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Intriguing presenter, Contd from Page 7

respectively. One intriguing presenter, Professor Isah Bolaj Kashim from Nigeria (who almost did not make it to the conference because of visa issues,) told us how they are attempting to revive his country’s traditional women’s pottery and how, ultimately, they hope to turn this into a viable training opportunity for future potters. Annette Mertens captivated us with her talk and images of the Chinese dragon kilns and the potter families of southern China. The enthusiasm of Judith Duff for the traditional ground hog kilns of North Carolina was contagious while the commitment to cooperative education by the young Joshua Copus, the founder of Clayspace Co-op in the historic arts district of Ashville, North Carolina, was inspiring. The environmental panel featured the eclectic minds of Paul Davis, Lowell Baker, Steve Harrison, and Markus Bohm. Baker tinkers with machines but it seemed he had met his match in Reinhart Lober who assisted him, outdoors, in demonstrating that his sawdust injection burner could reach temperatures in excess of 1280°C quickly. Rumor has it that Lober is arranging to buy a silo with a view to filling it with sawdust and perfecting the burner at his family studio in Saal, Germany, near the Baltic Sea. Davis coined a new phrase at the conference, ‘the Viagra kiln’ (large "macho" kilns that require days of firing), while he was discussing his quest to find out about coal production at his home in Newcastle, New South Wales. Day in and day out, Davis watches huge ships from China load and leave with Australia’s bounty. He pondered the price that was being paid by the environment as well as the politics and capitalism underlying natural resources. Davis meant it when he stressed that we need to examine our firing methods with a view to building and firing smaller more efficient kilns that will give the same desired fly ash effects. Bohm took us through a whirlwind of scientific data to prove that using trees as a fuel is carbon neutral while pondering the individual or individuals who attacked the conference web site with their slogan: ‘No more Green Trees burned to make ugly brown pots! Harrison gave usa delightful view into his holistic life as a teacher, tree-butcher, potter, and cook—life in the slow lane. Harrison manages his own wood lot using a kaolin deposit for his translucent tea bowls and the clay washed off the gravel from his land for his black ware. He gave us hope that individual efforts could add up to a huge and sustained environmental effort. It was an immense contrast to the Davis presentation that left some of us feeling like deer standing on a highway blinded by headlights. Other days were filled with discussions on new approaches to education and ceramics, the amber warmth of the ash, and the beauty of traditional glazes.

Outside the formal presentation halls, activities took place before, during, and after the conference. Many led workshops at various studios in Germany before the conference opening, while others toured different pottery centres around Germany at its conclusion. Mateus Grobelny caught everyone's attention when he backed up his truck and began loading and firing his wood kiln on a trailer. In a separate building, the Scandinavian delegation held an exhibition of their work. Raku firings took place. Meanwhile, the vessels and small works of sculpture were sold and traded. Most of our suitcases were a lictle heavier and, in fact, one of the highlights of the conference was the vast variety of work shown in that old medieval barn. There were no signs saying ‘Do Not Touch? and no raised brows when we picked the pieces up, turned them over and caressed their sides and bottoms— the beautiful ware shown was anything but ugly and brown.

The conference website is still active or as Bohm states, ‘It is

Plate by Paul Davis.

constantly under construction. A DVD containing the conference papers, pictures and more will be available some time in 2011. Please check the conference site. You can find it at www.woodfire.net

For more than twenty years Mary Ann Steggles ran her own ceramics studio in southern Manitoba. She was a student of the late Paul Soldner, as well as one of the founding members of the Manitoba Craft Council and one of the original artists to participate in the Manitoba Arts Council's Artist in the School Programme. On retiring from an active studio life, she returned to university to earn her degrees in art history. She has taught at Bishop's University, Acadia University and is now chair of the art history area, School of Art, University of Manitoba. Her area of expertise is the history of ceramics. Her favourite pastime is cuddling up with a good pot. Contact her at dsteggles@shaw.ca.

THE PIPER'S TALE

Sent in by Glenys Marshall-Inman (Sooke, B.C.), taken from the New Zealand Potters Association's, Ceramics Quarterly (story not attributed)

Asa bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Wairarapa back country in New Zealand.

I was not familiar with the area and I got lost but being a typical man, I didn’t stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw that the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.

‘There were only a couple of scruffy bearded grave-diggers left and they were eating lunch. I felt bad and apologised to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and saw the grave was already half full. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and gathered around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before, for this homeless man. And as I played Amazing Grace, the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full. As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, “I've never seen anything like that before, and I’ve been digging pits for pitfiring for more than twenty years.”

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter « February 2011

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