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NEWSLETTER

AUTUMN2008

IN THIS ISSUE:Potters’ CampSummer at Emmanuel CollegeJeremy NicholsSmoke Firing

IN THIS ISSUE:Potters’ CampSummer at Emmanuel CollegeJeremy NicholsSmoke Firing

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YOUR NEW EDITOR

CHAIRMAN’S REPORTErica MattinglyIt is with great sadness that Ireport the death of EricaMattingly. Erica was a verytalented potter as well as a greatfriend and supporter of theAssociation. A fuller tribute willfollow in the Winter Newsletter inDecember.

Potters’ CampThis year’s camp was as goodas ever, despite a spectacularthunderstorm on the first night.The main innovation was thebuilding of a pizza oven,together with dough mixingdemonstrations! The Pizza Partywas a great success.The Saturday communal mealand social was wonderful. Wewere entertained by theColchester Jazz Co-operationfollowed by a specially writtenPotters Camp song and somespontaneous communitysinging, while JJ Vincent used ahairdryer to clear rainwater fromhis amplifier. JJ then entertainedus wonderfully with a marvellousset of R&B and Rock classics.He wound us up into a frenzy ofdancing and excitement.Wonderful!!!

ANGLIAN POTTERS OFFICERSPRESIDENTLady Sainsbury

CHAIRMANVictor Knibbs

SECRETARYSusan Cupitt

TREASURERLiz Chipchase

EDITORCarolyn Postgate

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYMary Wyatt

PUBLICITY SECRETARYSally Macpherson

EXHIBITIONS ORGANISERSCathy D’ArcyHelen Humphreys

SELECTED MEMBERS SECRETARYAnja Penger

COMMITTEE MEMBERSBrenda GreenMargaret Gardiner

WEBMASTERIan George

EVENTS ORGANISERSHeather GrahamFelicity Hoyle

POTTERS CAMP ORGANISERJerry Finlayson

Summer ExhibitionOur Exhibition at EmmanuelCollege, Cambridge lookedsplendid in this wonderful venue.The bright August evening lightenhanced a wonderful display ofexcellent and varied work, andthere were plenty ofcomplimentary comments.We kept the shelving to a lowerlevel and arranged the exhibitionwork around the walls and the‘shop’ two tables in the centre.The lower shelving created asense of openness, as onecould see right across the room.My thanks go to all whocontributed in any way, with thehard work being shared amongmany.Victor

Following in the footsteps ofMark Boyd and maintaining thehigh quality he established willbe a very hard job.Cover: Ely Cathedral by Erica Mattingly,

photographed by Susan Cupitt

This time I have been sentmany great contributions frommembers – too many to fit intothis issue, in fact – so do pleasekeep up the good work!There will be more to come onthe Potters’ Camp, with extraphotos, a poem and the pizzastory yet to be told.Email me details if you areexhibiting anywhere, so that wecan let other members know.Contact me if you would like totry your hand at journalism, andwrite up any of thedemonstration days.Carolyn

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POSTCARDSGreenware in the sunlight:photographed by CatherineJagger in a pottery workshopnear Hanoi on a recent visit toVietnam.Send photographs of pottersand potteries from your travelsto the Editor.

ERICA MATTINGLYThere was a magnificent specialdisplay of Erica’s work in theSummer Exhibition atEmmanuel College, and herhusband Harold and membersof the family have been to visitthe exhibition.There is to be a MemorialService for her in Cambridge onthe 9th November at theFriends’ Meeting House in JesusLane at 3 pm, followed byrefreshments. Fellow potterswould be very welcom to come.

Erica’s Hatfield House façade

CAMBRIDGESHIRE

ART FAIRChilford Hall Vineyard6-8 June 2008The fair’s second year was astunning show of a great varietyof fine art.Most of the galleriesrepresented were showingaintings, prints and sculpture,but it was a nice surprise tocome across two of ourmembers: Rob Bibby’sburnished jars and PatArmstrong’s fumed vesselswere on display on theWoodbine Contemporary Artsstand.

