Ancient art,.. “new business _ By! Betty Buirton : she’ same. beach i in Puerto Rico. . Pottery is now a family affair: - “The wheels. aie : turning, for ‘for the Ralcks. Michelle’ says” Michelle and Raymond Ralck in their new pottery business. Last weekend, they had a display and working area set up in the Skeena Mall.. Raymond demon- strated making bowls and canisters on his portable electric potter’s wheel, and Michelle and son Guillaume answered in- quiries and sold pieces: of pot- tery, ranging from hanging planters to canister sets and ash trays to delicate porcelain pieces. Raymond explains that they work with local red clay from Rosswood and often combine it with white clay from Vancouver. The marbled effect looks some- what like wood grain and has a very earthy feel about it. The ‘Ralcks make their own glazes. And they assure customers that all the glazes are food safe. The Ralcks’ pottery business came to life last September with the help of the 16-37 Communi- ty Futures’ Business Develop- ment Centre. They had been considering the possibility, but didn’t have a comprehensive plan. Joe Whitney of the Business Development Centre provided the needed informa- tion and the Business Develop- ment Centre provides a monthly sum for the first year of opera- tion of their pottery business, ‘for start-up costs and materials. ‘The business evolved from Raymond’s early work ex- perience as a potter and from a hobby in pottery when Ray- mond and Michelle worked in Oregon. There, Raymond was a truck driver and Michelle was a family counsellor. ., Raymond had worked as a potter in his native Puerto Rico from age 14 to 20. He’d had a friend in pottery who taught him the basics and got him a jobina pottery shop. For one year, Ray- mond attended the University of Puerto Rico, studying pottery in the art department. The Ralcks live in Rosswood. From Oregon, they chose where they wanted to live in B.C. by looking on a map and choosing the greenest area they could 4 find. On a vacation here, they bought a piece of property in Rosswood and moved to Canada two years ago. Since arriving in Terrace, the Raicks have done silversmithing and sold their jewellery in the Skeena Mall and at Farmers’ markets. They hope to incor- ‘porate the sale of their silver work in their pottery and sell both together at craft sales, through local stores and the Farmers’ Market. Raymond Ralck moved to Oregon 13 years ago, at age 20, where he worked as a jeweller, a silversmith and a truck driver. Raymond and Michelle met in Alaska in 1981 when Michelle was recuperating from a cycling injury and Raymond was work- ing in construction. Michelle is originally from Quebec. When their common interests were dis- ‘covered, they determined that they had both sold pottery on ao Deeruenorninaa cent ae 12-year-old Guillaume will be the next potter. ‘‘His first pieces were really impressive.”’ Five- year-old Mar y sol (which means sea and sun, in Spanish) loves the wheel and builds pots by hand, too.. Raymond and Michelle do most of their work on the wheel. . Handles for jugs are done by hand. They have two electric potter’s wheels, one of which is portable for demonstrations like the one in the Skeena Mall. In Puerto Rico, Raymond worked on a kick wheel (turned by the push of the foot), He felt he had more control with the kick wheel, although he has put speed controls on his electric wheels. Raymond taught Michelle how to use their electric wheels. The idea for a piece comes while it is still a lump of clay, but sometimes the form or style changes in the process and ends up a unique piece, very different from the original idea. The pottery pieces are fired in a propane kiln at the Ralcks’ home in Rosswood, Raymond hopes to build separate studio space in the near future. The Ralcks are planning a pottery and silver display and demonstration in the Skeena Mall next month. They say they’re just feeling out the market to see what people want. Then they’ll adjust their prod- ucts accordingly, t Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 4, 1990 B9- Raymond Ralck uses the red clay from the Rosswood area where he and his family live as the. basic material for his artisan business. The Ralcks got started with help from the 16-37 Community Futures Business Development Centre. Slash burning questions still unanswered The Kitimat-Stikine Regional District called for a moratorium on slash burning within a 10-mile radius of the Terrace-Kitimat air- port last year, but it appears that their request had little effect on Ministry of Forests practices. "It’s just business as usual,” says Thornhill director Les Watmough. "In spite of what we do." According to Watmough, at least four sites in the Thunderbird area west of the airport have been slated for burning this summer. He says that two of those sites are 12 hectares each and all four are flat land that could be cleared more economically by machine. Watmough explains that in this type of terrain most logging com- panies prefer to skid the whole tree to the landing and then limb and .buck the tree. He says it’s cheaper and the end result is that the area is clean and there is no need for slash burning. It appears the regional district will get no help from the Minister of Forests either. Director Gordon Robinson referred to a letter signed by Claude Richmond in which he stated in part, "I do not feel that a moratorium on slashburning in the Regional District of Kitimat-- Stikine is appropriate at this time." At its March 24 meeting the board passed a motion to include Richmond’s letter and an attached copy of the ministry’s slashburning policy with the Hazelton Forest Industry Charter as the basis for their position paper to the Forest Resources Commission. A later motion made by Les Watmough to oppose slashburning slated for the Thunderbird area this year was also passed. 2 Price Free Delivery in Town with minimum order yee OUR SPECIALITY 638-8218 PASTA