Innehållsförteckning för #82 från ClayCraft

While I love this time of year, it’s usually quite a stressful one for deadlines – in publishing and in crafts! If you sell your work, the run-up to Christmas means you must create lots of work for markets, exhibitions, and websites. It can be daunting, and often, the only way to get through it is to get your head down and just soldier on. Long, late nights, early mornings, weekends, and breaking things down into manageable chunks you then put in order of priority. (I sometimes make lists of the lists I must make!). This juggling can seem endless but then comes the time when you’re finished. There is nothing left to do but breathe a sigh of relief. And how sweet that relief feels! You can turn your…

Celadon glazes are transparent grey-green glazes originally made in China in the Song dynasty (960-1279). The Chinese were attempting to imitate the colour of jade and made their glazes using mixtures of feldspar, clay and wood ash. Celadon glazes range from olive green to pale blue in colour and satin matt to glossy in texture. They can sometimes be crazed or crackled; covered in a fine network of cracks. The type of clay used affects the glaze colour; celadons are often green on stoneware and blue on porcelain. The blue or green colour of the celadon glaze traditionally comes from small quantities (0.5-1%) of iron oxide fired in a reduction atmosphere in a fuel-burning kiln. Any titanium dioxide impurities in the clay will combine with the iron oxide in the…

YORK ART GALLERY WELCOMES LOAN OF GRAYSON PERRY’S ENTRANCE TO THE FOREST York Art Gallery will host a pair of vases by Grayson Perry on a generous long-term loan from the Thimblestitch and Bramble Collection. York Art Gallery is home to the Centre for Ceramic Art, which holds the largest collection of British Studio Ceramics in the UK. This is a wonderful opportunity to put Perry’s works in conversation with its rich collection of ceramics. Entrance to the Forest was inspired by John Singer Sargent’s 1882 painting The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, which is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The painting depicts the four Boit daughters scattered throughout a shadowy interior space that is dominated by two Japanese vases. The vases are larger than…

DIFFICULTY RATING Before you begin: We have demonstrated how to make these rings in previous issues of ClayCraft, both hand-built and thrown, and details of those issues can be found at the end of this project for those who need more in-depth instruction for making them. However, we are including brief instructions for making a ring by both methods here as a reminder. TO HAND BUILD A RING You will need: ■ Clay of choice – earthenware or stoneware in your preferred colour■ Rolling pin, roller guides (5mm thick), plastic sheet.■ Polystyrene ring – available from craft outlets in many sizes■ General tools and ribs 1 Roll a large slab of clay on the plastic sheet, using the roller guides to ensure it’s an even thickness. Once rolled out, smooth…

As everyone who is involved with ceramics already knows, the potter has to be a patient person. Running a studio where our clients only have three hours a week to indulge their passion for clay makes it harder to gain that necessary patience. It’s difficult to persuade people to spend half of their precious time fettling a piece, or ensuring that slabs are properly compressed and dried sufficiently to build their creation. We are constantly encouraging quality over quantity, but have every sympathy with members who are so keen to finish a special item for a birthday or other occasion. It’s particularly the case at this time of year when our shelves are packed with Christmas items. It is the season for lots of small, flat decorations. This is fine…

November is drawing to a close in a typically soggy and windy manner. Last night, strong gusts stripped the lane-side trees of most of their beautiful autumn leaves, reducing the deciduous elements of the countryside to bony-fingered branches. And that's how they will remain now for these darker months. I miss the milder weather of Devon, from whence I came some 10 years ago. The autumn and winter always seem so long up here in southwest Scotland, and I do find it challenging sometimes. Despite the climate, I love my life here and wouldn’t ever change it. I had a particularly tough winter last year, with a debilitating shoulder injury, followed by the loss of my dear mother in January, all of which contributed to a very bleak and difficult…

DIFFICULTY RATING You will need: ■ Clay of choice – earthenware or stoneware. 1.8kg (4lb), plus extra for the handle and to throw a pad for a batt if needed■ Tools to throw – water bowl, sponge, ribs and cutting wire■ Glaze of choice■ Thin masking tape if decorating as shown (available from craft outlets and often found in the sewing materials section) Before you begin: This form is a tall cylinder and is best thrown on a batt unless you’re confident about lifting work off the wheel head. If you don’t have a quick-fit mechanism for your wheel, you will need to throw a pad to secure the batt onto. A note to prevent wordy repetition Always compress the clay at the rim after each lift – pinch the…

At a recent meeting of artists accepted for the 2024 Open Studios in my locality, the usual questions (‘How do I send you a video?’, ‘What is the deadline for my CV?’) were interrupted by a disturbance: a group of applicants who had not been accepted had turned up and wanted to know why. The organisers – all volunteers – were taken aback. They didn’t explicitly say so, but this meeting was for the accepted, not the not-accepted. The selection policy was defended in a variety of plausible ways, and the meeting moved on to more mundane issues – signage, parking, marketing and so forth. This incident got me thinking that those who felt understandably upset about being excluded could have decided that a salon des refusés was the answer.…

DIFFICULTY RATING You will need: For making ■ Clay of choice – earthenware or stoneware, but preferably a smooth variety■ Rolling pin, 3-5mm thick roller guides, plastic sheet■ General tools and ribs■ Small sponge To decorate ■ Sticky dots■ A colourful glaze■ A strongly contrasting glaze■ Brushes for application Before you begin: For this project, you will need two moulds. One large mug or small vase sized in a simple flared shape similar to the pink vessel shown.The second is a small/medium semi-sphere. Both types of mould can be purchased from pottery suppliers and some craft outlets – a quick search online will help you, OR you could make the simple dropout moulds from objects you already have – like a drinking glass or small vase, and a ball or…