.
pours 2

Exlited'’s Notes

"4 couple of months ao Ceramics
Munthly asked tor photos of the oldest
Shimpo wheel kicking around your studio.
Geotf Searle sent in a shor of his 1966
Shimpe and won the prize -a Shinypa
handing wheel char he says *goes on
forever”. Congratulations! | hope it's nor
his only wheel, by the way.

**eDeb Taylor, whose amazing textures
often leave potters visiting the gallery with
wapeng jaws, was recently to be seen on
Cmbencan Live, ceaching the intrepid host
how cochrew a por A classic moment in
Cunadian television.

“**T took advantage of being on the Library
Cormmittee and selfishly took aur aur new
copy of Single Firing by Fran Tristam. It's a
great book and has raised a lot of
interesting poincs about pors and porrers.

[ hadn't thought about how entrenched my
attitudes are about the way ] work, or why
they are that way.

The first reliably documented bisque firings
took place in the Sung period (AD 960 -
1269) and are hence fairly recenc additions
to the ceramic lexicon. It seema to have
been an attempt to improve glaze fit in
Honan region of China, an area where the
available raw materials had poor plasticity.
In the Middle-East, the introduction of
fritted tin-glazes (majalica’ led eo fit
problems which could be ameliorated

7 The Newsletter is published 10 times pearly as an informacion link for members. Submissions of articles, letrers and
* anything else of interest are happily received and should be submitted by the 2nd Wednesday of any month, Unclassifieds and

by a hisgue firing. Uhis practice moved
inte Europe through [slamic Spain
Wherever mapolica glacinr was used.

In Britain, stoneware wd tin glacing were
inthoduced ac about che sane cio in the
sixteenth century. Steneauice was once
fired, tin wire wat trice fired, With the
development of « British porcelain
indusery the habic of caice ring became
firmly entrenched in pottery fectories.

When pettery began to be taught in the
Age Collewes, most of che traditional crate
peateers hisd disaryppouredt. This meant that
it was ceuhe by imitating industrial
precoces, even bringing in factory
ceramicists as teachers, The
presuppositions of industrial pottery
production became part of che individual
petter’s methodology. The sources from
which potters sought information,
(indusery, colleges and Bernard Leach)
were all firmly committed to twice firing.

My first instructor was a student of

Warren MacKenzie, who was a student of

Bernard Leach. Naturally, we ewice-fired
everything. [ think the other factor
involved in universal owice firing is the
préciousness of our first pow. [ was se
attached to my misshapen ¢fforts that [
certainly wouldn't have wanted to put
them any more at risk chan their thick
bettoms, uneven walls and air bubbles
already did! Tristam does poine our chat
alter the initial learning petiod,

* articles may be edited for space needs. The fax number is 604/669 - 5627,

Editor; Karen Opas

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single Firing produces as many sound pots
as twice firimyr.

Anocher debunked myth about single
firisyy id the difficulty of glaze application.
In facet, Tristam poines our char
‘greenware has less variable porosiry chan
biscuit ware from an uneven kiln, and
thus glaze thickness can be mors evenly
controlled, Single firing cakes less time
than conventional fring, and it does save
your back from loading the kiln twice!
She goes onto make many other points for
aingle firing and offers all sorts af
technical pointers and glaze formulas.

The one flew [ found with the book was
the low fire glaze recipes designed for
aingle firing. They all have lead in ther!
Don't British potters have to worry about
the lead police? ] haven’: quice had the
Courage fo try it our yet, but I will, by
George, [ will.

Karen Opas

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As anew member of the Editorial Board, 1
am very concerned with the role of the
newsletter in communicating with the
fnembership, [f there is anything in an issue
that you weuld like clarified or expanded
upon phone me at 604 / 29] - 0741 and
leave a message, [fT can't help you T will
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