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Workshop report - Bev Hogg June 2010
Workshop report - Maryke Henderson April 2010
Workshop report - Rick Beviss
October 2009
Workshop report - Kaye
Pemberton July 2009
more workshop
reports
cancellation policy
| Weekend Raku
with
Chris Harford
9th-10th October 2010 -
9.30am-4.30pm
$110
CPS members & current CPS students;
$130 non-members
Our resident potter, Workshop
Manager and teacher, Chris Harford, is conducting a Raku
workshop in October where participants will glaze and fire
their own bisque-fired pots.
Chris has been a potter for 28
years, 23 of these as a professional potter and teacher. His
works are in collections in the U.K, NZ, Ireland, Japan and
Australia.
He is predominantly wheel-based,
spending the formative years of his craft learning the
technical skills needed to make high-grade functional ware
under the guidance of Paul Fisher in New Zealand and later, as
a trainee, production throwing the domestic range for the Jam
Factory in South Australia. Then for a number of years he
turned to making non-functional Raku-fired work; this is the
style of work Chris will be demonstrating at the workshop.
Chris has since returned to his first love, the permanence of
high-fired stoneware and porcelain, but dabbles periodically
with low-fired ware.
Commissioned works include a
presentation platter to Sir William Deane, Governor-General of
Australia, and a 12-person dinner setting for the Swiss
Ambassador. Overseas commissions include four tile murals in
Duffcarrig, Ireland and a large breakfast buffet setting for
the Hyatt Kingsgate Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. In 1996
Chris established Spinning Gum Pottery.
During this workshop Chris will
give a throwing and trimming demonstration, looking at forms
that suit the process of Raku firing. He will give a talk on
glazing and then participants will glaze their own pots ready
for firing on the Sunday.
Bring: Mask, lunch and 5-6
bisque-fired non-functional thrown or hand-built pots. (Any
clay, but Keanes White Raku works well with the provided
glazes.) Tea and coffee provided.
Maximum participants: 12
To enrol, call 6241 1670 or download the
flyer/booking form
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Raku-fired bottle by Chris Harford

reduction bins (photo Ian Hodgson) |
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Workshop
report -
Figurative Handbuilt Sculpture
with
Bev Hogg
workshop report by Jenny Hadzi-Popovic
Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th June
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By 9.30am on Saturday, a
cheerful motley crew had assembled around two large tables
in the members’ work area, ready for Bev Hogg’s much
anticipated Figurative Sculpture weekend workshop. We each
came with our own diverse potting history, experiences and
ambitions; but were united with an eagerness to dabble where
we had previous dared not dabble before, be inspired to
embark on a new chapter of sculpting creativity – and, of
course, have some fun!
On Day One, Bev got us to
experiment with a variety of surface treatments on fresh
tiles of clay to demonstrate the multitude of effects that
can form part of a potter’s textural palette. Using any
number of mundane to more exotic objects, we each made six
tiles of varying surfaces which we then decorated using the
smorgasbord of colourful slips, oxides and carbonates laid
out before us. Bev encouraged us to experiment with
layering, dribbling, sponging, scraping - and anything else
that took our fancy - to achieve various results, ranging
from subtle to startling effects.
In the afternoon, Bev presented
a slideshow that gave insight into some of the influences
that have shaped her work throughout her extensive and
illustrious career as a visual artist. It was wonderful to
see the variety of concepts, forms and social commentary
that one can achieve through sculptural expressiveness, and
ways to connect with your audience, on even quite depressing
topics, with a touch of humour. We were then set our next
task; to develop our own ideas and model a maquette, or
miniature figurine, of clay that we would then try to expand
upon as a larger work.
Some of us had already brought a
myriad of ideas to the table and began busily
building…others (such as myself) were contending with a
newly-filled head of ideas, but left struggling to pluck out
a single work on which to focus! Then all of a sudden, it
was time to head home – and I was left to reflect on yet
another example of how time really does have (jet
propelled) wings when you’re having fun!
On Day Two, we were all heads
down tails up, immersed in concentration to construct,
carefully coax, texturise (and complete!) our sculptural
pieces, incorporating one - or several – newly-introduced
ideas and techniques to which we had been exposed the day
before.
For some, it was mission
accomplished, for others (again, your’s truly) it was work
in progress - but for all, it was a fabulous fun weekend of
learning and experimentation that stocked our creative
cupboards chock-a-block full of wonderful new ideas to
incorporate into our work for years to come. Many thanks,
Bev! |
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Workshop
report -
Altering
Thrown Forms with
Maryke
Henderson |
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workshop report and photo by Josephine
Farrugia
Saturday 17th & Sunday
18th April 2010
A two-day workshop on altered thrown forms was
held at the Canberra Potters Centre on 17-18 April. About ten of
us (members and non-members) gathered around Maryke Henderson who
was our tutor for the weekend. Maryke is famous for her signature
long-spouted pouring vessels.