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Carolyn Postgate

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a special joining glue, made upof body clay, bentonite, gumarabic and potash feldspar. Thismixture can then be squeezedfrom a bottle and pieces joinedwithout recourse to slip andwater. Again, this is very preciseand involved working, butbecause his pieces willeventually be salt-fired, hewants to makes sure that theywill not spring apart or crackunder the corrosive vapours.Jeremy is very particular abouthis making, in part because thisinfluences the patterns of saltglaze effects.

Jeremy Nichols’ obsession withmaking things started early. As achild, he was given an Airfix kit.There followed 10 years as amodel maker before going on tostudy aeronautical engineeringat Manchester University. Thisproved unsatisfactory and hewent travelling instead. Onreturning to the UK, he retrainedas a social worker, and thendiscovered pottery at eveningclasses.In this early phase of his pottery,Jeremy picked up the style ofthe various potters whosecourses he went on: PhilRogers, Mike Dodd and others,and it was only when he went toHarrow in 1994 that he startedto find a pottery voice of hisown, becoming interested in thepossibilities that architecture hadto inform pottery.Jeremy has looked at the waysthat architects dissect andrebuild simple forms, such asthe cube and applied that to hiswork. In essence, his pots havebecome carefully assembledkits.Following his graduation, hisearly teapots reflected hisinterest in both flight andbridges, with spout and handlespread as wings or bridge

cables. However, although he ishappy to acknowledge suchinfluences, he doesn’t go so faras to name his pots based onhis inspiration. Whereas somepeople have seen Japanesemasks in his teapots or waving,cheer-leading or traffic directionin some of his jugs, he prefersinstead to number his works andlet the viewer tell their own story.Function is critical to Jeremy’sview of his pots. The engineer inhim recognises beauty of formonly where the function is notcompromised. More than that:part of the beauty comes fromthe elegance with which thefunction is carried out. He citedConcorde as an obviousexample. It was beautifulbecause it flew supersonically,not just as an art object.Jeremy’s pots themselves are

technical triumphs. Again hisengineering background andfocus come to the fore. Heseems to be happy to overcomeany technical obstacle to avoidcompromising his designs. Thisincludes mastering slip casthandles to avoid the‘springiness’ of pulled designs.He also turns a great deal to getthe smooth shapes that hedesires. When you add theturning to the various firingsupports that he throws for eachteapot, it is clear that eachteapot requires double its finalamount of clay. This is noteconomical throwing!He uses Earthstone Original forthrowing his two-part teapotbodies. Pieces are thrown,heavily turned and thenassembled at the leather-hardstage.They are scored and joined with

JEREMY NICHOLS AT THE AGM

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Salt is introduced at cone 8 andfiring continues to cone 10, withlittle reduction to maintain thebrightness of the blues. But atthese temperatures the clay isprone to slumping, so the tallhandles have to be supported inthe firing with elaborate thrownclay columns, a kiln shelf bridgeand an alumina wadding spacer.To some people’s surprise,Jeremy Nichols admits to beingrather untidy in his studio, withmess crowding in on his workingspace. This is in direct contrastto his making methods, butthere were clues, such as thelarge smears of clay on hisspectacles!The teapots are glazed insidewith a shino glaze, and thenglazed outside with the sameglaze, running from thick at thebottom to a very light spray atthe top. This glaze is used tohold the colour of the stainedslips that he next sprays on andto make the surface texturesmoother at the bottom of thepot than at the top. So, eachteapot gets a water slip (fromthe body material) around itsjoints to stop the glaze fromseeking out the joints, then atleast one coat of shino glazefollowed by three progessivelydarker coloured slips beforegoing into the kiln.Placing the work in the kiln isn’t

straightforward either – howcould it be? If he is concernedthat a piece is likely to slump atthe high temperature, he isinclined to, well, incline it. Byplacing the work on a wedge,the centre of gravity can beshifted just enough so thathandle and spout have moresupport from the body.The net result of all this is almosta conquering attitude to therandom qualities of clay, salt andfire. Whereas many potterswelcome the unexpected in asalt firing, or retreat to thepredictability of electricity,Jeremy not only knows what hewants, but is prepared to go toextraordinary lengths to knowhow to get it. Unless this is allexplained, it would beimpossible to see the amount ofwork in the pots themselves.And that’s as good a reason tocome to Anglian Potters’demonstration days as any.Words and pictures:Mark Boyd

