Innehållsförteckning för #40 från ClayCraft

Welcome This month is starting to see things pick up a little, with shops due to reopen and people settling into a routine. The number of fast pivots that companies have made, to stay available and engage with their customers – and, not to beat around the bush, to remain afloat – is astonishing, and they have really risen to the challenge. Exhibitions and events have moved across to online presentations. While I can see that this isn’t the same as being able to handle a piece of work and talk to the creator, I also wonder whether it will open things up to be accessed by more visitors than a physical event would see, especially when outdoor events can be hit hard by bad weather. I know there are…

PROJECT ONE EGGCUPS – THROWN OFF THE HUMP USING A TEMPLATE Who doesn’t love a richly yolked boiled egg and buttery soldiers for breakfast? If you do, what better way can there be to serve them than in your own handmade eggcups? Before you begin: ■ You can work directly from the wheel head for this project because each eggcup will be cut from the top of the clay mass. Note:_you should be aware that although you’ll find it easier to work from the hump if the entire mass is properly centred to begin with, in reality, only a section large enough to make the individual eggcups actually needs to be centred for success. You will need: ■ Clay – earthenware or stoneware 7.2-3.1kg (6-7lb) ■ Throwing tools – water…

SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Subscribe to clay Craft Pay just £44.99 for 12 issues SAVING 34% ON THE SHOP PRICE Join us for step-by-step makes, tips and inspiration. Inside every issue of ClayCraft you’ll find practical handson guides to our projects – throwing and hand-building; Linda Bloomfield’s regular feature on glazes, and Doug Fitch’s diary column. Other features include established potters, suppliers and studios, and you can find local courses in our comprehensive listing. Save money by subscribing today! Editor GREAT REASONS TO HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION • Pay just £44.99 for a year’s subscription • Save 34% off the cover price • Each issue delivered directly to your door • 7Receive a potter’s split-leg apron worth £39.99 GET THE DIGITAL EDITION PAY JUST £34.99 FOR 12 ISSUES Download your magazines to…

How to use Glazy part 4: SPECIAL EFFECT GLAZES Glazy.org is an online glaze database created by Derek Au. It is a great source of glaze recipes from all over the world. This month we will look at special effect glazes; crater and crawl glazes. Glazy super-user Alisa Liskin Clausen from Denmark has updated a barium crater glaze originally from Akiko Hirai, changing from barium to strontium. Many community studios prefer not to use toxic barium carbonate, and the non-toxic strontium carbonate is a good substitute in most cases; you only need three-quarters of the amount to give the same effect in the glaze. The silicon carbide in the glaze breaks down during firing, giving off carbon dioxide gas. The presence of titanium dioxide provides plenty of oxygen to react…

ART IN CLAY HATFIELD ONLINE SHOW With the inevitable cancellation of this year's summer events, Art in Clay Hatfield is instead running as an online show until 31 August. Over 100 of the original exhibitors are taking part, each offering five of their items for sale in the first instance. Here we highlight just a few of them. The event will also be raising funds for the NHS, with a one-off auction piece created by Ashraf and Sue Hanna, and some budding little potters are selling their wares, too! The show can be accessed on the Art in Clay website at: artinclay.co.uk…

Confessions of a novice Reaching for the moon (again) Apparently, practice makes perfect, but it certainly isn’t always onwards and upwards. To be a novice potter is to embrace failure as well as celebrate success I’ve been writing this blog now for over two and a half years, and in that time my skills have come on in leaps and bounds. The discipline of trying a different project every month, forcing myself to make something specific, rather than just whatever the clay wants to be that day, has meant that I’ve tried a whole range of new things, from making plaster moulds, slab pots and hand-built flowers to all manner of thrown pots. When I try new things now, I have a base level of knowledge and skill that serves…

IN THE NEWS POTTER PAL UPDATE The latest version of Potter Pal (6.5) has just been released, with the o. er of a 15-day free trial. Why not use the time to discover how this app can help you in your studio? The creators of Potter Pal say it was built with simplicity in mind, it’s easy to use and has a powerful search function allowing you to retrieve your information quickly and easily. Updated functions include: • Recipe formulation; with unity molecular formula and predicted firing ranges • Purchases and inventory; metric or imperial options have been added, along with the ability to handle invoices • Document your work: bisque and fired images, information on dimensions, firing schedule, and glaze applied, all on the same page • New tools…

#CLAYATHOME WORKSHOPS New online workshops in the British Ceramics Biennial’s (BCB) #ClayAtHome series have just been released. Designed with lockdown in mind, they include a tutorial for creating ceramic hanging ‘isolation’ tiles decorated with images and messages of hope, and a session exploring di­ erent types of mark making to help focus the mind. #ClayAtHome is an online creative learning programme designed to inspire people to engage with clay at home. It has been developed by BCB, which runs a major international arts festival in Stoke-on-Trent – the home of British ceramics – alongside an ongoing programme of education and community engagement projects in the city. As well as hands-on creative workshops, the #ClayAtHome programme includes podcast interviews with artists, social networking events and activities to support children’s home learning…

SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT: If you use readymade glazes, the likelihood is that you’ll have dipped a brush or two into a pot from Mayco. Jacqui Atkin learned more about the company from its owners Participating in the Mayco decorating course with Bre Kathman at Potclays earlier in the year, (see issue 39 for details) before the virus hit us and the world turned upside down leaving us all a lot more space to think, led me to wonder about a company like Mayco and how it has developed over the years. I was particularly interested to know who started the company and the reason why, so duly asked Bre if Mayco would like to tell us something about themselves. Mayco was very happy to oblige, so I sent them a list…

NEW BOOK SPECIAL EFFECT GLAZES By Linda Bloomfield Experienced ceramicist and ClayCraft contributor Linda Bloomfield’s latest book guides readers through the world of special effect glazes; from drippy and crackle to ash and lichen glazes. Beautifully illustrated with pieces from both emerging and established potters that showcase stunning copper oxide-blues, metallic bronzes and manganese-pink crystal glazes, Special Effect Glazes is packed full of recipes to try out: from functional oilspot glazes using iron oxide, to explosive lava glazes. As well as discovering glaze recipes, you can learn the basic chemistry behind glazes so that you can adjust and experiment with your unique pieces. There are explanations of materials and stains, how to find them and how they affect the color and texture of the glaze, as well as practical advice…

POOR DES O'CONNOR! Reader Graham Anderson, 'the Hairy Potter' (!) came up with a novel work-around to the problem of no batt pins, "Sometimes, as a sort of self-taught potter, you think up ideas that may be new and haven't been tried before." READER’S TIP I was asked to make a birdbath for a friend. I wanted to make one that was wide, and that I could take off the wheel to continue with something else while it was drying. I have used CDs in the past, which just work for small delicate objects and the centre hole helps, but there's not a lot of grip. My wife was clearing out some of her dad's old records and, instead of throwing them away, I thought they would come in handy.…

JACQUI ATKIN'S TRIP DOWN UNDER – PART 1 In December of 2019, I excitedly set off for Melbourne, Australia to spend a few weeks with my youngest daughter Charlie. She has lived there for 10 years and now has her citizenship. Although we Facetime daily, I actually only get to see her in the flesh every three or four years. This is mainly down to cost and pressure of work but also the gruelling ordeal that travelling cattle class for such a distance can be – I’m sure many of you will know what I am talking about! It didn’t bode well from the start, when take-off was delayed by an hour and a half at Manchester. I spent the first seven-plus hours of the journey worrying, along with many…

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 SCOTLAND 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: Dundee dundeeceramicsworkshop.com FORGAN ARTS CENTRE Courses: All levels and ages catered for in hand building, throwing, Raku, sgraffito and mishima Dates: Various (see website) Location: Newport on Tay, Fife forganartscentre.co.uk HOLY LOCH POTTERY Courses: Hand building & throwing tuition for all…

CRAFT SALES EXCEEDED £3 BILLION LAST YEAR! The Crafts Council and eight national partners* commissioned a report – the first for over a decade to look at the consumer market for British craft – which surveyed 5,000 UK residents, 1,500 US citizens and 1,700 professional makers. The report is brimming with statistics and trend insights. Highlighting the changing market, it has provided valuable evidence as to who’s buying what, why and how they’re doing it, and how best to support and grow the craft market. The report reveals that our passion for craft has never been greater – 73% of UK adults had bought craft in 2019 – snapping up almost 25 million handcrafted objects. In a significant shift, almost a third (32%) of today’s buyers are aged under 35…

THE STRATFORD GALLERY 'TRADITION - EAST & WEST' This exhibition sees three of the world's most collected and respected potters coming together with wonderful new work, preserving but moving forward their respective country's ceramic tradition. Doug Fitch and Hannah McAndrew have been working tirelessly from their studio in Galloway, Scotland to produce a collection of work that confirms them as two of the most talented slipware potters in the world. With 56 pieces this will be the largest exhibition of new works from them in 2020. Tomoo Hamada, the grandson of Shoji Hamada and driving force behind the preservation of links with British pottery tradition, has provided a collection of 25 special pieces from his studio and kiln in Mashiko, Japan. Every piece will be available to view and purchase…

PROJECT TWO THROWN VESSEL – MIXING CLAY ON THE WHEEL This is an interesting way of making a mixed clay vessel on the wheel, which is quick and easy to achieve You will need: ■ White clay – earthenware or stoneware 450-900g (2lb+) depending on the size of the cylinder you want to make ■ Coloured clay – could be red earthenware or a small amount of the white clay stained with body stains (see our colouring clay series in issues 13-16) ■ Tools for throwing – water bowl, sponge, cutting wire, straight-sided rib ■ Turning tool ■ Transparent glaze to fit clay type Before you begin: This vessel can be thrown directly on the wheel head because you will learn a tip later that prevents the shape from distorting…

Doug’s DIARY (Photo: Layton Thompson) I’m losing track of time. In usual circumstances, our season would be just getting going, with a succession of shows, virtually back to back, and late nights of working to make the pots to fulfil them. But of course, except for our exhibition at the Stratford Gallery and our annual online exhibition in October, none of that’s happening this year, and the points of punctuation on our calendar aren’t there. Our only regular structure is formed in the knowledge that bin day is on Tuesday, the dairy delivers on Wednesday and the greengrocers deliver on a Thursday. Life in many ways has become so much simpler. Were it not for the technology that enables this to happen, one could easily pretend that this must be…