September 2026
SEPTEMBER 2026 | ISSUE #072
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Hello Potters
From the President
The next two months are shaping up to be wonderfully busy and full of creative energy. Our calendar is packed with events, workshops, and opportunities to get involved — there truly is something for everyone.
et al Gallery Showcase — Submissions are in, and the collection is fantastic — diverse, expressive, and a true reflection of our community’s talent. Spread the word to friends and family and don’t forget to book your event-night tickets. Tickets here.
Mud to Masterpiece — There is still time to complete your Mud to Masterpiece sculptures (confession time, my first attempt looked more like a turkey than a bear so I’m starting again!). Entry forms will be sent out in September, with drop‑off due by 22 October. We’ll celebrate with a prize‑giving at the studio on 24 October, so keep those creations coming.
SAS Creative Trail — We’re excited to be part of the Creative Trail for the last two weekends of October, it’s a fantastic chance for members to sell their work, support fellow members, and explore the wider creative community. It’s a wonderful opportunity to visit other studios, meet fellow makers, and celebrate the vibrant arts scene around Sandgate and Shorncliffe. Download the Moment app and search Sandgate Art Society Creative Trail 2026 for all the details.
Workshops - We’ve lined up some excellent workshops you will love, including:
Melina’s popular Introductions to Slab Rolling & Texture & Glazing
Tamara’s Goddess Workshop, suitable for all levels
Creative Trail Workshops, open to the public — perfect to share with your friends and family. Visit our website to explore details and book: Shorncliffe Pottery Club Incorporated Brisbane — Workshops.
Sunday Social - with a twist, a social session that invites you to use your own pottery vase to create a floral masterpiece under the guidance of a professional florist. You’ll take home a gorgeous bunch of flowers and a fresh new skill. All bookings via HelloClub.
Volunteer - To help make all the magic happen, head to HelloClub and sign up to lend a hand. Thank you to Nicole who has recently volunteered to be a Supervisor.
Happy potting
Suzanne
Images courtesy Sue Goodwin
SEPTEMBER
13th – Introduction to Slab rolling and textures workshop
20th – Introduction to Club glazing and finishing workshop
21st – Et al Showcase bump in (sales and volunteering opportunities)
22nd – Et al Showcase opens
26th – Et al Showcase event night
27th – Creating your goddess workshop
OCTOBER
3rd – Et al Showcase closes
11th – Sunday social Flower arrangement in pottery vase
16th – Decorated drape bowl workshop (open to the public)
17th – Cleaning bee (volunteering opportunity)
18th – Decorate a ceramic plate workshop (open to the public)
22nd – Mud to masterpiece pieces due
23rd and 31st – Making and painting a fairy workshop (open to the public)
23rd – Decorate teacup and textured plate workshop (open to the public)
24th and 25th – Studio open for Creative Trail (sales and volunteering opportunities)
24th – Prize giving and people’s choice for Mud to masterpiece challenge
25th – Decorated drape bowl workshop (open to the public)
30th – Studio open for Creative trail, twilight (sales and volunteering opportunities)
30th – Cup and plate workshops (open to the public)
31st and 1st – Studio open for Creative Trail (sales and volunteering opportunities)
Euan Craig
International Wood Fire Potter
Live Demonstration
Saturday 26th September, 2026
Location: Pottery Barn
901 Dayboro Rd. Whitside, [Petrie Markets]
Brisbane 4503
9am – 3pm
Cost $90.00 pp
Watch internationally renowned wood-fire potter Euan Craig demonstrate the throwing of tea ware on the wheel — teabowls, cups, and vessels shaped by hand and informed by decades in the Mashiko pottery tradition of Japan. Euan wood-fires exclusively, and his work is defined by the unpredictable beauty of flame, ash, and scarlet flashing.
Wood fire potter | Born in Australia | Made in Japan
TICKETS INFO
Mud to Masterpiece Challenge 2026
Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc
The Mud to Masterpiece challenge details are confirmed, so it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start creating!
This year’s theme is animal sculpture, with prizes for realistic and abstract interpretations across beginner and experienced categories—so whether your creature is lifelike or wonderfully weird, there’s room for it. For full details, see the poster or the copy displayed in the studio.
Please deliver sculptures to the studio by Thursday 22 October for judging the following day. The works will be displayed at the studio during Saturday’s creative trail, when votes will be collected for the People’s Choice Award and prizes will be presented. From Sunday, pieces may be taken home or, at the member’s choice, made available for sale during the creative trail.
Visit the members-only Facebook page for project ideas.
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Suzanne Geary [SPC member]
I entered my sculpture Ocean Symphony in this year’s Queensland Royal Show and was fortunate to receive third place. Earlier in the year, the same piece was awarded Best in Show at the Sandgate Artist Society’s Easter exhibition. These acknowledgements have been a meaningful encouragement, and I’m genuinely grateful for the recognition of my work.
Ocean Symphony
I like to collect and reimagine stories based on a lifetime of collected artifacts gathered from walks and travels near and far. The importance I give to my most precious items and give pride of place to, would be considered by some to be waste and rubbish. To me they provide a rich source of inspiration and are a marvel of creation that cost me nothing, but the time taken in the pleasure of discovery.
