newsletter of ceramics sa eastern cape
summer 2015
Letter from the Chair
1.
Thoughts from my studio & the Regional Exhibition in images
2.
Ann Marais Workshop review
6.
Programme for 2016
9.
A morning at the library
11.
Printing Fun in East London
13.
Tips and tricks
17.
General information
18.
Front cover: Richard Pullen, This page: Lesley-Ann Hoets
Letter from the Chair
1.
2015 has been an exiting year for ceramics and especially for me. As you well know I took over the editorship of the national magazine and it has taken up a large chunk of my time to get it up and running. We have had much positive feedback and many contributions from members all over the country. I hope that we will receive contributions from Eastern Cape ceramists as well in the future. We had two interesting workshops this year and our Regional Exhibition at Art On Target was a great success with most members selling something. It was a great venue and those who decided to join us for dinner had a most wonderful meal and a joyous evening with friends. Congratulations to the award winners and especially to Richard Pullen whose work was also purchased for the Corobrik Collection held at the Pretoria Art Museum. A new CD should be out early next year and it can be purchased from the CSA Office. Next year we will be presenting our Regional Exhibition earlier in the year as it is the year of our National Exhibition. This will enable those who have not yet exhibited on a National level the chance to qualify. An entry into any regional exhibition allows you to submit work for the National Exhibition. Get working and keep your best work for the National Exhibition! It is great exposure outside of the province. Margie Higgs and I travelled to East London in August. I presented a printmaking workshop there to assist the East London group to acquire some funds to pay for presenters coming from farther afield. It was a joy to see so many eager students attending along with paying members of the East London clay community. The members in Port Elizabeth were also given the opportunity to visit Verna and the wonderful library at the Art Museum. We could not keep our hands off the selection of books and especially international magazines available for research. With the cost of these magazines climbing almost by the day, it is a great resource and should be utilised by all. Enjoy your holiday break and come back inspired for 2016.
2.
Thoughts from my studio: We have come to the end of another Regional exhibition. What a good exhibition it was; the best Eastern Cape regional I have seen. The standard was set by our guest exhibitors, Ann Marais and Lesley-Ann Hoets. The students from NMMU had great work, as did many others. If you missed the opening, you missed a fantastic evening with interesting work, music, wine and dinner! All this on a perfect spring evening. What could be better ! The setting at Art on Target is perfect for exhibitions. Thanks to Bretten-Ann and her team for making this one so good. The one way of maintaining a high standard is by careful selection. Selection is not an easy job, as one balances the desire to raise standards, without demoralizing rejected makers. How wary we all are of being judged; of the very thought that someone is going to assess a piece we have slaved over, with love and despair over the past few weeks. We feel and express ourselves through our work; Love me, Love my pot. It is easy to see the work and the artist as a single entity, and thus it is easy for criticism of the work to be seen as criticism of its maker. Not at all! For if ‘self’ is taken out of the picture then what a positive thing selection can be. We are all guilty at times of not assessing our pots as critically as we could. Maybe a new exciting technique or glaze blinds us to a poor shape. Sure selectors get it wrong occasionally, but then it is up to us, the
Ann Marais, An awkward moment for a small time crook
3. makers to look at the pieces again. To talk to people whose opinions we value. But it must be those who will be completely honest. Friends and family are not always the best critics. I don’t know of anyone who has not had their work rejected at some time. It is painful but it can, and should be, a learning experience. Do not stop your journey in clay. As with Life, learn, love and continue to play. Donve
4.
Clockwise from top left: Kate Malan, Chantal Martin, Gavin Cox, Bianca Whitehead, Billy McNaughton
5.
Clockwise from top left: Richard Pullen and Bentley van Wyk, Diana Castle, Heather Frankel, Lisa Walker, Mandy Qmoyi, Jessica Hanson, Jeffrey Allan
Sculpting with Ann Marais in Port Elizabeth – 3rd October
6.
