The Potters Guild of B.C.
NEWSLETTER

is published 10 times a year as a
missions are welcome, and should
be in the Guild office by the last

Friday of the month. Materia] may
be edited for publication.

Managing Editor: Jan Kidnie,

Mailing: Allen MacAllister, Anne
Fieetham, Gillian McMillan.

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The Potters Guild of 5.c.
membership is $26, 75-Indlvi-
duals, $42.80-—groups, January to
December [including GST). See
application form elsewhere in this
issie,

Potters Guild 1992 Board of
Directors: Rosemary Amon, Sarah
Coote, Linda Doherty, Tam Irving,
Kersti Krug, Carol Mayer, June
MacDonald, Nathan Kafla,
| Friederike Rahn, Elsa Schamis,
Ron Vallis.

Staff: Jan Kidnie, Guild Office
| Administrator, Coralie Triance,
Manager, and Lea Price, Assistant,
Gallery of B.C.Ceramics.

service to the Membership. Sub- ||

NOTED

with the Hong Kong Bank's Asian
ceramics collection at the Vancou-
ver Museum was headlined in the
Sun's “Tam Talk” on March 24th.
The Museum, with Jean's assist-

ferrous glazes as demonstrated In
the collection. Phone the Museum
at 736-443 1 for further information
on programme and dates.

Jean Fahrnoi and her involvement

ance, is showcasing “Shades of
Iron”, a look at the development of

FEBRUARY WORKSHOP with MATTHIAS OSTERMANN

The ceramics community was treated to a lively digrusaton and demonstration on
February 29th, when the Montreal potter/ceramist /artist Matthias Ostermann
gave a one-day workshop at BCCAD.

He started the morning with an aute-biographical alide talk, epeaking of hia first
years of training as a potter In Toronte and the UK. Throughout the chronology,
there were figurative references to myths and personal icons; mermaids, antelope,
fish, and red chairs punctuated the drawing and decoration of his work. He spoke
with enthusiasm about his discovery of Itallan majolica and the development of his
own techniques. He showed a serles of narrative figurative sculptures with richly
painted surfaces, work which showed the rich Influences of his travela, and
concluded with some examples of the other types of work he ts Involved in: a small
run of production ware, and finally, his latest project, a company called “Majolica”,
which provides custom painted majolica tiles, marketed through architects and
interior designers.

When we moved back to the studio, Matthias started setting up, getting ready to
glaze and decorate some bisque platters, We discussed some of the common
technical problems with majolica glaze, as he defily poured and swirled the glaze on
the inside of six large plates. This completed, Matthias set about mixing his palette
of overglaze colours. Using prepared intermixable stains and frit, be mixed a
spectrum ralnbow, discussing how to adjust colours to make them “fil” into the
palette, while letting each colour remain distinct.

After letuing the glazed plates dryover lunch, Matthias began to decorate. He showed
several different techniques, discussing how a painting is built up, from its
underlying compositional structure, through the building up of the foreground,
then background, moving through the spectrum of the palette. Fine black brush
strokes and energetic seéraMfite drawing back through to the white glaze finished the

painting.

Al Une end of the afternoon, we assembled again for slides, this time an informative
series of historical and contemporary majolica. Throughout the day. Matthias’
enthusiasm for the ceramic process and medium was very evident, and what struck
me most was his ability to find and develop such a rich variety of work within the

majollca technique.
~ Friederike Rahn

The Board of Directors of the Potters’ Guild Is happy to announce the arrival
of the first offspring of the Corpus Vasorum Pacifica publication programme
(See Elsa Schamis’ article In the June 1991 Newsletter on its origins). The
monograph entitled “Don Hutchinson on Don Hutchinson” ls the result of
concerted effort by a half dozen Guild members (Elsa says it was a delivery by
forceps). It began with an Interview with Don by Nathan Rafla and Elwin Lowe,
edited and polished by Elwin Lowe, Don, Elsa Schamis and Jan Kidnie, with
photographs mostly provided by the patient Tam Irving. From the interview,
there ia much other good materia] thal we hope may be used in publication
either here tn the Newsletler, or elsewhere.

Page 2

April, 1992