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 many visitors but sales were modest. Cambridge Comtemporary Art Gallery Peter Cuthbertson, Dameon Lynn, in April represented Anglian Potters Katharina Klug, Jane Sanders and myself wonderfully well. I viewed it on the first were the AP members involved. It was Saturday morning, and Colin Saunders good to exhibit in Northants, and meet already had a teapot ‘red spotted’. See some new potters. page 6 for Colin’s report and Anja’s photographs of the show. AGM at Mundford in the Shires By the time this Newsletter is published the AGM will have happened, but I Julie Houghton of Corby , would like to thank all committee officers promoted this show in Burton Latimer for their service and support. on 4 and 5 May as part of Craft and Design Month. This new venture Victor brought together 13 potters and attracted

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 Editor’s Notes now possible for all members to have It is difficult to remember now that their own profile page, where they can we have some May sunshine how showcase their work to the public. If you bitterly cold it was on the Sunday of have any comments or need help, don’t Nigel Edmondson’s demonstration at hesitate to get in touch with Geetha, our Mundford. I hope that members who, Webmaster. like me, were snowed in at home and A reminder: don’t forget to let me know were unable to make the journey will about shows you may be involved in, and enjoy the article and photographs kindly I will give them some publicity. Don’t supplied by Liz Chipchase and Marion forget, too, to send me pictures and short Cover: Lidded vessel by Doug Johns. It does sound as if those who articles if your summer holiday takes you Fitch Photo: Carolyn Postgate made it had a great time, as did the to interesting places and ! participants of Ostinelli and Priest’s Carolyn

 Anglian Potters Newsletter Summer 2012

Contents Page 2 Chairman’s Report|Editor’s Notes|Committee Page 3 New Selected Members Page 4 Nigel Edmondson Demonstration Page 6 Selected Members at the CCA Gallery, Cambridge Page 7 Running a Gallery in Modern Times Summer Exhibition at Emmanuel College Page 8 Doug Fitch at Mundford Page 11 Two Bits of Good news from Norfolk|Members’ Websites Page 12 Ceramic Helpline|Benefits of Membership Page 13 Website Update Page 14 Ostinelli & Priest Workshop Page 17 Members’ Shows Page 18 My Favourite Tool|Book Review Page 19 AP Stores

Page 24 For Sale|Diary|Membership Fees|Advertising Rates Logan Frank Owl – Ostinelli & Priest workshop

New Selected Members 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 Angela Mellor completed her studies and started developing her current work. Anja Penger-Onyett Christine Pike, with her intricately sculpted work Peter Deans of human and animal figures. Christine trained and worked in soft sculptures and has in the past Christine Pike 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 Edmondson Demonstration 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 . 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 began his demonstration by means including: impressing the clay with assembling one of his slab built a volcanic rock, wiping on soft clay with landscape pots. The sides of these are a palette knife, attaching small balls of made from slabs that have been placed clay (Peter Beard’s clay body, which is over a former of plywood bent to give very white) or thin rolls of crank clay to a gentle curve to the clay. These two emphasize the appearance of strata. curved sides are joined together with strips of clay some 3 inches wide using made from dried, reconstituted and Liz Chipchase sieved crank applied with a slip trailer. Nigel’s pot in a landscape – a slide from the laptop The edges are tapped together with a presentation wooden batten, checked for verticality Like all our demonstrators, Nigel and then placed on a slab of clay that brought along an assortment of his will form the base. The outline of the favourite tools and since he works with pot is marked on this and then the coarse textured Craft Crank clay these base slab is cut approximately 5 mm tended to be on the large side. Thus, larger all round and drainage holes are he uses lengths of saw blade rather punched out. The base and pot are than a serrated kidney to scrape back scored, slipped and joined together and and texture his work, a pizza cutter for the extra 5mm of clay is drawn up to cutting slabs to shape, wooden battens form an angled lip that will not retain for tapping seams together and kitchen water. The top of the pot is then cut scouring pads to smooth off edges. to give a pleasing curve and the whole pot is textured, first by scraping back Marion Johns with the saw blade and then by lightly Similar but rather less extensive polishing with a rubber kidney to decoration is used on his pebble pots. soften the effect. A central panel is then These are constructed from two shallow decorated in Nigel’s distinctive manner. bowl-shaped slabs formed over hump He uses a combination of texture and moulds joined together with a coil of colour on this panel to give the effect of clay. The coil is smoothed on the outside rock strata. The colour is applied with using a wooden batten and the closed a sponge and is basically a white slip (1 pot is then centred on a banding wheel part ball clay:1 part china clay) to which so that two concentric rings marking

