July 2025
JULY 2025 | ISSUE #058
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Hello Potters
From the President
Our 20th celebration was a fabulous day with a great turnout. Plenty of fun was had by everyone and a beautiful new sign was unveiled.
The competitions were great fun, Diane took out the longest coil with an impressive 73.5cms in 1 minute. The blind folded pinch pot pig was a very close call but was taken out by Laura and newcomer Penni won the handle pulling competition.
Thank you to Councillor Sandy Landers for joining us and along with Councillor Jared Cassidy donating a prize for our raffle
A massive thanks to everyone who participated and volunteered along with the organising committee for making the day possible, Laura, Rozi, Helen, Jen, Melina, Steve and Sandy.
Our large pug mill has been repaired so stay tuned for details on how you can go about using it for all your reclaim.
The annual Einbunpin festival is on 27th July and the club will be hosting a stall. We are looking for volunteers and pottery for sale, if you are interested check out helloclub and club emails.
The club had a great response to the magnet competition which made it very difficult to choose a short list. After four were chosen they were put to a vote with our very own newsletter editor Ed Trost coming out the winner. Well done Ed.
Happy potting
Suzanne
July
13th - Xmas in July Sunday social
27th - Jumpers & Jazz Potter’s Market - Warwick Potters annual event
27th - Einbunpin Festival (sales and volunteer opportunities)
August
16th + 17th - Northern Rivers NSW Mud Trail
17th - Sunday social
30th - Father’s Day pop up (sales and volunteer opportunities)
20th Year in the Shed Celebration
Here are some pictures of the action from the 20th Year Celebrations day. There was a lot of mud-slinging and smashing of pottery down one end of the shed, some clever potters inside demonstrating their skills - blindfolded, a Sausage Sizzle to keep everyone sustained, a secret auction featuring a lot of potter’s artwork and including the Fridge Magnet winner, our neighbours from the garden next door and of course a pottery stall brimming with pieces that sold fast.
All this couldn’t have been achieved without the vision and hands-on approach of Suzanne, Melina and the Celebration Committee and the numerous volunteers who spent a lot of their day to make it a success.
A giant Thank You to all involved and for those who braved the weather and turned up for the event.
click image to view larger photo
Magnet Winner 2025
The votes are in and the winner of the peoples choice magnet is No 2, ‘the pottery shed’.
Congratulations Ed.
Sunday Social
Slip Casting Baubles Workshop
Join us for a mid winter Xmas Sunday social,
learn slip casting to make a xmas bauble.
Slip included.
Bring a plate for a shared morning tea.
Sunday 13th July
Time: 9:00am – 13:00pm
Shorncliffe Pottery Club
Remember to refer to conditions of workshops on the Club’s website.
32 years old and still going strong, the Einbunpin Festival is a celebration
by and for the community about those things that make the
Sandgate district special!
Held in the heart of Sandgate, the Festival is held around the lagoon and parkland in Brighton Road Sandgate (bordered by Keogh Street,
Lagoon Street and Bowser Parade).
The day includes something for everyone – stalls, entertaining performances by locals, as well as games and activities.
Sunday 27th July
Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm
Where: around the lagoon, Sandgate
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Handmade in Japan with OKAERI
Open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in July
09:00 to 15:00
Vacant Assembly
266 Montague Road, West End, Qld 4101
Returning for its second year. OKAERI invites you to immerse yourself in the elegance and tradition of Japanese craftsmanship. Join us in July as we celebrate our curated collection of functional art from our artisan makers and local Japanese artists.
Explore a unique array of Japanese ceramics, paper lanterns, natural fragrances, homewares and gifts from across Japan. Share tea and matcha during your visit and hear the stories of our makers.
Source: https://okaeri.au/
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Jumpers & Jazz
Potters’ Craft Market
Every year Warwick Potters participates in the premier Southern Downs festival Jumpers & Jazz in July by running their annual craft market.
Sunday, 27th July 2025
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Leslie Park, Palmerin Street, Warwick
To discover more at the Jumpers & Jazz in July Festival, head to the website:
https://www.jumpersandjazz.com.au/
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North Coast NSW Mud Trail 2025
Step inside the creative world of clay.
