details. • Each profile is allowed 1 profile image and 3 portfolio images. • Please note the Studio Location address can be different from your AP Members Address. • Updating your Studio Location address will not automatically update your AP Membership Address on the Membership list. • To save your profile, click on the Update button at the bottom of each page. • Please save (Update) each page as you complete it to ensure that you don’t lose any data, especially if your login session times out while you take a long time to update. Existing Profiles: • Your public profile will be updated immediately. • You have to logout to be able to see your own profile via the Gallery. New Profiles: • If you want to show your work to the public, use Edit My Profile page to update your profile, fill in Yes under Approval Tab so that it will be reviewed by the Committee. • When logged in, you cannot view your own profile under Gallery or Awaiting Approval. It is only viewable under Edit My Profile. • Once approved by the Committee, your profile and photos will be public for anyone to view your work on the Gallery page of the website. • You will be notified by a Committee Member if any changes are required to your profile. • You can use Edit My Profile at any time to view your profile. • If you don’t want your profile to be public, you don’t have to do anything. For all queries, feedback and suggestions for improvements, please email helpdesk@anglianpotters.org.uk Geetha Alagirisamy AP Webmaster 13
Saturday 11-Sunday 12 February 2012 Make no mistake: Paul Priest knows what he is doing. Behind the fund of anecdotes and laid-back manner lies a formidable talent that has helped Ostinelli & Priest carve out a special niche in the world of contemporary clay sculpture. Art school trained (“but I’m fully recovered now!” he says with a wicked gleam), his years of drawing human and animal forms have resulted in a fund of instinctive knowledge that informs his work, rather like a pianist whose fingers move automatically over the keys in response to a familiar piece of music. Paul certainly knows how to work an audience, and if he strays too far and too long from the topic at hand, his partner, Gaynor Ostinelli, is there to steer him gently but firmly back on track. That said, the workshop I attended in Woodbridge, on one of the coldest days of the year, was fun – with a capital ‘F’! The Ostinelli/Priest technique involves the laying of thin sheets of clay over a bubble-wrapped armature. The result is quick, intuitive, and impressionistic, with a strong sense of movement. Under Paul’s hands the clay is rapidly transformed into a bull, a dog – even a human head. I came to the class with no pre-conceived ideas of what I might create but there were plenty of books and images on hand to inspire us. I elected to attempt a dog since I
Liz Chipchase
Ostinelli & Priest Workshop
Frank Logan
Liz Chipchase
Liz Chipchase
particularly admire the way Paul makes his canine beasts look wild and comical at the same time, and I wanted to see if I could capture some of that same spirit. At first, things did not go so well and I was struggling with my head study of a no-breed mutt until Paul came to the rescue and, with a few deft touches, adjusted my lump of clay into the full
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figure of a seated dog. This is very much the Priest philosophy: to ‘go with the flow’ and respond to the direction of the clay. What starts out as a dog might end up as a pig or a hare: to use another musical analogy, his method is more akin to freeform jazz than classical music. Many people elected to attend an Ostinelli & Priest workshop in order
Liz Chipchase
Frank Logan
Frank Logan
Frank Logan Liz Chipchase
Opposite page top: Mary Wyatt’s bird; a parliament of owls; a head built up over its bubble wrap framework; Jubilee dog. Above: workshop participants; Cathy D’Arcy building her armature; Don Quixote and Sancho Panza(?); boar’s head.
to loosen up their sculpting style and become freer in their work; myself included. It was a little daunting at first just to plunge in but I soon overcame my apprehension and it was very satisfying to see my piece come together quickly, once I had got myself into Paul’s method of working. Like all the most experienced potters and sculptors I have watched, he manipulates the clay with a very light touch, hardly using any pressure at all. While my own efforts were more heavy-handed, I was still able to appreciate how the thin layers, sliced
with a wire from a solid block of clay, result in beautiful and surprising textures, which can be enhanced once biscuit-fired with judicious applications of colour. A one-day workshop may be a hostage to fortune in that the hopes and expectations of students to go home with a finished piece can so often be met with disappointment. The pressure of learning new techniques in a limited amount of time might well result in failure if the tutor isn’t able to give sufficient attention to each person, but we were blessed to have both Paul and
Gaynor to guide us and everyone was able to complete – or nearly complete – at least one animal during the session. Due to the popularity of this ‘taster’ workshop, Ostinelli & Priest have agreed to run further workshops in future, the first of which will be devoted to making a cockerel in their distinctive style, sculpted over a turned base (bases will be supplied). If you are interested in attending, please contact Frank Logan on: 01953 688353 Christine Pike 15
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Members’ Shows
Pottery at the Priest’s House The pre-Reformation Priest’s House at Easton on the Hill, near Stamford, is one of the National Trust’s smallest and most unusual properties. The building houses a comprehensive exhibition on the now extinct process of mining and preparing the hard limestone slates from the neighbouring village of Collyweston, from which they take their name. Collyweston slates still cover the roofs of many of the oldest buildings – from cottages to castles – in this part of the country. Pottery exhibition This summer the Priest’s House will be open to the public every Sunday afternoon during July and August. In addition to the existing exhibits there will be a special display of the work of Pat Armstrong, an accomplished potter who lives in the village. Easton on the Hill is 2 miles from Stamford on the A43 Kettering Road. Open Sundays in July and August 2-4.30pm. Entrance is free. All are welcome.
