Other art on display in and around the Shadbolt Centre: a painting by Joe Average, a ceramic mural by Bob Kingsmill, Coast Salish carved monoliths and Keith Rice-Jones’ ceramic collaboration ‘Past, Present and Future’. I’ve just posted a close-up of a section of the ‘Future’ column. 

There is a new display installed on the outside of Mather Building which houses the Ceramics Department. It features the work of current instructors and some visiting ceramic artists.

I also wandered up to the lovely Burnaby Art Gallery and was pleased to catch the two-floor showing of drawings by Falkland artist Ann Kipling, “The Solitudes of Place”. Photography is not allowed there and anyway I doubt whether I could have captured the delicacy of her unique drawing style.

Later in the afternoon the soda kiln was all loaded and one photo shows the carefully stacked contents with draw-rings and cones all ready for overnight candling and firing on Friday.

On Friday we participants were invited to attend the last few hours of the firing – 6.30pm to almost midnight – to help with introduction of salt and soda. There was a big difference between the top and the bottom so one of the 4 burners was turned off at the back and instead, to keep the overall temperature rising the solution is to keep feeding with narrow kindling in a peep hole. This only happens after about cone 8 so I don’t think there will be too much body reduction. But I am interested to see whether there is a browner look to the work, and also whether the tight pack will allow for overall salt effects. Now we wait until Monday afternoon.