Keith Rice-Jones Two Day Hand Building Workshop

October 16th and 17th 2004

Sponsored by the Comox Valley Potters Club

Saturday morning 27 potters gathered at
the North Island College Ceramics Studio
to take part in a hand building workshop
put on by Keith Rice-Jones. This was a
high ( actually very high) energy day. He
got going a 10 a.m. and didn't slow down
until after 4 p.m.. There was a lunch
break but that was mainly for the specta-
tors to catch their breath - great food as
usual.

The first item he started with was a large
planter over 2 ft. high by 2 ft. across. He

had a six sided pulp board and duct tape
form. F78-G, a coarse clay was used, soft.
Heavy scoring on both surfaces and a gen-
erous brushing of holy water was used.
The feet were reinforced, a rim was added.
The pot was now ( after one hour ) ready
to stiffen up. The weather was perfect so
outside went the pot. It was rotated
through out the day to aid in even drying.

Before and after lunch came some pyra-
mid forms. These were done in a plaster
mold slabs pressed in, bottom put on,

North Vancouver Continuing Education
presents

A TWO-DAY HANDS-ON WORKSHOP
His work - Legendary! His pieces - Sought After!
Learn all about technical problems and the secrets Vincent will reveal at
this workshop. Styrofoam SM will be carved, sanded and used as moulds
for ceramic forms. Slabbed, textured clay will transform from the moulds

with extruded rims, feet and handles. Extruder templates out of plexiglass
will be made under Vincent's professional guidance. Let Vincent's exqui-

site sense of form and design be your guide for 2 days.

Fee:$99

Materials, approx. $15, Clay available @$13 (22lb bag)
Pay at workshop

Friday, 18 February, 2005 6-10pm
Saturday, 19 February, 2005 10-4pm (lunch included)
Lucas Centre Pottery Studio

132 Hamilton Avenue, North Vancouver BC,

Registration: Workshop #PY01-2
Telephone: (604) 903-3333
Fax (604) 903-3334
Mail: 2132 Hamilton Ave
North Vancouver BC V7P2M3
In Person
Space Limited! Register Early!

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

allowed to dry then popped out. Various
pyramids could be made in different
molds, also the size of slabs pressed in
would change the size. These pyramids
were used in a large sculpture and also in
boxes. The perfect pyramid box could
have a holder in it, add a golf ball at night
and the energy would guarantee a hole in

one. ( Keith didn't say if it really worked
Ty

The next sculpture, medium height about
3 ft. same clay but the slabs had been
made a few days earlier. This work was
done with a lot of precision ( you could
see his early training as a cabinet maker ).
Much careful thought and measuring
took place on this project. Scoring, holy
water and pressure had the rough shape
done in no time.

We saw a great set of slides of Keith's and
Celia’s work and travels. Only downer
after great food, dark room, nap time but
good sides prevailed we didn't lose anyone
for too long,

Back to pot making, Keith has not slowed
down. Good thing he had only one cup of
coffee. Anyway more small items, he
showed us many extruder dies of various
shapes for all sorts of projects; six sided
boxes, mirror or picture frames, low bak-
ing or serving dishes. 4 p.m. came and he
was still going strong, the rest of us need-
ed a rest.

Sunday 10a.m. 29 present here we go
again. ( Keith has just completed a 10km
run ). The energy is just as high but the
work must go slower. The form for the
planter was removed, rather exciting flip-
ping it over. Keith has worked out systems
for doing these jobs with great efficiency
and ease. The planter was cleaned up,
bulges and cracks were repaired using clay
and holy water.

Slides on Keith's and Celia’s trip and
work in Seto, japan were shown before
lunch, we didn't lose anyone and the
slides were great. Lunch was, well what
can we say "awesome’.

Back at it Keith made a picture frame, a

January 2005