OTIERS October 2007 Volume 43 No. 8 INSIDE Sandra Dolph Presidents Message Artist Talk NeoCraft: Sandra Alfoldy Kanichi Shigeno International Festival Techno Tip: Passing Gas 10 Clay Lines 11 Down Under with Robert Barron (Continued from the article: “Down under with Owen Rye” in the September/O7 newsletter) ecoaah WN After leaving Owen Rye’s studio, our journey down under continued. At the studio, I took a drink from one of Owen’s personal mug collection. It happened to be made by Robert Barron, whose studio was our next stop. Sometimes we meet the potter before the pots but mostly we meet the pots before the potter. In this case, it certainly came down to the wire for my opportunity to “meet the pot” first. It was only a short, scenic drive to Gooseneck pottery run by Robert Barron. His setup was idyllic and the display of pots outside his studio was jaw-dropping. Robert greeted us with a casual spread of cheese, crackers and olives for lunch in his studio and we shared stories over a glass of local mucro-brewed beer. Meeting Robert was like meeting an old friend—he was so welcoming, relaxed and outgoing. He made us feel right at home and we spent the afternoon talking to him, wandering around looking at his beautiful wood fired pottery, touring his kiln (the largest wood firing kiln in Australia) and basically fighting over pots. Jenny Ross and I both gravitated to the same y pot—perhaps because we fire together, we have a similar desired aesthetic that Robert’s pots had in bounds. Everyone bought something(s) from Robert—I choose to buy a couple larger pieces when Robert agreed to ship them to me, as I was worried about hauling them around Australia for the rest of the trip. Besides, this made for something to look forward to once home again. (oh well—there goes my spending money for Australia—and tt’s only the first week!) ; > enw Because of the large scale of his kiln, much of his work 1s continued on page 7... POTTERS GUILD of BRITISH COLUMBIA Larse vessel fired using Robert’ technique of pulling the pot over during the firing