Innehållsförteckning för #50 från ClayCraft

Welcome I speak to Jacqui Atkin, the mastermind behind our projects, nearly every day – often, several times a day – and 99% of the time, it’s via a video call. My husband and I have always worked from home, and we’re used to being in separate offices, only coming together at lunchtime and the end of the day. Since lockdown, my calls with Jacqui have often been the only communication I have with anyone outside the house for weeks on end, and they’ve provided me with welcome (and necessary) bouts of human interaction. I’m sure that many of you have been in a similar position during lockdown, and, for me, apart from now being able to see family, the most exciting part of the restrictions being lifted is being…

EVENTS POP-UP 2 POTTERY Sunday 22 August from 10am to 4pm, 20 stalls in an open-air market. Featuring a variety of ceramic artists, from famous names to beginners. Held at Fox Valley Retail Park, Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire S36 2AB. Free entry and plenty of parking! For more information contact Graham Northing senpacoordinator@outlook.com SHEFFIELD CERAMIC FESTIVAL Kelham Island Industrial Museum Alma Street, Sheffield 24-25 July 2021 Forty stalls of local ceramic artists in the beautiful industrial museum. More information from Graham Northing senpacoordinator@outlook.com HARROW OPEN STUDIOS 2021 June and July 2021 with features online throughout the year. A group of 50 independent and diverse artists have come together to make up Harrow Open Studios. Their focus is on making art more accessible by inviting the public to visit their studios. This…

A CHILDREN’S WONDERLAND Paul Bailey looks at the mysterious work of Jean Tolkovsky Jean has always been an avid reader and having spent so much time reading to her children, she decided her work should focus on childhood memories and experiences that could be portrayed through the characters inspired by fairytales and nursery rhymes. Her first step was to visit The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London, where she studied the way in which toys were constructed – the arms, heads, seams, fabric, ceramic, wood and wheels, etc. Over time, Jean’s characters reappear but may have altered, and many new ones have emerged, as more of her own story merges with fairytales. New pieces may be inspired by a character, or maybe even a sentence from a novel, with…

PROJECT THREE BIRD BATH PLANTER In the last issue, we showed you how to throw a bird bath in three parts, so we thought it only fair to make another using hand-building techniques for those of you who don’t throw. This version has the added advantage of doubling up as a planter and is made in four parts to stand a little taller in the garden YOU WILL NEED: ■ 19kg (for our size) of a warm-coloured stoneware clay such as crank ■ Paper or card to make templates – plus pencil, ruler and cutting knife ■ Cutting mat (optional) ■ Rolling pin, roller guides (min 5mm thick – can be thicker), large plastic sheet ■ Square dish mould – can be plaster or bisque ■ Texturing tools ■ Large…

NEW BOOKS A selection of the latest clay-related releases The Last Potter of Black Burton Richard Bateson and the potteries of Burton-in-Lonsdale Lee Cartledge Pottery was a key industry for Burton-in-Lonsdale on the borders of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria for nearly three centuries until its demise in 1944. This book tells Richard Bateson’s story – the last potter of Black Burton, a renowned thrower and teacher. It encapsulates the history and traditions of this lost trade, the personalities, the struggles, and the humour, alongside the hard work. This new book will be of interest to historians of rural industry, the north-west of England and the pottery trade. It will also interest today’s ceramicists who will enjoy the author’s direct connection with the hard work of mining and preparing clay, and…

BACK ISSUES £5.99 PER ISSUE INCLUDING P&P ISSUE 40 Egg cups off the hump Throwing mixed clays Slip-decorated slab plates Leach 100 Corona vase Sarah Monk ISSUE 43 Thrown toothbrush holder Thrown soap dish Slab-built egg tray Pinched bud vase Slab-built fox Troubleshooting glazing ISSUE 48 Thrown lidded canister Pinched eggs Cylinder vase with tubelining Egg bowl Hare on a hill ISSUE 41 Mugs thrown five ways Glaze test panel Bisque plate mould Thrown cylinder vase Reader's mini salt kiln US vs UK glaze ingredients ISSUE 44 Thrown tray & vase Partridge/pear tree candelabra Porcelain tree angels Leaping deer for walls Nesting dishes ISSUE 49 Thrown bird bath Garden oya Pinched dogs MKM Tools spotlight Eastcott Studio update Zinc oxide glazes ISSUE 42 Thrown salt pig Lidded jam pots Plates…

