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A Day In The Life Of...Jane McDougall

Oh, oh! ts that “jingle bells* on CBC7?!? ‘Yikes, already
October, A potter hears that music and doesn't think about
sugar plums and candy canes. WE think about casseroles
and jugs and mugs and plates and platters and
teapotsand. ..and... Christmas sales. So today | will get to
work and build up my stock for the holiday buyers. Thank
goodness my studio is close to home. As usual | grab a
‘trendy’ coffee at the hip bakery/cafe just down the street
from the studio, and as! climb up the stairs to my 2nd
floor space, say “Hi!” to the various artists who share the
building -15 studios in all. So | am in good company.

As! don my muddy apron and flick on the Muddy radio
(Peter and Vicki are a potters’ best studio mates), | try to
remember what my biggest seller was last year. Ah! The
dreaded mug. Vell, this year | am hand bullding platters
of various sizes and shapes -all earthenware. My clay of
choice is Darcy's red art terra-cotta. Fired at cone 04 this
clay is strong, reliable and ‘oven-proof’. | cut thick pieces
of clay from the bag and throw large slabs (no slab roller,
sigh), draping each one over triangular molds, The
unevenness of this hand thrown slab accentuates the
hands-on look that | love. My decorating begins right away
by cutting a

Tam’s Techno Tip:

If you mix your own clay, the best way to do it is
through wet blending in a blunger. For the
uninitiated a blunger is a big, liquid mixer. At it's
simplest, a large pail, an electric drill and a
propeller attachment will do the trick. This method
| thoroughly wets clay particles and maximizes
latent plasticity. The disadvantage is that the slip
must be dried back to the plastic state which takes
considerable time. Winter is on the way and this
presents the opportunity to dewater clay by
freeze-drying. When frozen slip is thawed, a layer
| of clear water is formed above the clay. The water

vegetable outline into the edge of each platter, This will be
followed by a couple of coats of white slip and then
underglazes. A time consuming but rewarding process
because my work is about colour. Since my pieces are
functional, | want the decoration to reflect their use, For
example, large serving platters are decorated with bold,
colourful vegetables.

Once dry, the platters are bisqued at cone 05, burning off
any foreign matter and gases from theclay body. The pieces
are then glazed in Deb's Clear. [ts high frit content brings out
the vibrant range of colour, OK, enough said. You are '
probably too busy to read this anyway -| arn not the only
potter with 4 Christraas Geadline.

Deb's Clear Glaze cone 04:

Frit 3134 30

Frit3195 45

EPK 25
100

Jane adds Epsom salts and gum Arabic to achieve the glaze
viscosity and Suspension that she likes.

can be poured off or siphoned off (don't suck too
hard, if the latter), thus substantially reducing th
water content. Brian van Nostrand writes about thi
an article titled “Self-sufficiency in Clay", Studi
Potter, volume 5, No. 2 (available for perusal in ou
guild library).

Techno tips will be a regular feature from now on.
you have any questions pertaining to clay send them
in. If Tam can’ figure it out, he probably knows
someone who can...