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My eye was caught by a posterin the window of Heffers inCambridge, provocatively titledNaked Clay. It was anadvertisement for a summerschool course on smoke firing,to be held at Hills Road SixthForm College.The thing that most attracted myattention was the emphasis onnon-glaze surface decoration. Iam an extremely novice potterwho has been taking eveningclasses for about a year and,while I feel my hand-buildingskills are coming along nicely, Ihave to admit that almost everyglazing session has been adisaster. Pieces that have takenme hours of loving attention tocreate have been subsequentlyruined by a patchy, runny, orover heavy glaze, leaving medisappointed and frustrated. Atleast I can comfort myself withthe knowledge that I am notalone, and I know thatsuccessful glazing – likeeverything else – is somethingthat comes with a good deal ofpractice.However, the idea of applying a

decorative finish to mymasterpieces without having torely on a dodgy glazingtechnique was very appealing.So it was that I turned up brightand early one Monday in June,along with about nine otherpeople, to learn more about thisintriguing process. We weremet by our tutor for the week,Penny Hayes, who had broughtalong some examples of herown smoke fired work, and wewere asked to introduceourselves to the group. Weturned out to be a varied bunch– some, like me, had alreadybeen attending evening class;some were quite advanced intheir potting (especially thethrowers), and some had had noexperience of working with claysince their school days. Pennyherself has a BA in Fine Art fromthe University of Hertfordshireand an HND Ceramics from CityLit. She has taught in America,as well as the UK, and exhibitedin Providence, Rhode Island,London, and Kettle’s Yard.Given that the course wasactually only three days, Pennyhad her work cut out to whip usall into shape and ensure thateveryone had produced enoughpieces by day two so that wewould all have something tosmoke fire on the Friday. “I canbe a bit of a slave driver”, sheadmitted, but I found her

teaching method to be veryeffective. She was firm butencouraging, making the oddsuggestion or offering helpwhere needed, but generallyallowed each student to work attheir own pace and in their ownway – and somehow made surethat we all left on Monday nighthaving made at least three orfour things to work on on thefollowing day.If someone had told me that Iwould spend an entire dayhappily painting laborious layersof coloured slip onto pots andthen polishing them, I wouldhave been a little sceptical, tosay the least. However, that isexactly how the Tuesdaysession went and it passed, forthe most part, in companionablesilence, except for the odd burstof discussion about worldpolitics or a request to be next inline for the polishing stone. Thisstone (there were two, actually)turned out to be the mostcoveted piece of equipment aswe quickly discovered thatnothing buffs up an awkwardarea of slip quite so well as asmall piece of shiny rock.There were oohs and aahsaround the room as the piecesbeneath our hands began totransform into somethingincredibly sensuous and tactile:the burnishing process not onlyrenders the surface of the clay

BACK TO SCHOOL…

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perfectly smooth, but makes itpleasantly cool to the touch andalmost alive. I imagine this mustbe how a wood turner feels asthey work – and, indeed, thereare many similarities in thefinished appearance of bothcarved wood and burnishedclay.I can’t vouch for the otherstudents, but I certainly sleptvery well on Tuesday night –polishing pots clearly has atherapeutic effect!

We had two days off while thework was fired to bisque, andthen Friday, of course, was theday we had all been waiting for.It dawned with a promise ofscorching heat and a slight riskof thundery showers. We keptour fingers crossed that thegods would smile kindly on ourefforts and keep the rain off –and also that the collegecaretakers would remember thatwe were having a smoke firingsession and not call out the firebrigade. This had happened ina previous year, we were told,with the result that an oil drumhad been abruptly doused withwater, the sudden thermal shockcausing a piece of work toexplode in spectacular fashion.The larger shards were ondisplay for some time in thecollege garden, apparently,although, sadly, by the time we

