A New Year Outing for members

Members will be travelling back to the Toolijooa Pottery on Wednesday 18 January 2012 for another inspiring day with Roger Graham and his wife.  See the note on our calendar page and check out the link in the side bar on the right hand side for more about the pottery.

Woodfiring movie to start the New Year

German potter, Markus Bohm will be at Sturt, Mittagong along with Steve Harrison on the 7th January 2012 for the Australian premiere of the DVD movie "Laid Back Woodfiring"  made about the building and firing of a wood fire kiln in Germany by Steve.
The event is open to all at the

Sturt Clubbe Hall,Frensham School, Cnr Waverley Parade and Range Road, Mittagong

at 1.30pm.

Markus says "In 2009 Australian potter Steve Harrison came to Alt Gaarz, Germany, for a very special kiln building workshop: building, loading, firing and unpacking a bourry box kiln within one week! A beautiful movie was made about this event by the professional film maker Andreas Münz."

For more information please have a look at www.mueritzkeramik.de.

To confirm place and time, contact details for Markus (while in Australia)

Müritzkeramik
 Markus Boehm

 e-mail: mb@mueritzkeramik.de
 web   : http://www.mueritzkeramik.de
 mob   : +61 4 1671 5579

A Successful Day

Members who took part in the stall in Cronulla Mall today will all be very happy with the results.
We also sold more raffle tickets for the Christmas Hamper and drew the winning ticket which will be announced in the next newsletter.
Congratulations to our new member, Fran who already has some sales, well done.

Setup and ready to go... along with a few handmade Christmas aprons and stockings for some extra colour

See you in Cronulla Mall on Saturday

Members will be holding a stall from 8:30am to 4pm in the Mall at Cronulla this Saturday 10 December 2011.
We will also be selling tickets for the Christmas Hamper - the profits of which go to the Sylvanvale Foundation for People with Disability, the local charity which we support.

Christmas tree decorations by Anna Ryland

Bowls by Gail Sadleir

Hope you can come along and bring your friends to buy that gift or Christmas decoration or just to say 'Hi'.....

December Meeting

Wednesday night, 7 December will be our last meeting for 2011.  Come along and enjoy a bite to eat and share with your pottery friends.
  Please bring a plate of food, something for a Kris Kringle lucky dip and something to go into the raffle hamper which we run each year to raise funds for Sylvanvale - the local charity foundation for people with Intellectual Disablity.
Hope you can join us.
Have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends and see you in the New Year.  Perhaps at our excursion to the Toolijooa Pottery mid January 2012! (details at the meeting or contact Joe).

Slips Revisited with Joe Simone

At the November meeting Joe took us through a brief history of the use of slips from the earliest Terra sigillata to English Slipware, Italian Majolica and Japanese Slipware.  Each country and culture brings its own interpretation on the way in which slip is used.  As contemporary potters we have all of these styles to choose from to inform our own work.

One of the earliest forms of slip was Terra sigillata used by the Greeks for their classic Red and Black ware.  Joe has used terrasig as the finish for many of his own “Pod” vessels. (See our Members Gallery tab for more of Joe's work).

Joe has also produced good results with terrasig in reduced atmosphere saggar firings known as Black Firing.  Other variations can be gained with modern body stains added to terrasig  for a full colour range

In this image Joe is drying brushed on slip with a heat gun in preparation for a scraffitto design through coloured slip.

Slips are applied at the leather hard stage and may be brushed, poured or sponged on for different effects.

Designs can be made with slips by masking areas of the pot in various ways with paper or tape.

Layers of coloured slips can give a marble effect if the slips are made using the same clay body.

Here Joe is demonstrating the techniques of inlay and slip trailing.

Native American Indian or Pueblo pottery used slips to show very intricate designs and these pots are hand made without a wheel.

This example is from the website:

http://www.puebloarts.com

Members had the opportunity to experiment with the coloured slips Joe had brought along, using his leather hard tiles. 

Here Gail (also in our Members Gallery) brushed on the blue, scraffitoed clouds, slip trailed the flowers in multiple colours and sponged on the ground.

Thanks Joe for a very interesting and informative demonstration.  We will all have another look at slips and how we might use them.

Taken from Port Hacking Potters Group Newsletter, November/December 2011.  
Copyright PGPG 2011

TAFE Gymea Ceramics Students Market Day

The students of Gymea TAFE Ceramics studio will be holding a Market Day in the College grounds on Thursday 24 November from 10am to 3pm.  If you are in the area go along and support them.

Recipients of the Port Hacking Potters Award for Gymea TAFE Students 2011

Each year the Port Hacking Potters sponsor an award for students attending Gymea TAFE Ceramic Design Studios.  The sponsorship also includes monies from the Sutherland Shire Arts Council which the Potters Group administer.
This year there were two recipients, Kristy Craig and Shannon Duffy who are undertaking the Diploma in Ceramics.  Congratulations to you both!

Kristy Craig - Diploma II High Achievers Award 2011 - work titled "Pop"

Shannon Duffy - Diploma I High Achievers Award 2011 with her bowls decorated as a tribute to the painters, Braque, Barbier and Van Gogh.

November Meeting - see you there?

The November meeting will see our Secretary, Joe Simone take us through the traditional method of slip application with a few variations you might not have seen before.  Come along at 7:30pm and see what you can learn, have a cuppa and share with other potters before the business meeting.  Visitors welcome.

TAFE Students and the Master Class exhibit together

Members of our group who undertook the Master Class at Gymea Ceramic Design Studio earlier this year will be included in the end of year Exhibition at the Muse Gallery at Ultimo Campus.
Opening night is Monday 31st October at 6pm and the show will continue until 3rd November 2011.  Its an easy walk from Central Station via the underground tunnel and then there are no parking worries. Hope to see you there...