There was a good turn-out of members for TriCity Potters’ meeting last night. After having lots of people come to hear Brendan Tang last month I asked that we be given a bigger room in future. Sandra Niven has arranged for us to meet in the downstairs room of the new/old addition, with the adjacent concrete-floored lower atrium room available if we need it. So we now have a screen, overhead projector and sinks. Plus we’re just across from the clay department so there’ll be more interaction, especially with the leaders, Otto and Dan.

Our theme for the evening was Ceramic Flowers. Starting at ‘Art in the Garden’ last summer when members brought wheel-thrown and hand-made flowers and other garden ornaments to my garden, followed by the inspiration of the Red Ceramic Poppies which were installed at the Tower of London (and youtube videos of their fabrication) we decided to have a ‘hands-on’ evening. We invited members to bring any clay flowers they may have collected, inherited or made, to show each other. Kay remembered that she and the four other members who’d done workshops in Jingdezhen some five years ago had been taught how to make porcelain chrysanthemums, roses and lotus blossoms. And some of us had watched roses being made from porcelain at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.

To begin our evening Kay and Carlene gave us a short ‘slide’ show from their time in China, with photos of enormous unfired porcelain chrysanthemums being trundled along a bumpy street to the kiln, and of their little class on flower fabrication. Then Carlene, who has become very interested in the technique, gave a demonstration of how each petal is formed in the palm of her hand and then how they’re all gathered to form a really realistic blossom.

I asked those who’d brought flowers from home to explain what they had, where it was acquired or made, and then members were encouraged to help themselves to pale, cone six clay and have a go at replicating what they’d seen. I don’t think many took their experiments home with them but I imagine several will be trying out some new ideas in their own studios today.

Here are lots of photos which I took last night. With so many I know they’ll become muddled so I’ll add captions. You’ll see that there were all sorts of ideas and methods and I think it was a fun evening. If any of you would like to use my large assortment of underglazes on your unfired flowers just give me a call and pop over to use them. Then you can clear glaze them. Or you may have coloured glazes you like.

Thank you Kay and Carlene for preparing the photos and Carlene for your demonstration. And thanks Christine for going out to Greenbarn for clay and now’s a good time to thank the ever reliable snack and coffee providers Laura and Martha. The first people to arrive put up tables and chairs. Without the team effort our meetings would be too much work. This way we can all enjoy ourselves. Afterwards the space was magically returned to the way we’d found it!

There will be visiting presenters at our next two meetings. More info nearer the time.