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Greetings Cyber Travelers and
Pottery Lovers Everywhere,
April 15, 2008
Check
out the OKPA website
http://www.kelownaclayfestival.com/
for details about this year's
Kelowna Clay Festival. August
8-12 will be an exciting and
informative time for anyone
interested in ceramics.
Lots going on at this our Fourth
biannual event .... demonstrations, workshops,
competitions, auction and fun for
all. Sunday is the free "Community
Day".
I'm
mostly in the studio now making more of the
pottery you enjoy buying and I enjoy
making. My Pottery is a down to
earth solid representation of my
thoughts and practices. I look for
beautiful expression in my singing
too. I feel great joy and wonder in
working with air and sound (singing)
and earth, water and fire (pottery).
The latest kiln offerings are
inspired by Rossini's Barber of
Seville. See
Photo Gallery
for pictures of some "Bel Canto" dishes.
Aurora continues to amaze and the
"green" is revealing new hues too.
I'm adjusting the firing schedule
to promote more interesting glazes. My
pots are getting better too. Nothing
like "tons" of practice to make a
difference.
Response to this year's
contest so far has been
underwhelming. Shirley you have some
good ideas. Don't call you surely?
NAME THAT "GREEN" GLAZE CONTEST
2008:
After
last year's phenomenally successful
"Name That Glaze" competition I have
decided to once again ask my
customers to use their creative
imagination and come up with a name
for Heaven In Earth Pottery's "Green"
Glaze.
Here
is a sample picture trying to
capture the essence of this glaze in
full digital misrepresentation. More
pictures in the
Photo
Gallery. Some of the pictures
are taken facing east and west to
give you the colours in varying
light. The picture of the bowl below
is a sample and could be your prize
unless you'd rather have a pie plate
for your reward. Those of you with a
real sample can use it for your
inspiration.
CONTEST DETAILS:
Email or post
entries with "Name
That Green Glaze Contest"
or "NTGGC"
in the Subject Line. All entries
will be entered into a
Free Draw
for a plate or bowl.
"Runners Up"
and possibly "*Customer's
Pick*"
will be eligible for other great
Pottery
Prizes
(Green
of course).
Grand Prize
Winner
has choice of
Bowl
or
Pie Plate.
(Shipping included within reason).
Contest ends
when a winner is chosen. Judge's
final decision entirely subjective.
In case of double winning entries
earliest postmark (or email) gets the
prize. Multiple entries encouraged.
See
last year's contest winner's
submission below.
Aurora
is the Roman Goddess of the Dawn and
the name for a special glaze effect in
my high iron glaze?
News Flash ........."Name That Glaze
Contest Winner announced"
Congratulations to B. Keylor of
Edmonton for her winning entry in
"The Name That Glaze Contest". Thanks to everyone who
played along even if you didn't send
in an entry.
The
winning suggestion is
Aurora
which captures the essence of this
glaze perfectly. This glaze is as
mysterious as her Goddess namesake
and captures the glory of the dawn
in the starry night sky and/or the Northern
Lights. Following is an abbreviated copy of
the Wikipedia embellishment
from the winning entry .
Aurora (astronomy)
From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia
The aurora
is a bright glow
observed in the
night sky, usually
in the polar zone.
In northern
latitudes, it is
known as the
aurora borealis
after the Roman
Goddess of the Dawn,
Aurora and the Greek
name for north wind,
Boreas. and is also
called the Northern
Lights. Aurora
australis, has
similar properties.
Australis is the
Latin word for "of
the South".
  
Above are bowls that
Aurora visited
recently. See Photo
Gallery
for more pictures.
Picture on the right is
taken with photo
quality light and
background.
By the
way do you think Bowlealis is too
corny?
General Information Below:
For
those of you faithful viewers of
this website and newcomers I will be
adding more pictures of my
pots at different stages in the
production process.
The process is
linear but photographs get taken
when the light is right, the subject
matter is interesting, the
background isn't too cluttered and I
think of it. Still I think you will
be able to join the dots in the end
and get a picture of how pottery is
being created here at Heaven In
Earth. Any feedback?
The
sauna is completed which now gives
me 45 square feet of tiles to design
and build. Keep watching for
photos of the project. The gas kiln
will be tested again soon.