arrived, they had been removed.After going through basic healthand safety procedures with usPenny demonstrated severaldifferent techniques, includingthe use of string, masking tape(old tape, with slightly ‘gone off’glue, yields the best results,apparently), newspaper, silverfoil, and brick clay slurry tocreate resist patterns. Havingmade a few test tiles, I chose toexperiment with differentmasking effects on these, butleft my one good pot andsculptural forms ‘naked’.Needless to say, the guys in thegroup were most enthusiasticabout the idea of fire and couldhardly wait to get outside withPenny’s gas torch. To makethem even happier, one of thevessels she had brought alongwas an old barbecue. Thisproved to give the darkestsmoke effects on pieces, whilethe covered oil drum andbuckets tended to produce more

subtle patterns.A particularly nice ‘halo’ effectwas achieved by sprinkling ateaspoon of sawdust mixed withturpentine substitute into thecentre of a bowl and igniting it.By turning the piece quickly itwas possible to have somecontrol over where the smokeended up (fortunately, there wasvery little breeze to contendwith). One student becameparticularly adept at applying thistechnique to the outside of herpieces as well, creating somelovely, delicate effects.

Looking back, I am astonishedat how much was achieved onthis course. By the end ofFriday afternoon, everybody’swork had been fired and therewas even time for a photo callbefore clearing up and goinghome. Penny had workedincredibly hard to make surethat we all got something out ofthe three days, and somestudents went away eager tosign up for one of the eveningclasses come September.As for me, I came away feelinginspired to experiment with moresmoke firing techniques at homeand a pile of old DailyTelegraphs is now growing inthe garage, just waiting for theright opportunity…Words and pictures:Christine Pike

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POTTERS’ CAMP (PART ONE!) by SALLY MACPHERSON

Preparation: two days before the start of camp the gang of four (Beryl Hines, Sally Macpherson,Maureen Read & Mary Wyatt) were at Jerry’s turning the ground floor of his barn from a workshop into acooking, eating and socialising area for 60 plus potters. Mid afternoon we got a request from Jerry to

Other Activities: mould making with Colin Saunders and knockingan oil drum into shape ready forthe oil drum firing – of coursethere were pots to be made andkilns to be fired.The Bonfire firing: pots weremade at the beginning of thecamp and dried. These werestacked in a bonfire made byBeryl Hines. The results weren’tquite as good as last year, aswe had a few fatalities. The potsthat survived were wonderful.

Raku Firing: tucked away in thebushes Martin George and RobWickens helped potters firehundreds of pots in their rakukilns. This photo shows Martintransferring a pot from the kiln toa dustbin of sawdust whichseems to be on fire. It’s a goodjob he has got his kit on thistime!

The Roman Kiln: Beryl Hines successfully fired the Roman kilnagain this year with the able help of Mary Pitcairn and others, eventhough it started to rain halfway through the firing. Here you can seethe pots just before they were unpacked, with the kiln dragonguarding his precious hoard.

Happiness is... MarieThompson, one happy potterwith her pot from the wood kiln.Marie said she hadn’t had somuch fun for 35 years.

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CERAMIC HELPLINE

Having a bit of bother that your suppliercan’t resolve?

Why not contact one of these memberswho have agreed to share their exper-tise?

Alan Foxley – handbuilding & reductionfiring 01799 522631Colin Saunders – mould-making,slipware, transfers 01379 588278Victor Knibbs – oxidised stoneware,electric kilns, modifying clay bodies

01480 214741Deborah Baynes – raku, stoneware,earthenware (reduction & oxidised),salt glaze 01473 788300Beryl Hines – general, earthenware,raku 01473 735437Usch Spettigue – raw glazing/singlefiring 01473 787587Tony Eeles – paperclay 01366 382586Margaret Gardiner – salt glaze

01279 654025Sonia Lewis – high-fired ware includingporcelain 01353 688316

If you are willing to give advice, and arewilling to be added to this list, pleasecontact the Editor.

JJ writes: I will operate under thename Doctor Tango and I amcurrently putting a CD of covermaterial together. The workingtitle is “Dance the night away”.The album will contain coverversions of popular pop, bluesand rock songs, plus an originalsong I wrote called DoctorTango. The cost will be £5,available fromwww.doctortango.biz (up andrunning very soon).

help move his collection of cars to make way for the Marquee. Twohad no engine or brakes. No problem!

