4

As for Don Hutchinson and his “mine your own feldspar,
use natural matenals* bit, | put this down to the idealism of
the conscientious teacher, and for students, particularty
advanced students, it can be an enlightening and fun ex-
perience, But unless, like Tam Irving, your studio is built
by a heap of granite and pegmatite, and you have a
$800.00 jaw crusher in your basement, it is not practical
for the producing potter to mine his own materials. | did a
little exercise on this once and found that to drive out to
Britannia (or thereabouts) find and load about 500 pounds
of rock, drive home, break it up, sieve it, ball mill it etc...
took about 30 hours. At $5.00 per hour for my time that
makes the cost about $30,00 per hundred pounds. ! can
buy feldspar for $10.00 a hundred so | can’t afford the lux-
ury of mining it myself even if | do enjoy the risk of silico-
sis and my glazes going all wonky.

Yell, to each his owm, as they say, but | still feel that the
real challenge in pottery is not out digging your own clay or
smashing your own fock, but rather using your time, skill,
experience, intuition, sense of design, love of clay, nature
and your fellow man, to create in clay something that has
life and excitement In it and that shows a little of the fun
and joy you had while making It.

And now that | have all that off my chest I'm going down to
the beach, | know where there is a pile of oyster shells
and I'm going te calcine them and try to make my own cal-
cium carbonate. If the stink doesn't kill me first.

[Article reprinted from “Western Potter, April 1972, no.
26, pp.8-11]

TECHNO-TIPS

-TAM IRVING-

Shino glazes with their rich orange ‘fire colours’ provide an
important element in the high fire sesthetic, These glazes
must be calcium free in order to develop ‘fire colour.’ Typ-
ically, North American shinos are based on 70/80%
nepheline syenite combined with 20/30% kaolin or ball clay
and about 3% common salt, Jim Robinson has compiled
an excellant compendium of shine type glazes in an article
titled “Revival Fires: Another Face for Shino,” “Studia
Potter’, Vol. 21, No. 1, dec. 1992, pp. 62-66.

For a rich orange with an interesting craw! pattern try
Shaner's Sinter-

Nepheline Syenite 36.2
Kona f4 feldspar 8.6
Spodymene 12.2
Kaolin EPK 25.0
Ball Clay OM4 12.0
Soda ash 3.0

This glaze has a high clay content which seeds the crawl.
Do not apply too thickly or it will flake off. Consult lan Cur-

rie's Book, Glazes: AS atic A for

a more detailed history of shino glazes,

OBITUARY

Majorie Feimann, one of the early members of the
Potters Guild of B.C, and former studio mate to Heinz
Laffin died March 24, 1995, in Vancouver, Mrs,
Feimann was 87 years old and is survived by her sister,
Jean Farni, a life member of the Potters Guild.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Call for entry:

The PNE invites all guild and society members to enter
the 1995 amateur PNE Arts and Crafts competition. This
is a great chance to display your work to thousands of
people. It's easy to enter: to receive the 1995 prize list
booklet and entry form, phone Heather Ross or Joyce
Wong at 253-2311 and leave your name, address and
phone number, Deadline for entries is June 16, 1995.

Art Market $5

Harrison Festival of the Arts

P.O. Box 399

Harrison Hot Springs, 8.C. VOM 1K0
Ph. 604-796-3864

Deadline: April 21, 1995

Richmond Potters Club
Spring Sale
May 5: 3-Spm

May 6: 10am-3pm
Richmond Cultural Centre
7700 Minoru Gate
Richmond, B.C.

Call for entries: Canadian artisans are invited to submit
entries of their work for the Richmond Art Gallery's first
annual juried arts and crafts festival, Salute to the Arts on
September 9, 1995. Send your registration fee of $30
along with 4 photographs or slides of your work by May
31, 1985. A 10% commission will be charged for all sales
at the end of the day. Rental of tables and a canopy are
available, For more information, contact Linda Hilford or
Yvonne Chui at Richmond Art Gallery, 1860-7700 Minom
Gate, Richmond, B.C., V6Y 1R9. Ph. 231-6440; fax, 231-
6423.

wee
Call for entries: The Mad Potter Goes Gardening:
Entry deadiine: April 21, 1995. Place: Sidney Museum
Contacts: Arlene at 655-3882 or Sue at 655-4804.
Show and sale dates: May 7-21. (Pottery sale event, May