History

Club History excerpt from "SHARDS, SA Studio Potters Celebrate 50 Years, 1954-2000' publication by Glenda Bowen, 2004

Extract from 1977 Club Newsletter (writer unknown, Editor Mrs L. Wilson)

STUDIO POTTERS WORKSHOPS (1977 report)

RAKU, SALT GLAZING: BEEHIVE, TOP HAT KILNS

1977 Easter Workshop at Graham’s Castle, Goolwa.

Tutors: Dick Barnes and Jeff Mincham.

… The earth yields up pottery in a surprising way. Not only does every spade reveal an assortment of glazed fragments, but the earth itself is the very essence of pottery and if undisturbed, pot fragments and clayey earth will be together unchanged for centuries.

This in fact makes one wonder in the future, what people will think they have discovered when Graham’s Castle is explored. This last Easter, a group of people had a fascinating time there under the direction of Dick Barnes and Jeff Mincham, learning how to salt glaze and raku.

Salt glazing was new to most of us and pots were examined and marvelled at, while some were thrown in a heap with a determination that the next firing would bring the results someone else had.

We were most impressed with the efficiency of the kilns built the previous weekend and the way Dick showed us the techniques of salt glazing – thanks Dick for your help and tuition. Then came the excitement of firing, with 6 kilns going – two for sale glazing, portages for Low Fired Glaze and the Top Hat Kiln to show what elementary measures could be used, plus the wood fired raku kiln and the kerosene fired beehive kiln.

The Top Hat kiln was a great success, many of those there going home fired (so to speak) with great enthusiasm and planning to make one and be prepared to fire the next weekend. The wood fired raku kiln was given over to kerosene after a while as there was no wood left in easy dragging distance, such was the amount of work produced. The Beehive kiln was built to show that kilns are not such a mysteriously hard project to undertake. There was so much activity in every area of Graham’s Castle – smoke, fire, water and people participating, one had to peer at faces to find out who it was under the smudges.

Jeff was an energetic tutor, rarely still. Besides the firings he managed to give us a night of slides from the Mayfair award. Seeing those photographs made our fingers itch, as if to put our thoughts into a lasting pot of beauty.

Then John Roberts showed a video tape of the previous day’s activities – how we laughed at ourselves. Monday was the clean up day and then to line up our pots on the lawn for admiration and photographs. As usual, Goolwa was a great success. Thanks to all who made it so, without all of you it would not have been possible and many thanks to Don James for organizing it all…