Each treasure bears witness to the life they once supported, echoes from the past, stories of being and subtle beauty. A gnarly piece of driftwood that has survived tempestuous oceans, the geometrics of a turtle’s breastbone, the sculptural elegance of a pelagic vertebrae and the agonizing frailty of a paper nautilus shell are but a few.
I am intrigued by patterns, flowing curves, intricate surfaces, and textures. Nature’s geometry and symmetry are expertly crafted for me to touch and see. Considering the works in my hands, rotating the forms, noticing the light, and feel, the smoothness, the grit, it gives me time to pause, reflect and reconnect beyond the noise of consumerism. It is the essence of these jewels - their beauty that is both simple and complex - that I love to reimagine in clay.
Suzanne Geary
Moche Pottery
LA LIBERTAD, PERU—The Art Newspaper reports that excavations at the site of Cerro Mayal in northern Peru's Chicama Valley are offering archaeologists a more refined understanding of the production of Moche pottery, which is known for its mold-made vessels and ornate painted decoration. The Moche culture inhabited sites along the northern coast from about A.D. 100 to 800. In the site's top layers, a team led by archaeologist Henry Tantaleán of the National University of San Marcos' Chicama Archaeological Program has unearthed copious amounts of ceramic production waste, potters' plates, and figurine molds, indicating that Cerro Mayal was a major pottery production center in the seventh century A.D. Adobe and stone structures with spaces for preparing the vessels functioned as pottery studios and homes for artists. “The ceramic production sites are much less known than the Moche pottery itself,” Tantaleán said. “That’s why our interest lies in understanding more deeply how these workshops functioned.”
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 at the pottery shed.
Blackwattle Earthenware Paper White
SES
White Raku
Blackwattle Pottery Natural Speckle
Keane’s Ceramics Midfire 33
Keane’s Stoneware 33 KC575
Sculptural Fine
Cone 6 White
Clayworks Yellow Stoneware YG
Chris’ Light Speckle
Walkers Stoneware 10
Feeneys Clay FFB
Feeneys BRT
Feeneys BRS
Clayworks RGH
Keane’s Red Earth
Clayworks Granite
Keane’s Toast KC582
Feeney’s Red Raku
Blackwattle Terracotta
Keane’s Dark Matter
And don’t forget, we now stock
a large range of Amaco and Mayco glazes.
Plus a comprehensive range of Kiwi underglazes to try.
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Unused Clay For Sale
Come down to the shed if you want to pick up a clay bargain. One of our longterm members, Gayle, is moving to Melbourne to be closer to her daughters and has a lot of unused clay at bargain prices for sale. Including:
Northcote’s Cool Ice mid fire porcelain, 10kg $30
Keane’s Iron stone, 10kg $30
White Raku, 2.2kg $5
Buff Raku [BRT], 9.1kg $10
Walkers 10, 7.45kg $12
Walkers 10, 6.44kg $10
PB103, 3.58kg $8
Northcote Cone 6, 3.64kg $5
Keane’s Dark Matter, 10kg $30
We have popped all of the published tips, hacks and techniques onto the ‘Tips’ page on our club website so that you can search easily.
What is the Slab Technique?
The slab technique involves forming clay into flat pieces or ‘slabs’, usually by rolling. These slabs are then manipulated and assembled to create a variety of shapes. Sounds easy, but wait until you get your hands dirty!
Here are the steps you follow for the slab technique:
1. Prepare the Clay: Knead the clay to remove air bubbles and achieve an even consistency.
2. Roll out the Slabs: Using a rolling pin or slab roller, roll out the clay into flat slabs of your desired thickness. Aim for an even thickness of about 5mm for small ceramics, 12mm for larger pieces.
3. Cut the Slabs: Depending on the shape you want to create, cut the slabs using cutting tools or templates.
4. Assemble the Pieces: Join the cut pieces together using slip [a mixture of clay and water] as a sort of ‘clay glue.’
5. Smooth the Joints: Use your fingers or a smoothing tool to blend the joints together and ensure the piece is secure.
Tips to help with the slab technique.
Work on a ceramic bat or board to allow ease of relocation of your slab creation, when waiting for drying to occur.
Don’t forget to place your maker’s mark on the bottom of your base slab.
Depending upon your design you may need to dry the slabs to ‘leather hard’ so that they can withstand the weight of the design and not collapse or warp.
Or you can use the slabs when they are moist so that you can bend or manipulate them into your design.
Along the joins of your design make sure that you score and use slip on all of the edges.
If you are using a rolling pin to generate your slabs, a handy tip is to use two pieces of identically thick timber as runners, to guide your roller and make the slabs an even thickness.
The best bit about slab building is that you can construct your design quickly compared to other hand building methods.
Our Committee
President: Suzanne Bell
Vice President: Melina Wales
Treasurer: Sandra Roveda
Secretary: Laura Ogden
Committee Members:
Rebecca Mason, Steve McConnell, Jen and Taylor
Newsletter Editor: Ed Trost
edtrost1961@gmail.com
email: shorncliffepotteryclubinc@gmail.com
follow us on
website + instagram + facebook
…Until next month…
HAPPY POTTING!
© Shorncliffe Pottery Club Inc
