Let's see if I can complete the accounts of my English holiday with this blog. I had just three days to spend with my sister Mary, enjoy Salisbury again, see some friends and find another potter. On the Monday I'd arranged to have lunch with my god-daughter Amanda and her husband Clive. Their new home is Mallard House so of course I needed to make a…
We were all sad to learn that the Herman Venema studio would be closing after operating in the Fraser Valley for 50 years. Herman has been an inspirational teacher to area potters, offering classes in a large well-equipped studio, with the use of cone 10R glazes and firings in a huge gas kiln. He built an elegant retail gallery on the upper floor of the converted…
Our second day on the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl started with a pre-arranged visit to Creek Clayworks. On this day we were four. Linda, Owen and I picked up fellow TriCity Potters member Sue Griese from her home in Upper Gibsons and we headed to Roberts Creek. The home, studio, showroom and salt kiln of Elaine Futterman and Mike Allegretti are on beautiful rural acres,…
https://www.banffcentre.ca/visual-arts-facilities One week ago Alan and I returned from a wonderful week-long road trip to Banff. Sister nieces from Austin, TX and Boston, MA planned to fly to Calgary with their families and holiday in Banff. What a great excuse to get ourselves out of town and join them there for a few days! Although flying out of the country is still a step too…
In a comment on yesterday's blog Lynda asks me to explain why I might like to re-fire a couple of pieces in an upcoming soda firing. Most of the time the heat, flame and soda combine to give interesting, pleasing surfaces all around the pots when the kiln has reached its top temperatures.. in our case cones 10 to 12. Flashing slips can produce orange…