Slip-painting & Sgraffito

Gillian McMillan — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 07:03:19 +0000

This November will not be a happy memory for many British Columbians. The province is barely recovering from the horrendous long-lasting rainstorm of two weeks ago and now we are into a second fearful downpour, with a third forecast for next week. Faraway friends have been in touch to make sure we’re OK and yes, we certainly are, but we’re all feeling very sad at the reported loss of homes, farms and animals, as well as some people lost in the floods.

Driving rain and the Covid habit of isolation persuaded me to miss visiting the big Circle Craft Christmas Market, and kept us from exploring the East Side Culture Crawl on the last two weekends. With no pressure to mass-produce work for any seasonal sales, I’ve allowed myself to continue to make what appeals to me. That included preparing for a happy day with the one grandson who constantly asks to ‘do clay’.

His brothers were otherwise occupied on a recent ‘professional’ day so Steve left Lucas here before 9am on his way to BCIT. He’s asked to make a lidded egg like the ones I’ve been making for Jonathon’s so I’d made a couple, and carved one while he carved and painted his.

But the main project he had in mind was to make a log cabin, similar to the one his older brother Caleb had made with me some time ago. It involved learning how to operate the extruder (or have Grandma pull the big lever while he caught the wiggly ‘logs’ as they emerged). Sticking the logs together with slip and leaving doors and windows, making log steps and an upper floor all were learning times.

Another idea I had was to show him sgraffito so I threw a tallish beaker, narrow enough in circumference for his small hand and I coated it with black underglaze. He scratched a house, fence and crows into this.

Meanwhile I painted two little dishes, one in red clay with black, and one in white clay with green underglaze. After Lucas had left I thoroughly enjoyed myself carving silly birds.. who knows whether I’ll do that again, but experimenting leads to new work.

I have to say that I was encouraged to have a go at sgraffito again by cups made by local potter Maria Palotas which I’d fired, and by the work of Vancouver artist Mat Holmstrom (Instagram: mattheartist). Maria gave me this cup.

I’ve always enjoyed throwing jugs but usually they’re stoneware and intended for reduction or soda firing. Clearly I was feeling more relaxed about this red earthenware one’s surface, and this is how it turned out. Shall I make more? This one is wending its way to Ontario asap.

My recent glaze firing included a number of those teeny plates again. Yes, these have been ordered for gift-giving so I do have a deadline. Today I was painting another ten or so.. Mike McE. so there’ll be another firing in a couple of weeks.

Here is another largish Rainforest Dish.

I used the cone 05 glaze firing to do the required re-bisqueing of some pots that were in the last soda firing. I plan to re-fire several, with hopes for more orange peel and melting of slips, and now I can select two or three for Fraser Valley Potters’ Guild group firing next week. Let’s hope that the next ‘atmospheric river’ won’t disrupt firing plans.

Eric Metcalfe has been waiting for me to fire two plates that he painted a while ago, so he’ll be happy now. I shall ask Circle Craft shop if they need more of my work soon and Eric will get his plates on that trip. He doesn’t drive.

Now that I have adopted the habit of posting my pots and some of the making process on Instagram I wonder if I should continue to write these occasional blogs. Alan and I live a very quiet life here and I miss opportunities that I used to have for critiques when sharing a studio or working in a building where other artists work. I find that Social media give me a semblance of community and I’m grateful for responses to my photos. But the blog reaches friends who don’t follow Instagram and/or facebook and I’m told they enjoy the occasional catch-ups with me, whether it’s clay or family related, so I’ll probably continue to note clay-related goings-on in my world. My kids just look at the pictures!

I’m pleased to report that TriCity Potters had an in-person meeting recently to discuss whether or not to keep the Association afloat and that we voted to persevere. While observing Covid protocols, we feel that there is a future for the local group. Oh lord, I’ve volunteered to sit on the executive once again so perhaps I shall feel less isolated as we plan talks, shows and activities. www.tricitypotters.com or facebook TriCity Potters group.

painted jug – Gillian McMillan — Rara Avis

Slip-painting & Sgraffito