Maryke showed us different techniques for
altering forms and making quirky shapes and structures. She also
showed us how to make the long sculptural spouts for which she is
known. This turned out to be quite straight forward. All you need
is a knitting needle, some cooking oil and a well rounded coil of
clay! A large size knitting needle is coated in oil to make it
smooth and slippery. It is then slowly pushed through the middle
of the coil. The clay is pulled over the knitting needle until you
get the right length and thickness for your spout. The knitting
needle is then gently pulled out of the clay which is left to
become leather hard. The technique is quite easy. The hardest part
is practice!
Maryke also spoke to us about her sources of
inspiration and showed us examples of her work as it has developed
over the years.
The workshop was incredibly interesting and
challenging. Maryke encouraged us to learn new techniques, to be
creative and to look at different ways of developing our own forms
and styles.
It was a fun weekend and was over too quickly.
We all went home looking forward to getting our hands into the
clay to experiment with what we had learnt.
(This workshop was a repeat of the January
workshop run by Maryke.) |
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Workshop report -
Tool-making with Rick Beviss
workshop report and photos (on right)
by Bridget Anderson
Sunday October 18th
When is the next tool making
workshop? If you
missed out on this popular workshop those of us who were enrolled
have asked that this workshop be repeated a.s.a.p.
We were greeted on the morning with an
array of amazing tools piled over 2 bench tops. There were paddles,
roulettes, ribs, turning tools… it was an incredible, inspiring
display.
The hardest part was choosing where to
start our introduction to making tools!
The roulettes became our first task –
Rick was both generous with tools, materials and information. We all
jumped in headlong with intense enthusiasm, Rick worked his way
around all of us making sure we kept to task and our first roulettes
were successful. There were many joyful cries of success and showing
off of ‘perfect’ drill holes.
Other tools we tackled on the day were
paddles – these were decorated with skewers, carved with grinders –
the ideas were flowing, the only thing we didn’t have enough of was
time, and yet Rick stayed with us well into the afternoon, well past
the workshop time. We really didn’t want to leave.
Thank you, Rick, for a really fantastic
workshop.
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Workshop report -
TERRIFIC TEAPOTS & CONSUMMATE CASSEROLES
with Kaye Pemberton
workshop report by Andrea Wise
18th & 19th July 2009
It was with some trepidation that I
began the two day teapot workshop with Kaye Pemberton.
Participants were greeted with a bustle of activity and an array
of teapots by both Kaye and other potters in the CPA studio. The
ice was broken with an invitation to choose a teapot and a mug and
put them to use. Kaye set the tone for the workshop with
encouragement to voice our views on the teapots – what did we
think about how they looked, how they felt; did they function
properly? How did they sit in relation to the cups we had chosen?
These shared thoughts and discussion actively continued throughout
the two days with the 12 participants who were drawn from a
variety of backgrounds.
Teapots, as anyone who has tried to
make one knows, challenge even an experienced potter, both
technically and aesthetically. As a beginner, or as a beginner,
beginning again after a 20 year break from clay, it is a daunting
task to consider all the components, make them sufficiently well
and then assemble them in a manner that is pleasing to the eye.
Within an hour of the workshop commencing, Kaye had us working on
the wheel, completely absorbed, throwing ‘off the hump’ - the
Japanese technique where only the top portion of a large ball of
clay is centred - a new experience for most. |
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Galleries, the top edge of the pot
where the lid sits, were the first to be considered. Each style
was discussed, drawn and expertly demonstrated by Kaye, with
practical sessions generously peppered with handy hints. Kaye used
this ‘explain and demonstrate’ format for each successive portion
of the workshop, briskly moving through lids (again thrown ‘off
the hump’), knobs and spouts. The first day passed quickly in a
hum of productive concentration as Kaye moved from student to
student, answering questions, offering advice and, more
importantly, encouragement.
The following morning started out grey
and cold, but fortuitously the clouds parted and the sun shone on
the components and teapot bodies we had begun making that day.
Placed amongst the garden beds to dry, everything was sufficiently
firm to allow turning and finishing in the early afternoon. Kaye’s
technical approach to the teapot making process is meticulous. Her
attention to detail and the careful handling and finishing result
in pots that appear relaxed, gentle, almost soft to the touch in
their asymmetry, but that are in reality cleanly made, tight and
understated. Kaye emphasised the need for minimal handling during
the assembly process to avoid making a pot that looked tired or
over-worked. Knowing when to stop seems to be a key factor.
The workshop concluded with a
discussion session where, with characteristic generosity, Kaye
shared tips on materials and techniques to assist with drying,
decorating and glazing the assembled pots successfully. While it
might take many more years of practice to produce an elegant,
fully functional teapot, after two days with Kaye’s enthusiasm, I
will be approaching the task with renewed confidence.
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