ORDER OUR NEXT ISSUE TODAY AND GET FREE DELIVERY ISSUE 51 ON SALE 21 MAY DON'T MISS OUT! PAY THE NORMAL SHOP PRICE* AND GET THE NEXT ISSUE DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR. ORDER TODAY! Order online at SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/CC51 Call now on 01959 543747** Quote ref: CC51 Terms and conditions apply. You should receive your copy on or around 21 May. *Delivery is included in the cover price for UK customers only. An additional £1 will be added to any overseas addresses. **Lines open Mon-Fri 8.30am – 5.30pm. Calls charged at your standard network rate. Front cover for illustration purposes and subject to change.…

IN THE NEWS THE CLAYCRAFT CHALLENGE The third round of entries is here, and once again, we've been very impressed by the submissions. This month's winner is Gloria from FabHappy. Congratulations Gloria! The judges were very impressed with the delicacy and quality of the whole build and Gloria's attention to detail. She also sent a series of photos documenting the process, which you can see on our website. Gloria said: I've never made anything so big (30cm), so this was a real challenge. But I really enjoy slab building and have a fair deal of DIY experience which stood me in good stead (eg making mitred edges and calculating angles). The inspiration for my building was the Great Hall (ruins of) at Nymans' Gardens, a National Trust estate in Sussex.…

PROJECT ONE THROWN DEEP BOWL VASE Is this a bowl, or is it a vase? You decide! It looks fabulous with flowers in a simple Japanese-style display but equally good containing a more traditional arrangement. On the other hand, it is a perfectly functional item for use in the kitchen! You will need: ■ 900g (2lb) clay – preferably white stoneware, plus extra to throw a pad for a batt■Tools for throwing – water bowl, sponge, ribs, cutting wire■Two complementary glazes – don’t choose runny varieties; look for glazes that stay put in firing – matt glazes are best■Liquitex matt medium■Sgraffito tool or sturdy pin■Brushes for glaze application DIFFICULTY RATING A reminder when throwing – to save wordy repetition! Always compress the clay at the rim after each lift –…

Doug’s DIARY (Photo: Layton Thompson) While the first two months of the year seemed to last forever, suddenly it’s the end of March, and I can’t believe it. The countryside is full of lambs, the sky above them filled with opportunist kites and buzzards, hovering and screeching and hoping to clear up the by-products or misfortunes of lambbirth. Mad March hares are chasing across fields; the birds are singing sweetly, and the hawthorn in the hedges is tentatively bursting its buds where the occasional sunshine is warmest. Primroses outside the workshop, gaudy in red and purple, announce that spring is upon us with their welcome brashness. (Photo: Hannah McAndrew) I’ve had an odd few weeks since my last diary, dominated by the lows and highs of my old head, which most…

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 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: Dundee dundeeceramicsworkshop.com FORGAN ARTS CENTRE Courses: All levels…

YORK ART GALLERY RECEIVES SIGNIFICANT DONATION More than 40 ceramic works, many of international significance, have been acquired by York Art Gallery's Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA). The ceramics, which date from the 1970s to the 2000s, were part of a larger selection of ceramics and fine art belonging to the late American collector Patricia Barnes. Working with the Barnes' family, the Contemporary Art Society has helped place some of the work into appropriate collections in the UK, where the collector spent part of her life. The collection includes significant works from the period by artists such as Carol McNichol, Alison Britton and Quentin Bell, many previously not represented in CoCA's collection. Dr Helen Walsh, curator of ceramics, said: "This group of remarkable objects off ers the opportunity to showcase…

Confessions of a novice Textured slabbuilt press dishes When I find a new technique, I often get temporarily obsessed with it, and so it was with these texture rollers. Suddenly, everything had texture potential! I loved the simplicity of last month’s press dishes, especially the way I’d been able to make them in a unique shape by creating my own press formers. I found, though, that I was quite limited in terms of texture. I had a bit of wallpaper, a doily, a rubber mat to go under rugs… and that was about it! However, as I searched for other household items that might do the trick, I stumbled on lots of beads and small lumpy things that I’d squirrelled away over the past few years ‘for pottery purposes’. It…