Now in its 13th year, the North Coast Mud Trail invites you to explore the studio spaces of 33 ceramic artists working across 22 studio locations in the Northern Rivers region.
Less than 2 hours from Brisbane it is a showcase for the region’s arts and crafts and well worth experiencing. For more info:
SPC Kiln & Firing Procedure
Reminder
MAKE SURE YOUR PIECES ARE THOROUGHLY DRIED = "BONE DRY"
BEFORE PUTTING PIECES ON THE KILN SHELVES.
IF NOT DRY PLEASE DO NOT PLACE ON KILN SHELF. Pieces must be BONE DRY - drying time can vary from 1-4 weeks depending on size/ thickness, weather etc... Larger thicker pieces take longer to dry [3-6 weeks]
NO SOLID FORMS if a piece is hollow make sure to create a hole in the piece for air to escape.
THICK PIECES (no thicker than your thumb).
Damp pieces can cause explosions.
LARGE PIECES WILL ONLY BE FIRED WHEN ROOM IS AVAILABLE.
ABSOLUTELY NO RAW GLAZING
Greenware glaze firing is not permitted [note underglaze is allowed]
CLEAN THE BOTTOMS OF YOUR PIECES
Wipe bottoms of pieces making sure they are free of glaze.
Make sure there is at least 5-6mm glaze clearance from the bottom of your pieces. Otherwise pieces will not be loaded.
MARK YOUR PIECES Important: No Mark - No Load - Makers mark/initials, multiple small pieces - place on a cookie with [make] an ID tag in clay and reuse.
COMPLETE FIRING FORMS - complete all details on firing forms including descriptions. Once paid for Fill in receipt number #... place form with pieces on the appropriate shelf. No fill = no load. If you have specific requirements - please leave note on firing form and speak with a Kiln Team member.
SHELF SPACE If pieces do not fit on the shelf - wait until space is available/or check with kiln team member. Please be respectful and patient - do not touch or move other people's work.
SINGLE FIRING IS NOT ALLOWED
MEMBERS MAY NOT ENGAGE IN LARGE SCALE COMMERCIAL FIRING
ACTION. QUERIES: PLEASE CONTACT SPC COMMITTEE Via email.
Current Clay in Stock
We have a large range of clay in stock, all at great prices. Just ask your supervisor next time you are down at the pottery shed.
Blackwattle White Stoneware Paper Clay
Chris’ Light Speckle
Clayworks YG Speckle
Feeneys Fine Blend FFB
Feeneys Raku Gold
Feeneys Red Raku
Feeneys Buff Raku Sandy BRS
Feeneys Buff Raku Trachyte BRT
Granite Mid Fire
Keane White Earthenware 37
Keane Ceramics Red Earth
Keane Ceramics Dark Matter
Keane Ceramics White Raku
Keane Ceramics Mid Fire 33
Keane Ceramics Mid Fire 6 Speckled
Northcote Clayworks Cone 6 White
Walkers White Handbuilding EW/SW
Walkers 10 Stoneware
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Full story and Photos courtesy of ABC Broken Hill: Katherine Spackman
Broken Hill Primitive Firing Weekend
On a remote station north of Broken Hill, potters from near and far gather for a weekend of primitive firing. For about 30 years, station owner and potter Cynthia Langford has opened the gates to welcome potters to do four different types of firings.
"We've got our sawdust firing … you get a nice black, very highly burnished pot come out of there and they're always very excited about those," she says.
"Then we've got our pit where we put our pots in the pit with coffee grounds and different salted corn husks and things, and get lovely colours on our pots.
"And then we've got our cow-pat firing that we do in a drum with dry cow pats." And then we have our raku.
The potters spend most of the day firing pots in bins the Broken Hill potters made in 2012 during a workshop with Swedish potter Stefan Jakob.
"We had a workshop where we made an IKEA rubbish bin into a little kiln and our members bring their little kiln out and we collect up all their little sticks and bits of wood and we fire our pots in the rubbish bins," Mrs Langford says.