JJ in full swing

Sisters Susan & Sanya starting off the dancing

Sally dancing in front of thepole, not hanging onto it

Chairman Victorstrutting his stuff

Pole dancing duo – Tonyand Sanya

Status Quo –or is it Sallyunder there?

And then there was theSummer Social: we started theevening with a jazz band calledColchester Jazz Co-operation.Lorna joined them with her saxand got everyone going.They were followed, after a shortinterlude to mop water out of theamplifier and dry it off with ahairdryer, by JJ Vincent. He wasvery entertaining and played justthe right combination of music toget everyone up and dancing.It just so happened that the‘dance floor’ had one of the

marquee poles in the middle. Apole in the middle of a dancefloor is like a magnet to mostfemales (and some men)between the ages of 16 and 60+and, combined with severalglasses of wine, stirs up latentdesires to make a career out ofpole dancing!

Photos by Sally Macpherson unless otherwise credited

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Two days of exceedingly hard work bymany people resulted in a superbexhibition and a very busy Private Viewevening. Clockwise from right: admirationat the Private View; JJ Vincent – cow, RobBibby – burnished jar, Juliet Gorman – tallburnished figures; pots by Dave Kirkman,Anya Penger and Inge Diener; dancingfigures by Daniela Stief; central display;Cathy D’Arcy with refreshments for theworkers; a pensive Margaret Gardiner.Below: cheery barmaids Penny Hayesand Linda Luckin!Photos by Carolyn Postgate

SUMMER AT EMMANUEL COLLEGE

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corrugations. Lightweightceramic bricks were used for themain kiln insulating structure,fitted on the base and sides ofthe kiln and chimney flue, cut tosize to fit accurately, withceramic fibre paper between thebricks to permit expansionduring firing.David decided to place the twoburners horizontally at thebottom of the kiln enabling firingalong the sides of the kiln floor.Access holes were cut into theouter sheath of the kiln and thebricks at the burner positions. Todirect the flames to the rear ofthe kiln during firing the lowershelf was positioned at the sidesof the kiln on bricks, whichprovide a flow channel to therear. Angled bricks assist theflame to rise to the kiln roof. Theflue exit is positioned above thelower kiln shelf at the burnerend.The kiln roof was constructed ofthree rows of light H.T.R. bricks,each row clamped together tobridge the kiln width. Theseclamps were made of out ofportions from metal bed frames.The three part roof lids were

placed on a 1” ceramicfibre cushion on top of thebricks which serve as thetop of the kiln sides. Thekiln is adaptable in heightby adding extra bricklayers onto the sides andflue. The two propaneburners positionedhorizontally areconnected with pressurecontrol valves.The first firing producedsuccessful glazes, but itwas obvious from theexcessive smoke, lengthof firing time and theneed to provide additionalair into the burner holesto reach temperature,that the flue slot andspace around the burner

During the past few years mypottery has mainly incorporatedsoda glazed stoneware potsfired in Margaret Gardiner’s gasfired kiln. Recently I had theopportunity of firing and glazingsome pots in a friend’s kiln andwas very taken by thepossibilities of the variety ofglaze decorations particular toreduction fired techniques.My husband David offered tomake a gas fired kiln for me.Based originally on the plans ofmy friend’s Sayvit type gas kiln,David set about building it.Corrugated roofing sheets wereused as the outer sheath of thekiln, with ceramic floor tiles forthe base.Adapting the dimensions to theavailable materials David builtan angle iron externalframework with additionalsection for the outer flue, whichwas required because the Sayvitkiln design had an integral flueneeding a case yoke sectionthat is no longer available.David used a soft 1” thickceramic fibre blanket for thelayer inside the outer sheath,which fitted snugly into the BOOK REVIEW

The Ceramics BookSecond Edition, edited byEmmanuel CooperPublished by the CPA: £9.95This is a beautifully-producedpocket size handy guide toMembers and Fellows of theCPA.Each page has a really goodphotograph of the potter’srecent work, with briefdescription and sometimes aphoto of the potter and theirmark.There is a section containing up-to-date contact details, includingemail and websites: in fact, allyou need to know about thebest potters and where to findthem!

