page 5

Pri itiv a! yj

Sophisticated Pieces

On two separate occasions, people of the
Port Moody Clay Centre had the
opportunity to leam from the primitive
firing master - Laura Wee Lay Lag. One
day we learned how to create hand-coiled
eos and on another day we all drove out to
fire chem. A second chance to experience
this method of firing was offered a month
later.

Our learning began when Laura brought to
the Art Centre her simple collection of
clay-shaping tools; a puki - a ceramic piece
resembling a shallow bow! for supporting
the pot as it was coiled and a pile of
polished agates to burnish these vessels
with. She spent che day demonstrating how
to make coils, join chem and how to
burnish pots to a glass-like sheen. Two
weeks larer we would fire these hand-made
pots. As the day of che firing drew near,
the assortment of vases and bowls of all
sorts of fantastic sizes, shapes and designs
grew bigger and bigger on che shelves in the
kiln room,

Finally, the day of firing arcived. We all
drove out to Barnston [sland in the Fraser
River to fire chem. The kilns were in the
middle of a sheep field - che owner of which
was generous enough to allow Laura to fire
there. We deconstructed the dusty, ashy
tiles and chen our task truly began.

So we could get the full, hands-on
experience, Laura simply directed us a5 we
set up two kilns for firing. We carefully
built the kilns out of firebrick, breathing in
the scent of ash-laced dewy grass as we
ensured thar the sides within were smooth
and level with each other, so that the flame
of the firing would noc create damaging
eddies. Then, as the sun bear mercilessly
down on us, we hammered steel flashing to
fit the dimensions of the kilns. We filled
our pieces with sawdust and arranged them
within the kilns. After the pieces were
securely stacked, we began to pour in
massive quantities of pine wood chips,
cedar shavings, mahogany dust - che wide
variety of textures of sawdust and woods
would all give subtle nuances to the
patterns of smoke and carbon on the
surfaces af the pow. One person even
added dried lavender to the mix.

Laura mentioned that sheep's dung was
one combustible material she had used in
the past... and that it gave the most
incredible Mack that mo wood could give.
The stacked pots reached a quarter of the
height of the meter-high kilns; the rest
was tightly packed with sawdust and ar
the top, layers of newspaper were Laid, to
catch the flame and set the whole thing
alight. A steel lid was placed on top of
the brick kilns, held a brick's height above
the sawdust and paper. This task had
taken che whole day, for che sky was
curning dark.

As the sun began to set, Laura started to
chant in a Native language as she
carefully set che layers of paper aflame.
Once the fire was greedily surging within
the two kilns, she cured co us and
translated her words. She had thanked
the god of earth, who was present in the
clay pots within, invited the god of fire to
dwell in the kiln,and asked che gods of
night and day co watch over the kiln. As
the sun vanished, the fire finished the
paper layers and instantly calmed,
smothered by the tightly-packed sawdust,
and then complacently began to belch
forth plumes of smoke that would be
marked on the pots by cheir resultant
trails of carbon,

Two days larer, the firing was finished and
we all drove back to Barnston Island co
pick up our pots. We eagerly dug through
the soot and ash to draw forth pots of
most exquisite beaury...My three pots
showed the firing spectrum, One was
pure, gleaming black like carved argillite.
Patches of ivory and soot marked another
piece, so that it resembled fossilized or
burnt bone, with a few pools of
iridescence like oil. “The last was a large
vase that had turned the colour of carved
and polished walnut with a few gleaming
trails of fired pitch. Though there were
probably over thirty pieces in total, every
single one was completely unique, the
trademark of primitive firing.

It was incredible that such sophisticared
works of art could be bom of a firing
process millenniums ald and that, unlike
glazing, which is made wp of dozens of
chemicals, the only thing decorating its
surface was carbon from the humble
flare.

Sarah White

e of Clay -

As announced in the October issue of che
Newsletter, the sixth annual Made of
Clay show and sale will be held April 30,
May 1 & 2, 1999 in the same location as
always -Performance Works, 1215
Cartwright Streer, Granville Island.

The Application Form i included in this
month's Newsletter, The deadline for
Tegistration is December §, 1998. The
total fee for booth rencal is $450
(unchanged from this year’s event), Pose-
dared cheques should be made payable co
the Potters Guild of BC in the amounts
as set out in the application form.
Additional renrals, such as tables, chairs,
extension cords and floodlights should be
added to the final instalment cheque or
an additional post-dated cheque isswed.
Applications received after the deadline
will be accepted if space is available on an
as-received basis.

Applicants should attach a curriculum
vitae, which may be edited for promotion
purposes for the event. Please include
some comment about che type of ceramics

you will be fearuring. More on promotion
tollows.

There will be a change in che booth
allocation process. A layout of the show
area is included in the Application Form.
Booths will be assigned by draw, as in
prior years, but since each applicant will
indicate their choice, the first name
drawn is assured of the prime spot (as
they see it). Prime spot should be
numbered ‘1’, second choice ‘2’, and sa
on. If a subsequent subscriber's first
choice is already alloted, the top ranking
unallocated booth on their list will be
assigned instead. Booth selection will
wecur on December 9th, and lare
subscribers will only have a choice of che
remaining, unallocated booths.

New invitation cards will be availabe. A
design committee is being established and
che final design will be approved by the
Board,

There will be a $2 admission fee at the
door. This fee will be retained by an as
yet unselected charitable organization
with whem we will be working in

continued on page 10