Marion Johns Scarva high firing colours may be added. the foot of the pot can be applied. Favourite tools The texture is provided by a variety of Drainage holes are then cut within  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 Marion Johns of brown or white clay into the pot to Building a snowman on the football pitch at Mundford highlight this pattern and flattened them by gently beating with a batten resulting in a mosaic of clay circles. After 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. Marion Johns Marion Johns

Marion Johns Constructing a pebble pot and a slabbed vessel Nigel’s passion for texture is particularly apparent in his ‘monoliths’, tall columnar Finished pebble pot, detail 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 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 Liz Chipchase  Selected Members at the CCA Gallery, Cambridge 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 Anja Penger-Onyett 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 Anja Penger-Onyett Anja Penger-Onyett  Running a gallery in modern times..... Summer Exhibition, I have been doing this job as Selected of their work, the gallery reimburses Emmanuel College Members Secretary for a while now the artist directly by bank transfer. No Entry forms for the Summer Exhibition and in that time I have dealt with a few cheques! And we all have to get used to at Emmanuel College will be sent out galleries. I thought I would tell you what that, don’t we? by email (or post to those who haven’t was different about dealing with the I don’t think the CCA is very unusual supplied an email address) around the Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery in doing all this. I haven’t met this end of the first week in June. (CCA). procedure before but I have to say I do If you haven’t received a form by then, In times of ever-rising printing and like it! contact Jackie Watson on 01603 261 951 mailing costs, the CCA completely avoids Anja Penger-Onyett or email [email protected] sending anything out by letter. No Private Selected Members Secretary 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 Picture 1 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 Picture 2 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

 Doug Fitch at Mundford 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 Heather Graham Heather Graham 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 Heather Graham Carolyn Postgate Carolyn Postgate  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. Anton Todd Left: decorating a tall jug 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. Heather Graham Heather Graham Heather Graham Heather Graham Heather Graham Heather Graham Freeman John Carolyn Postgate  Kilns for ceramics

New and second-hand equipment Kilns and furnaces serviced and repaired Potters wheels – pugmills

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10 Two bits of good news from Norfolk Members’ Websites: www.angelamellor.com Congratulations to Michael www.brendagreenart.co.uk Wickwar, a recently-joined www.cathydarcy.com Anglian Potter, who has www.ceramicsbuyanja.co.uk been awarded the Medal for www.corbykilns.co.uk Excellence for 3D Creative www.christinepike.com Craft by the City and Guilds, www.getfiredup.org for his imaginative ceramic www.heathergrahampotter.com creations. This prestigious www.helenhpottery.co.uk award recognises the www.helenmartino.co.uk achievements of students who www.iangeorgeceramics.co.uk produce exceptional work, www.janburridge.co.uk and show a true journey of www.janehollidge.co.uk progression. Michael reckons www.jjvincent.com that, although it is not exactly www.johnmasterton.co.uk a Masters in Fine Art, it is www.judsonsinfrance.com more than he ever hoped to www.katharina.klug-art.com achieve, but also recognises www.lolaswainpottery.com that he “has gone from www.madeincley.co.uk being a rich builder to a poor www. ceramicist”! madelainemurphyfinetableware.com At the Lion Awards evening www.maggygardiner.com at The Round House in Camden he was www.mariamcullumceramics.co.uk also awarded third place in the Lifetime www.obypottery.co.uk Learner awards. www.patsouthwood.co.uk With the encouragement of his tutors www.potterycourses.com and fellow potters in AP, he will be www.potterycourses.net concentrating on his ceramic sculptures www.richardbaxter.co.uk and looking forward to taking part in www.robbibbyceramics.co.uk more exhibitions. www.rockwellpottery.com www.rowanhumberstone.co.uk Congratulations also to Michelle Daniels, www.stephenmurfitt.co.uk an Anglian Potter with a wealth of www.susancupitt.co.uk experience, who combines her creative www.suffolkstoneware.co.uk life with teaching at Wensum Lodge. www.swaffhampotter.co.uk One of her Raku vases, inspired by her travels in Thailand, features in the Contact the Editor if you want to Reviews section of the latest Ceramic add your site to this list. Review. Jackie Watson

SHORT COURSES Form, function and family – wheel thrown Chris Keenan 31 August – 3 September Decorative ceramics with sculptural press moulds Kate McBride 14 – 16 September Making bowls with vitreous slip decoration Carolyn Genders 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 Tim

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 ,[email protected] 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.