Hello from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia to which I have just returned after several delightful weeks holiday in South Africa and in particular, Port Elizabeth. Whilst there I was very privileged to be invited to take part in the Sculpting Workshop held by Ann Marais at the Department of Ceramic Design at the NMMU campus on the 3rd October. I was very nervous as I thought that I had forgotten all the techniques involved as it had been more than five years since I last worked with clay. However once there I met up with old friends Lydia Holmes, Lynnley Watson, Angie Franke and several others and felt more comfortable and then when I handled that lump of clay all inhibitions fell away and I was right at home and as happy as I could ever be. The morning started with Ann Marais very quickly setting us all at ease by reminding us that nothing we would be doing would be wrong. Every object made would be unique and contain a part of ourselves. A thought to treasure as we cannot keep everything we make and in my case they all have to be left behind when I come back home. Ann started with a brief description of her experiences in France and visits to the Paris Art Fair where she particularly enjoyed seeing the bucolic and political characters with their cynical expressions and these have become the point of some of her works. Ann sees her work as mental landscapes without just a physical appearance and with this in mind she is
7. inclined to work in themes making her tube figures tell their stories in their posture and facial expressions. Carrying on this form of work Ann submitted four figures in the Legacy exhibition drawing on the Seven Deadly Sins with Gluttony, Pride, Envy and Greed making them sombre with expressive mouths and eyes. In other works the clay body surfaces were used to show order and disorder, mental dis-ease, disintegration under emotional turmoil and then, final breakdown. To Ann the surface is enormously expressive and this shows when you see the similarly faced figures being represented in various poses as a man sitting with his denims half down or standing looking ‘cool’ and being the sophisticated Metro Male. Then Ann showed us pictures of her Swimmers made for the Living on the Edge exhibition at the Clay Museum in Cape Town. Each one with a delightful facial expression and from all walks of life. Ann Marais uses paper porcelain (HP001) as this gives her a white canvas which shows her figures more clearly. Other suggestions were to use Reinders Clay or CPS Paper Clay. She likes to work hollow with believable proportions and sometimes, but not often, makes animal figures. Ann starts with block feet then adds a circle for the ankles which is carefully joined and then hollowed out with the back of a wooden spoon which is thrust through to the feet. Once the feet are the correct size she works on their appearance making them appear to be shoes with denims hanging over them or whatever style she is planning to create. She then builds the body trunk - again from a solid block which is hollowed out. The arms are made separately from thin rectangles hollowed with a kebab stick and shaped and attached with a coil around the shoulders. The face is made completely separately to the rest of the figure down to the finest details. The neck is shaped, especially where it joins the front chest. Attach the head to neck and body and smooth down. The hands and arms are then shaped and marked. Most of Ann’s figures are left in their natural colour or lightly brushed with dark under glaze which is then wiped off, however some figures have touches of colour, which can take hours to apply, and this brings the piece to life. We had a break for a superb lunch at the harvest table to which each participant had contributed a plate of something delicious and it was quite an effort to move out of the warm sun with our full tummies and start on our own work. The PE group came up trumps and we were spoilt for choice! Before we started on our own efforts Ann gave us one more piece of advice “try and catch your figure with ‘his mask off’ in that unguarded moment so they are unpremeditated figures. Don’t consciously think of anything just let your hands work and your subconscious mind will form the figure.”
Then after being told that we were not allowed to talk or to look at each other’s work, we got our hands onto our clay. It was hard not to glance around or to chat to the person next to me but the purpose of that order soon became clear as I was forced to concentrate on my work and let my mind wander and my fingers create. At first I formed feet as shown by Ann then a large body but was not happy and realised that I was thinking of a figure, a child’s figure and that was not just letting my subconscious take over so I squashed it all up together again and just worked blindly until I found that it was an animal that was taking shape. At first I was sure it was a cheetah as I had been very taken with one we had seen in the Kruger Park and the body sort of developed that way but when it came to making the head the cheetah would not come out. I drew a detailed picture of a cheetahs head and face but no, the clay would not produce it and then I saw that I had made a hyena’s head with bared teeth. I had seen two hyenas take the prey from that cheetah in Kruger and the violence of the act had shocked me. Now my hands were building what my subconscious was still struggling to accept. So I ended up with a hyeetah or cheyna whichever name applied and somehow the figure was quite appealing and I was happy with my work. Lydia has been entrusted with drying, firing and keeping it in her house as I could not bring her back to Australia with me. So that was the most satisfying end to a wonderful day of learning, laughing and getting that amazing feeling of creating. Thank you Ann Marais and the Eastern Cape Ceramics Association for such a great experience. Lyn Dickason
8.
9.
Programme for 2016 30 January - Ann Marais Workshop, East London February - Liz Sanchez -Pueblo pots, East London 20 February - AGM. Short Film on the Ukusela Ekapa project and an all day printing workshop 27 May - Regional Exhibition 28 May - Workshop (presenter to be announced) November - Visiting international presenter November - National Exhibition - Johannesburg (Dates for social evenings will be announced during 2016)
Cape Pottery Supplies sponsors of two regional exhibition awards
Kiln Contracts Building, 11 Celie Road, Retreat info@capepotterysupplies.co.za 021 7011320 http://www.capepotterysupplies.co.za
Revisiting the Art Museum Library
11.
