OcT. 1980 — _3

FROM THE. CANADIAN. CRAFTS COUNCIL in Te

gards to official ifts t
pooresent other countries. Mrs. Webster of State. Protocol, Hospitelity Fie
erence Section is interested in crafts for this. purpose in the. $50-$100 a8 well

as objects up to $1,000 for special visitors. 5
e She is int
gp to 50. People ere asked to send detailed slides to ‘the Cob, wa eens sone af
te. 16, Ottawa, Canada K1P 5K6 or call 613-235-8200, gin St.,

COMPETITION, Womem-in-Focus Gallery is organizing «a juried/Invitational series of
thre@-2. weak. exhibita. Called "Womeansize", the whole event runs from Jan. 20-Mar.
14. The third show will feature works in medal, wood and Gley. Featured during
this time will be lectures, posters, films, videos and a catalogue is planned.
Deadline for: thie ‘event to residents in 8.C. is Nov. 27th. The Propectus will be
out in mid-Oct. ar’ call 872-2250. Or write #6 45. Kingsway, Van.»
, _ —

The Nature of Mount St. Helen'a Ash, by Ronda Green.

" The ash .erupted-from Mount St. Helen's volcano on May 18, 1980 generally hes
a chemical composition. aimiliar to a common volcanic rock celled decite. The ash
is composed of tiny fragments of pumiceous glass and crystales from the mojton mag-
ma plus fragments of older rocks torn off the walls of the vent. The nature of the
ash deposited at: any particular location depends on tha wind patterns prevailing at
the time the material was ejected and the dietance downwind from the volcano. The
compoetition of: the material ‘being. ejected changed. somewhat during the course of

the eruption."

The above gtatement was issued: by ‘the Federal CotOrdinating office established
in Vancouver, Wash. to study all aspacts of the live volcano. When I visited this
office, it appeared that the teams of geologiets, environmentalists, medical ex-
perts, agriculturalists, seismologiste, atmospheric scientists, forestry, fish,
wildlife and: disaster’ planning: “sgencies were trying to equal with paper, the volume .
of ash ejected by: the:-volcano. . ~

The findings were. quite interesting, but as a potter I was most interested in
using the ash for glazes. TI obtained e chemical anelysis of an ash sample tsken
at Moscow, Idaho. Ellen Zeiss acguired ‘an analysis from Yakama, Wash. A compari-
gon of the two show ‘great differences’ in content. |

MOSCOW IDAHO YAKAMA WASHINGTON

65.8 silica SO ‘1.1 ..8tronontium 21. calcium

16.4 alumina «03 1.5 titanium

4.0 iron: oxide - oe WB e21 ~=corenium

1.4 - Magnesia a eS y - 043 magnesium

4.1 > limes =... >> e448. zirconium 24. iron

5.1 '. goda . - e18- chlorine e055 copper

1.7 potash. i > ‘el5 molybdenium | 072 zinc

0.6 titenium dioxide 7.2 potassium e013 gallium
-0052 nickle -007 arsenic

-0057 rubidium

Ash which a potter collects is likely to vary draatically again, and I would think
that trial and srror testing, line: blends and good guess work would be a reasonable
approach to formulating a working glaze.

At. cone 04, I. used the recipe:. -ash 60, colemanite 30, borax 10, to obtain a
glossy fluxed coffee brown glaze,..Cwith a larga craze pattern),

Bob Bush obtained a golden honey gloss on whitish clay at cone 6-8, with the
recipe: ash 80, zinc oxide 10, whiting 10.

Other interesting facts are worth mentioning. Silicosis is caused by inhal-
ing airborn, crystalline fres ailica. This ash, although 60% or more is silicon,
is considered harmless to the general public since a very small proportion of the
respirable size particles are free silica--quartz cristobalite.

Also with a small addition of lime, the ash makes cement.
‘SNuWwS — . ee

"MADE -BY-HAND® '80, from now until Jan. 4th, at the Centennial Museum. This fea-
tures high-quality juried work from arourid the province. Address, 1100 Chestnut
St., Van.

Oct. 6 opening at the Rembrandt Galleries, 1333 Lonsdale, N. Van., Denys James,
Raku, Stephan Cooke, wood-fired pottery and Charlene Tatham, mixed media. And
beginning Nov. 3rd, Joyce and Andrew Cammidge, pottery and Sid Dyke, paintings.

A MAJOR CERAMIC SHOW (international) is
slated for the Everson Mus.
ares the book and show A Century of Ceramics in the U.S. n tues of Art which
artists may write for more inform 3
of Art, 401 Harrison St., Syracuse, N. Vos 13202. ¥o Margie Muahta, Everson Mus.
THE POT SHOP PRE-CHRISTMAS EXHIBITION AND SALE, N
ov. 29-
and Sun. featuring all members of Clayworks.

30, from 10 am - 8 pm Sat.