11 Ceramic Helpline Benefits of Membership Selected Members to contact: Amongst the many benefits of becoming a member of Anglian Potters is the Alan Foxley: handbuilding, opportunity to show your work in the ‘open’ exhibitions. We recognise that for those reduction firing 01799 522631 who are just starting out as makers, and are still finding their way in terms of skills and Colin Saunders: mould-making, knowledge, exhibiting can be a daunting business. Is my work good enough? Am I transfers, ready to show what I make? 01379 588278 Friends and family may be encouraging, but possibly biased in their views (or even Victor Knibbs: electric kilns, just being kind) so may not be best placed to offer you the advice you need. You can oxidised , modifying of course visit one of our exhibitions and make judgements on the standard of work clay bodies 01480 214741 of your fellow members. If you think, “I could do better than that”, then maybe you Deborah Baynes: raku, salt should try! glaze, stoneware, Another option is to use the support offered by some of the Selected Members who (reduction & oxidised) willingly offer help and encouragement to any member seeking advice about their 01473 788300 work. These reviews are informal but can offer guidance on how you might progress Beryl Hines: general, raku, your skills or might suggest areas to which you could give further consideration. The earthenware 01473 735437 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 Usch Spettigue: raw glazing/ there will be more selected members present. A short meeting just after lunch is the single firing 01473 787587 usual pattern. Margaret Gardiner: salt / soda The Selected Membership provides Anglian Potters with a broad knowledge base, and firing 01279 654025 those willing to give advice on many skill-based areas give their contact details in the Sonia Lewis: high-fired ware, Newsletter. porcelain 01353 688316 Members who are looking to apply for Selected Membership are also advised to have Angela Mellor: bone china a review of their work prior to making a formal application. This can be arranged paperclay and slipcasting through the Selected Members Secretary, Anja Penger-Onyett 01353 666675 Applications can only be accepted from those who have been a member for at least a If you are willing to give advice year and have shown work in the annual open exhibitions. and be added to this list, please As a guide, the qualities the Selection Committee will be looking for will include: contact the Editor. • 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

12 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 theAccount 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 theUpdate 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 underGallery 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 theGallery 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 [email protected] Geetha Alagirisamy AP Webmaster

13 Ostinelli & Priest Workshop 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

particularly admire the way Paul makes figure of a seated dog. This is very much his canine beasts look wild and comical the Priest philosophy: to ‘go with the at the same time, and I wanted to see if flow’ and respond to the direction of I could capture some of that same spirit. the clay. What starts out as a dog might At first, things did not go so well and end up as a pig or a hare: to use another I was struggling with my head study musical analogy, his method is more akin of a no-breed mutt until Paul came to to freeform jazz than classical music. the rescue and, with a few deft touches, Many people elected to attend an adjusted my lump of clay into the full Ostinelli & Priest workshop in order Liz Chipchase Liz Chipchase Logan Frank 14 Frank Logan Frank Liz Chipchase Frank Logan Frank Frank Logan Frank

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. Liz Chipchase

to loosen up their sculpting style and with a wire from a solid block of clay, Gaynor to guide us and everyone was become freer in their work; myself result in beautiful and surprising textures, able to complete – or nearly complete included. It was a little daunting at first which can be enhanced once biscuit-fired – at least one animal during the session. just to plunge in but I soon overcame my with judicious applications of colour. Due to the popularity of this ‘taster’ apprehension and it was very satisfying A one-day workshop may be a hostage workshop, Ostinelli & Priest have agreed to see my piece come together quickly, to fortune in that the hopes and to run further workshops in future, once I had got myself into Paul’s expectations of students to go home the first of which will be devoted to method of working. Like all the most with a finished piece can so often be making a cockerel in their distinctive experienced potters and sculptors I met with disappointment. The pressure style, sculpted over a turned base (bases have watched, he manipulates the clay of learning new techniques in a limited will be supplied). If you are interested in with a very light touch, hardly using any amount of time might well result in attending, please contact Frank Logan pressure at all. While my own efforts failure if the tutor isn’t able to give on: 01953 688353 were more heavy-handed, I was still able sufficient attention to each person, but Christine Pike to appreciate how the thin layers, sliced we were blessed to have both Paul and