Angela Mellor Open Studio Exhibition ‘Coastal Light’
Stephen Murfitt
Stephen will be taking part in the Cambridge Open Studios for all 4 weekends in July at ‘The Workshop’, 18 Stretham Road, Wicken CB7 5XH Everyone welcome! Tel. 01353 721160 Open 11am-6pm
8-23 September The central exhibition venue will be at Yarrow Gallery, Oundle from 15 September-6 October, with a private view on 14 September. More information is available at www.openstudios.org
Melanie Max – Paintings Lorraine Allan – Jewellery Open Weekends July 7/8; 14/15; 21/22; 28/29 Opening Hours 11am - 6pm 17
My Favourite Tool...
I use a lot of ribs in my work to remove throwing rings – I prefer to have a smooth surface as it brings out the curves of a form for me. I use a steel kidney, but I cut a lot of my own shapes to get the curves I want. I think this Debenhams card still has points on it!!! Madelaine Murphy
Book Review
Photograph your own Art and Craft Sussie Ahlburg £16.99, 144 pp A&C Black, London I have to confess a special interest in this book, as the author has photographed my work, and has included a few photographs of my pieces as illustrations of different aspects of photographic techniques, so I might be predisposed to favourable comments! While this is not a book that will give you a deep grounding in the technical details of photography, it does give a good overview of many of the issues associated with making images of your own (or other people’s) work. The author covers the choice of medium (film or digital), cameras and lenses, at a level that would at least allow you to 18
ask the right questions when buying equipment from a photographic shop. She then moves on to the nitty-gritty of taking photographs of craft objects, starting with camera settings, depth of field and exposure, and then taking the reader through the issues of lighting, composition, backdrops etc. Recognizing that not everyone will have access to photographic lighting, she also covers photographing work outside and using natural light and backgrounds.
She discusses using interiors for ‘lifestyle’ shots, showing work in context, or with other complementary styles, and also working with models – perhaps more useful for textiles than ceramics. One chapter covers the variety of 3D work – glass, fabric and leather, silver and other metals, ceramics, jewelry and lamps and lighting. Further short chapters discuss 2D work, photographing work at exhibitions and trade shows, and finally commissioning a professional photographer. The book is illustrated with hundreds of photographs of many types of object, often different views of the same object, but with different camera settings, different lighting conditions, different angles. Each chapter has these practical examples, all taken by the author. For me, these photographs are the strength of the book – it is so much easier to get an understanding of the possibilities for an image by seeing these examples, rather than reading a weighty manual of camera instructions (my digital SLR came with a 600 page manual and a DVD of instructions!). John Masterton
Brick House Crafts operate from 5,000 sq ft premises in Essex. They are pleased to confirm the continuation of their 10% discount scheme to members of Anglian Potters on raw materials, clays (up to 1/2t) and hand tools. Lessons available on an hourly basis together with City & Guilds Level 2 & 3 courses (100% pass rate to date). Contact Mary or Maureen Tel: 01376 585655 www.brickhouseceramics.co.uk
from the Potterycrafts range Products carefully chosen especially for dedicated craft potters.
You don’t have to be making a living from your pottery but if you are serious about ceramics then the Studio Selection is for you.
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For Sale Fitzwilliam Wheel Wooden cabinet, fibreglass splash tray. Large amounts of clay can be thrown with ease. Low noise and vibration. In good condition ÂŁ800 Throwing bats (large) included if required Pugmill Horizontal pug mill in good condition ÂŁ250 approx 6 bags white earthenware clay (superwhite AW23) ÂŁ30 Contact Sue Bruce e: susiebruce@fsmail.net t: 01394 384865
FREE
to a good home! A set of gas burners which were used to fire a very large gas kiln (40 cubic feet, I think! ). Also a gas ‘pre heating’ torch with pipe and connections for propane cylinders. I will be happy if a potter can put them to good use and therefore they are free for anyone who would like to collect them from my studio. Contact Stephen Murfitt Tel. 01353 721160 ‘The Workshop’ 18 Stretham Road, Wicken, CB7 5XH
For Sale
A large quantity of commercial slip moulds: Vases in assorted sizes, some suitable for garden use Bud Vases, Urns & Pots Animal Figures (Domestic and Wild) Kitchen Clocks & other Clocks Lamp Bases Figures & Indian Figures Christmas Decorations Bowls (assorted) Birds & Oil Burners Tankards & Goblets Mugs, Teapots & Plates Horses (carousel) Fantasy Figures Cards & Picture Frames Bathroom sets Angels, Fairies & Clowns Please telephone Tina Thurman on 01284 827281
Diary Dates 2012 Potters’ Camp: 8-12 August, Shotley Summer Show: 18 August-5 September Emmanuel College, Cambridge Elizabeth Smith: 9 September, Mundford www.crafts.org.uk Selected Members’ Show: 25 September-22 October Reunion Gallery, Felixstowe Alan Parris & Billy Byles: 21 October, Mundford www.aylesfordpottery.co.uk Christmas Show: 17 November-16 December All Saints’ Church, Cambridge
Membership Fees
Ordinary £27 – half year £15 Joint £45 for two people at the same address – half year £25 Institution £50 for a college or workshop – half year £27 (details on application to the Membership Secretary) Student £10 for full-time ceramics students – proof of status is required
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Landscape vessel by Nigel Edmondson Photo: Liz Chipchase
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