Recently the social event of the potters association in the Eastern Cape (CSA EC ) was a visit to the reference library of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum hosted by librarian Verna Whiteley. On a large table Verna had laid out examples of all the periodicals to which the library subscribes and it was a feast for the eye and mind. Of particular interest to ceramists were the British “Craft “ magazine and the “Ceramic Review”. These magazines are packed with interesting articles covering the whole craft spectrum and the calibre of the contributors is unquestionable. Other areas of interest on offer were architecture, painting and sculpture. There are shelves of books covering a wide range of topics as well, tantalising indeed, I for one cannot wait to get back there...a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Verna welcomes the use of the library. All it takes is a phone call to arrange an appointment. Apart from the stimulation of having so many reference points at ones fingertips it was really lovely to sit around the table with other potters and discuss relevant issues like sources of inspiration, approaches to ones work, and working methods. As per usual, we solved a few technical problems as well. I look forward to the next event. Lynnley Watson
Verna can be contacted on 041 506 2000. email: vwhiteley@mandelametro.gov.za
13.
Printing on Clay Workshop in East London
The East London pottery community often feels left out, as most of the workshops and exhibitions are several hours away. Many of the events organized by Ceramics SA sound so interesting but attendance would require a big outlay in time and money. So it was wonderful to have a ceramic artist come to East London in August. It was a full house for the day with standing room only at CVD Framers and art Gallery in East London, with an excited crowd all eager to see what Lydia would demonstrate. Twenty six people attended including Students from WSU and ceramic artists from Port Alfred as well as local East London potters. The techniques of printing on clay were demonstrated on slabs and thrown pots using a variety of technique from screen printing, stencils, relief and Intaglio printing, all using a selection of mediums including Photostats , ink jet prints, cling wrap, foam and jelly pads.
Lydia explained that the methods were all experimental and everyone should use these
methods to experiment on their own work to master the different techniques. Lydia was a mine of information and subsequent feedback from the lectures at WSU indicated that many
of
the
students
are
experimenting with printing on their own work. Much fun was had in our extended lunch break when we all took a ball of clay to decorate on the outside before inserting a cracker and blowing them up. The lighting of
the
crackers
and
the
14.
subsequent explosions were enjoyed by all, except of course my dogs and a staff member whose car was in the firing line. I was cleaning up lumps of clay for days afterwards.
Although the pottery community in East London is fairly large, most are not members of Ceramics SA. However, with the likelyhood of further workshops in East London, our membership is growing. CVD Gallery gives local ceramic artists the opportunity to showcase and sell their work; we will also be hosting more workshops in 2016. Lydia did not charge for this workshop and Margie Higgs happily gave her a lift to East London. We now have seed money to help us pay for the next workshop. Louise Pietrucci CVD Gallery is available to all CSA members to display and sell work.
15.
E R O F t BE u o sue TMAS! s i t Nex CHRIS
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14.
Tips and Tricks all about glazes… Suppliers of
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● Kilns & kiln accessories
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● Potters wheels & accessories
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● Decorating & sculpture tools ● A wide variety of earthenware & sculpture clay Tel: 021 8393300 Cell: 0845855022 Fax: 086 237 3214 Email us at news@kilnsandclay.com to receive a price list.
Add your mixed powder glaze to water (the temperature of the water makes no difference). Always add glaze to the water, the other way round you will end up with lots of lumps. Stasoft is a good deflocculant: 1 dessert spoon to 5kg of dry glaze. Calcium Chloride or Epsom salts are also very good. Never add the Stasoft to glaze that settled hard in the bottom of your bucket, add it to the water before you mix your glaze powder in. Do your first sieving through an ordinary kitchen sieve if the mixture is very lumpy. A #80 mesh sieve is used for E/W, although a #100 mesh sieve is really accepted for E/W glazes. For Stoneware, use #60 mesh sieve. Use a rubber kidney or nail brush – not a sponge or fingers to sieve glaze. Brushes used for cleaning horseshoes do the trick. It is best to sieve the glaze 3 times, to break all the particles down. If the glaze has been standing for a month, sieve again to get rid of any lumps that have formed. You can sieve the freshly mixed glaze straight away, but it is easier to let it stand overnight.
(From a demonstration workshop held by John Shirley)
lydia holmes - chair 0835649430 lydia@rgholmes.co.za donve branch - v. chair 0833262842 donve1@telkomsa.net
margie higgs - treasurer 0837279454 margiehiggs1@gmail.com lisa walker -workshopcoordinator 0825169220 deanlisa@mweb.co.za bianca whitehead - student liaison 084 257 3073 bianca.whitehead@nmmu.ac.za louise pietrucci - east london rep cvd.framers@gmail.com 043 726 1449
ceramics.easterncape@gmail.com