The other day I posted on facebook a photo of my full bisque load just as I opened the lid, to show the mixture of earthenware and stoneware pieces. It was interesting to find that some people don’t know that we almost always fire our pots twice, once for the bisque and the other for glazing. Several folks asked what the draw-rings I’d made are for so I needed to explain their necessity in a salt firing. I shall have to post photos of the finished pots so that people see the difference between bisqued and glazed work.

http://www.fprosesociety.org/Annualroseshow.html

On Saturday I visited the Coquitlam Rose Show at the Dogwood Pavilion where 8 or so TriCity Potters were selling their wares. Board member Kay Bonathan is a keen member of the Rose Society and alerted our potters to the opportunity. The Rose Show is very popular in the Lower Mainland and with the Farmers’ Market on Sunday morning should have been an excellent place to display and sell flower-related pottery. Members were taking it in turns to sit at the display so I took the opportunity to see what they’ve been making. Joyce Gillespie had some of her whimsical fence-post toppers, ceramic flowers to poke in the garden and some bird-houses, all cheerfully painted maiolica-style.

I found the inside, air-conditioned rose show interesting, admired the variety of cut roses and arrangements, noticed which roses smell best and saw that Kay had won several prizes for her entries. Congratulations Kay!

But actually I was happier wandering around the carefully tended outdoor garden of roses, particularly the brand-new Centennial garden of Canadian roses. So forgive me for including a few photos of these lovely specimens. Yes, this is a blog about pots but it’s also mine, and I like flowers too!

My next two blogs will describe our visit to three potters who took part in the Horseshoe Bay Art Walk yesterday, and the evening party, 7.7.7, at the closing of the Leach/Hamada show at the Satellite Gallery.

Her fellow JingdeZhen attendees Carlene Akester, Hannah Chan, Grace Siu and Eliza Wang helped her by lending some of their moulds. Carlene helped Kay to bring in buckets, plaster and a plastic sheet.

Kay started right at 7pm by explaining the process, showed samples of one and many-piece moulds and a completed apple mould to be opened later. A pear had one half already in a plaster mould and she coated the other side with a resistant oil (tell me its name, Kay!), surrounded it with a cardboard wall, mixed the plaster and applied it to the pear.

To the water she added plaster in gradual handfuls until it was in a little hill above the water level. She mixed it with her hand, to feel where there were any lumps, carefully washing her hand promptly afterwards.

With the leftover plaster she showed that you can add more to add to an already finished mould if it is soaked in water for 30 minutes. While the plaster set up we had our usual announcements, coffee and chat. To finish the evening Kay separated both the apple and pear moulds to excited applause from us!

Having an actual demonstration was most useful and I’m sure members will now be inspired to mix up plaster in their own studios and experiment with their own personal moulds. Thank you so much Kay, for a well-prepared and clear demonstration, and thanks to your mould-making friends for their help too.