Friendship formed through pottery
Joining the Broken Hill group are five members from the Adelaide Potters Club. Each year since 2012, potters from the club have been travelling six hours to come to the remote station.
"They were just really excited about coming and joining us to do this and being able to do these primitive firings," Mrs Langford says.
Adelaide ceramicist Frances Rogers is attending the firing for the first time and says she loves the simple colour scape.
"I actually find it really inspiring for the pots — like you look over and you go, 'OK, I'll use copper red today because that's what I'm looking at,'" she says.
Personal trainer Nicki Murnane is returning to Purnamoota for the second time and says it is a great weekend of getting back to nature and meeting lovely people.
"I always say to people it's a child-like weekend," she says. "The anticipation you get as a kid on Christmas Eve, that's what you get here, and you don't really get that much in life anymore.
"[It's] the sheer joy of unravelling and opening up and not knowing what you're going to get."
More accessible pottery
A highlight for the visitors is the raku firings in metal bins that the Broken Hill potters bring from their homes. Raku pottery is a Japanese firing technique that produces distinctive markings on the surface of the ceramics.
The Broken Hill potters burn emu feathers or horse hair onto their pots at the weekend event.
"You open the lid and you put a little sugar on it and if the sugar burns black when it hits the pot then the pots are ready to come out and have feathers put on it," Broken Hill Potters Society president Sue Andrews says.
The other raku technique they use involves putting a raku glaze on pots and getting it to temperature before quickly removing it to put it in another bin to reduce the glaze and give different colours.
Adelaide ceramicist Frances Rogers says it is a wonderful collective activity.
"You need all hands on deck … pulling the pot out and dropping it in the hot barrel and someone's throwing paper and the other ones got the wet paper and you know, everyone's like 'get the lid on' so it's a little bit more adrenaline," she says.
Rogers says it is making pottery more affordable and accessible.
"[Proper kilns] are at least $4,000. They've just told us we could whip one of these up for about $400," she says.
Unpredictable and spontaneous results
Broken Hill's Lee Quinn has been a potter for 40 years. She enjoys the process of making the cow-pat pit. As the pots were removed on Sunday morning, Mrs Andrews says it is the best cow pat firing they have had.
"It’s just the colours — normally it doesn't come out this good. I think it was more pots in the cow pat, tightly packed in a smaller drum," she says.
Mrs Langford, who first joined the potters in 1991, says the Broken Hill Potters Society was founded in the mid-1970s by three or four women. They sold pots and eventually raised money to buy a kiln together and officially formed a society. In time, they purchased an old scout hall and raise funds each year through Mother's Day and Christmas fairs to earn the money to pay for the rates.
click on images for larger versions
We have popped all of the published tips, hacks and techniques onto the ‘Tips’ page on our club website so that you can refer to them easily.
What is Sgraffito?
Sgraffito is an artistic technique, often used in pottery, where a surface is decorated by scratching through the top layer of a coating like slip or underglaze, to reveal a contrasting colour or texture underneath. This usually occurs when the pottery is leather hard. The word "sgraffito" comes from the Italian word "sgraffiare," which means "to scratch".
How it works:
Applying the coating:
A layer or layers of coloured slip, underglaze, or other coating is applied to a leather-hard clay piece.
Scratching and carving:
Using a tool (like a needle or sgraffito tool), the top layer is scratched or carved away to reveal the clay or other coating underneath.
Creating patterns:
The scratched or carved patterns reveal the contrasting colour of the clay or a previously applied layer of slip or underglaze, creating a decorative design.
Our Committee
President: Suzanne Bell
Vice President: Melina Wales
Treasurer: Sandra Roveda
Secretary: Laura Ogden
Committee Members:
Rebecca Mason, Steve McConnell, Kylie Smith
Newsletter Editor: Ed Trost
edtrost1961@gmail.com
email: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@gmail.com
follow us on
website + instagram + facebook
…Until next month…
HAPPY POTTING!