15 16 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 Stephen Murfitt 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. Stephen will be taking part in the Cambridge Open Studios for all 4 weekends in July at ‘The Workshop’, 18 Stretham Road, 8-23 September ngela ellor Wicken CB7 5XH The central exhibition venue will be at A M Everyone welcome! Yarrow Gallery, Oundle from 15 Septem- Open Studio Exhibition Tel. 01353 721160 ber-6 October, with a private view on 14 ‘Coastal Light’ Open 11am-6pm 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 She discusses using interiors for ‘lifestyle’ kidney, but I cut a lot of my own shapes shots, showing work in context, or with to get the curves I want. I think this other complementary styles, and also Debenhams card still has points on it!!! working with models – perhaps more Madelaine Murphy useful for textiles than ceramics. One chapter covers the variety of 3D work – glass, fabric and leather, silver and Book Review other metals, ceramics, jewelry and lamps and lighting. Further short chapters Photograph your own discuss 2D work, photographing work Art and Craft at exhibitions and trade shows, and Sussie Ahlburg finally commissioning a professional £16.99, 144 pp photographer. A&C Black, London The book is illustrated with hundreds of I have to confess a special interest in this photographs of many types of object, book, as the author has photographed often different views of the same object, my work, and has included a few but with different camera settings, photographs of my pieces as illustrations different lighting conditions, different of different aspects of photographic ask the right questions when buying angles. Each chapter has these practical techniques, so I might be predisposed to equipment from a photographic shop. examples, all taken by the author. For favourable comments! She then moves on to the nitty-gritty me, these photographs are the strength While this is not a book that will give of taking photographs of craft objects, of the book – it is so much easier to get you a deep grounding in the technical starting with camera settings, depth an understanding of the possibilities details of photography, it does give a of field and exposure, and then taking for an image by seeing these examples, good overview of many of the issues the reader through the issues of rather than reading a weighty manual of associated with making images of your lighting, composition, backdrops etc. camera instructions (my digital SLR came own (or other people’s) work. The Recognizing that not everyone will have with a 600 page manual and a DVD of author covers the choice of medium access to photographic lighting, she also instructions!). (film or digital), cameras and lenses, at covers photographing work outside and John Masterton a level that would at least allow you to using natural light and backgrounds. 18 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.

19 For Sale For Sale Diary Dates 2012 Potters’ Camp: Fitzwilliam Wheel A large quantity of commercial slip moulds: 8-12 August, Shotley Wooden cabinet, fibreglass Summer Show: Vases in assorted sizes, some splash tray. Large amounts of 18 August-5 September suitable for garden use clay can be thrown with ease. Emmanuel College, Cambridge Bud Vases, Urns & Pots Low noise and vibration. Elizabeth Smith: Animal Figures (Domestic and In good condition 9 September, Mundford Wild) £800 www.crafts.org.uk Kitchen Clocks & other Clocks Throwing bats (large) Selected Members’ Show: Lamp Bases included if required 25 September-22 October Figures & Indian Figures Pugmill Reunion Gallery, Felixstowe Christmas Decorations Horizontal pug mill Alan Parris & Billy Byles: Bowls (assorted) in good condition 21 October, Mundford Birds & Oil Burners £250 approx www.aylesfordpottery.co.uk Tankards & Goblets 6 bags white earthenware clay Christmas Show: Mugs, Teapots & Plates (superwhite AW23) £30 17 November-16 December Horses (carousel) All Saints’ Church, Cambridge Contact Sue Bruce Fantasy Figures e: [email protected] Cards & Picture Frames t: 01394 384865 Bathroom sets Membership Fees Angels, Fairies & Clowns Ordinary £27 – half year £15 Please telephone Tina Thurman Joint £45 for two people at the same FREE address – half year £25 on 01284 827281 Institution £50 for a college or workshop to a good home! – half year £27 (details on application to the Membership Secretary) A set of gas burners which Student £10 for full-time ceramics were used to fire a very large students – proof of status is required gas kiln (40 cubic feet, I think! ). Also a gas ‘pre heating’ torch with pipe and connec- Advertising Rates Price per issue, 4 issues a year tions for propane cylinders. I Full page w 18cm x h 26.8cm £60.00 will be happy if a potter can Half page w 18cm x h 13.4cm £30.00 put them to good use and Third page w 18cm x h 8.8cm £20.00 therefore they are free for any- 2 column w 11.8cm x h 17.6cm £26.00 2 column w 11.8cm x h 8.8cm £13.00 one who would like to collect 1 column w 5.7cm x h 17.6cm £13.00 them from my studio. 1 column w 5.7cm x h 8.8cm £6.50 Contact Stephen Murfitt Leaflet inserts (350) £35.00 Tel. 01353 721160 Copy dates: ‘The Workshop’ 18 Stretham Landscape vessel by Nigel Edmondson Spring Issue 1 February Road, Wicken, CB7 5XH Photo: Liz Chipchase Summer Issue 1 May Autumn Issue 1 August Winter Issue 1 November Copy to be supplied as .jpg, .tif, .pdf Advertisements can be designed if text and pictures (minimum 300dpi) are provided. Printed in full colour. Contact: Carolyn Postgate, Editor e: [email protected] t: 01954 211033 YOUR LOCAL SUPPLIER FOR MATERIALS, TOOLS & EQUIPMENT www.angliaclaysupplies.co.uk deadline for the Autumn Newsletter: 1 August 2012 "OHMJB$MBZ4VQQMJFT 6OJU"MCZ$SBGU$FOUSF  for publication by $SPNFS3PBE &SQJOHIBN /PSXJDI /PSGPML /32& BOHMJBDMBZTVQQMJFT!HNBJMDPN 1 September 2012

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