POTTERY TOUR OF MEDICINE HAT AND VICINITY

"Watch out | "Rattlesnake ‘" “It went right over your foot.” Whose
foot ? Mine | And I stood petrified in Petrified Coulee in the Alberta
Baclands while the more experienced members of the party gently
herded the rattler away. Fortunately it was a cool day and the snakes
were feeling sluggish. We saw several more and that was the only
one that even moved. I heard reports that a scorpion had been seen,
too, but was just as glad ] missed that.

We saw a petrified dinosaur backbone imbedded ina cliff and I
brought home a fairsized plece of dinosaur bone and some scraps
of age old oyster shells.

All this was during the course of a three day tour of Medicine Hat

and vicinity hosted by the Alberta Potters' Association. There were
some 80 to 90 potters gathered there from all over Alberta, some

from Saskatchewan, and quite a few from B. G., one from Montana,
and Gordon Bares and Gwen Sands from Ontario. Gwen, as you know,
edits "Tactile" for the Canadian Guild of Potters, as wellas "Craft
Dimensions" for the Canadian Guild of Crafts and “Craft Ontario” for
the Ontario Craft Foundation. I appreciated getting an opportunity to
talk with her.

Each day we gathered at Luke Lindoe's house and piled into three buses
for the day’s tour. The first day we went through plants located in
Medicine Hat. We didn't actually tour the Plainsman Clay plant but we
we gathered there between tours and caught a glimpse of what was
going on. Across the tracks there was a whole row of round dome

kilns now unused but I was told they were all salt-glazed inside

from firing salt-qlazed sewer pipe, and we found a long pile of
beautiful salt glazed shards. (Irresistible!I brought home a few.)

We went through a brick and tile plant where everything was all
automated and electronic. Big machines that methodically cut

texture and spew out clay products. Next, a plant producing elec-
tricity insulators where men were turning out huge insulators with

jigs and crews of girls were boring holes and sanding and glazing by
hand. They were using two glazes, a lovely metallic iron glaze and

a plain grey shiney glaze. The iron glaze is old-fashioned- the new gre)
glaze is the one that is in. Another shard pile with all kinds of