HOME-MADE GAS FIRED KILN entries was insufficient. Thisresulted in unsatisfactorycombustion and large quantity offuel used. These dimensionswere increased substantially(the flue slot doubled in size, theburner entries only slightlyincreased in width) and asubsequent firing has provedthe kiln to be highly satisfactory.I have now a reasonablyinexpensive and adaptable gasfired kiln which will provide newopportunities for my futurepotting.Words and picture:Erica Dennison

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DIARY DATES:Steve Woodhead:28 SeptemberMundford Village HallDavid Cooke:12 OctoberMundford Village HallChristmas Exhibition:15 November-14 DecemberAll Saints’ Church, Cambridge

MEMBERSHIP FEES:Ordinary £27 (half year £15)Joint £45 for two people at thesame address – half year £25Institution £45 for a college orworkshop – half year £27(details on application to theMembership Secretary)Student £10 for full-time stu-dents of ceramics – proof ofstatus is required

MEMBERS WEBSITES:www.alexallpress.co.ukwww.animalceramics.co.ukwww.annamcarthur.co.ukwww.broadwayceramics.comwww.cathydarcy.comwww.corbykilns.co.ukwww.helenhpottery.co.ukwww.helenmartino.co.ukwww.iangeorgeceramics.co.ukwww.janburridge.co.ukwww.janeperryman.co.ukwww.jeremypeake.co.ukwww.jjvincent.comwww.madeincley.co.ukwww.maggygardiner.comwww.phillippoceramics.co.ukwww.potterycourses.netwww.rebeccaharvey.comwww.richardbaxter.co.ukwww.sculpturelounge.comwww.susancupitt.co.uk

Contact the Editor if you want toadd your site to this list.

Check out our website for thelatest news:www.anglianpotters.org.uk

EXHIBITIONSCathy and Phoebe D’Arcyexhibit at Craft Co in Southwold.The private view is on 6thSeptember, 11.30am – 3pm.6-18 September. Craft Co:Upstairs Gallery, 40a High St.,Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6AETel: 01502 723211www.craftco.co.ukMargaret Gardiner exhibits aspart of Herts Open Studios on 3-5 October at Glebe House, GtHallingbury, Bishops StortfordCM22 7TYTel: 01279 654025www.maggygardiner.comwww.hvaf.org.ukHelen Martino exhibits herceramics and prints atCambridge Contemporary Arts3-26 October6 Trinity Street, Cambridge, CB21SU Tel: 01223 324222www.cambridgegallery.co.uk

COPY DATE FOR

WINTER NEWSLETTER:15 OCTOBER 2008

FOR SALECylindrical Top LoaderElectric KilnOutside:24” high x 22” di.Inside:18” high x 16” di.Needs 30 ampfuse electricitysupply.Complete with Pottery CraftsKiln sitter Model LT–3, manualincluded. Has only done 10firings!Kiln furniture included, metalstand, 2 circular kiln shelves,stilts, bat wash and mini barcones for firings to 930°c,1115°c, 1260°c and 1040°c.Instruction manual included.Buyer collects.£550 or Nearest Offer.Tel: 07772 494786susan_borbas@hotmail.co.uk

POTTERY CLEARANCELaser Gas Kiln FREELaser Model G4 front loadingfibre kiln and stand. Firingchamber measures 45cm x50cm x 50cm. Fires to 1300°To be collectedTel: 01787 476155

RESTORER WANTEDMary Reed, a member who runsBrick House Crafts in Essex, islooking for someone who canmend ceramics. Is thereanyone out there with theseskills? If so, please contact Mary.Tel: 01376 585655sales@brickhouseceramics.co.uk

SMOKE/SAGGAR

FIRING WORKSHOPWith Jane Perryman.October 11th/12thfor details tel: 01440 786228www.janeperryman.co.ukjane.perryman@btinternet.com