-
News?News?News?
-
For
your information I am including
a
link to a recall page for
Corelle Ware which states "World
Kitchen, LLC is committed to
making this recall program as
unobtrusive as possible.
" No
wonder if you may not have heard
of it. I am wondering what is
being normally fired with so
much lead as to cause the
problem anyways? One may also
wonder about other commercially
made offshore pottery. Tested or
not?
-
Most
of us cannot afford to have our
pottery tested by a laboratory.
A simple home test for acid
resistance is to put a slice of
lemon on a pot overnight (put on
underside where it won't show if
it discolours).
-
I
also suggest talking with your
pottery supplier (Potter the
best) and ask questions about
his/her use of potentially toxic
fluxes and/or heavy metal
colourants.
-
My
pottery contains absolutely no
lead or barium. I also avoid
glaze colourants such as copper,
nickel, chrome and manganese.
Bright colours from cadmium and
selenium may be attractive but I
won't use them either. At the
moment I am using only iron and
cobalt. I use my pottery myself
and I don't want to risk harming
my family and friends.
More General Information Below:
I'm
usually home so you can visit the
Heaven In Earth Pottery at
Gardom lake (15 minutes south
of Salmon Arm) and browse in the
fresh air Gallery. See
Contact Us
for map.
Now Four
Stores to serve you better.......
Prince George customers can now find
my pottery at Creative Manor
Pottery, Housewares, and
Gifts, 1511 - 3rd Ave, BC, V2L 3G3. Cindy
and Sandra are there
to help you find the right pottery
gifts.
De Milles Farm
Market Pottery and
Gifts Shop is closed for the season.
Look next year at this great
Trans Canada Highway location (West
Salmon Arm).
Kelowna customers can visit Paynters
Gallery in Westbank. Gillian has a
new selection for your
gift buying or collecting. There you
can purchase other great local
pottery (including mine). See
location details below.
Congratulations to Karina for
starting "Ecotreats"
a new business in Scotch Creek. Get
healthy food and nice dishes to
serve it on. See all store location details below.
Also check below for show/market schedule
updates.
Keep
checking to see what is being made.
I usually post pictures to keep
customers informed. This way when
you see something you may want you
can call. The Gas kiln still needs
more testing - which will have to
wait for when I am not busy in
production mode.
Below is
a picture of the Gallery in June -
yes I finally changed the picture
but the Gallery can change daily
depending on who visits and what new
pots are made. I
am open most days but it is best to
call ahead to avoid disappointment.
Come
dressed for the outdoors but know
the Studio next door is always warm
inside and welcoming of cold cash.
Hope to
see you soon.
Stephen
Notes on Celtic Knot decoration:
To me
they are meditations which reflect
and guide my thoughts. Beginning and
end are unknown.
I have
been exploring this original
technique for the last 5 years
and compare it to playing a musical
instrument. Practice allows for
refinement and can reflect my mood
(or the music playing in my studio)
- or head). Like my pottery each
pattern is a one of a kind in some
way and sometimes everything comes
together all the way through the
whole process (drying, firing,
glazing) in new and beautiful (to
me) ways. This keeps me going -
discovery/creation. This reminds me
of singing too .... can you tell the
pieces inspired by an opera score?
Here are some Glaze notes:
9
Moku: This intriguing glaze
is undergoing changes. It was known
for it's waterfall brown look but a
new "Aurora" appears on selected
pots. F.Y.I.
"Tenmoku" is a famous Japanese
shape/glaze. This isn't quite it...
hence the name.
The blue
was known as Big Blue which
had an allusion to the quantity of
Blue which finally arrived after
much testing and adjustments, finger
crossing and prayer rather than the
colour which is impossible to
describe. I'm running low. Oh Oh.
The
photographs look nothing like the
pots anyways but that's digital technology
for you.
The
Green isn't green either it just
looks that way because of the blue
with yellow crystals. You think the
camera is confused?
The
Green's DNA is a more
predictable in a way than the Blues
but not without it's magic as the
combinations of thickness of glaze
and clay, kiln location, and angles
the decoration provides variables
which provoke new and subtle crystal
colouring in the hot glass and clay
making some nice looking pots.
Really,
thanks for your patience.
Stephen
Feedback, Ideas or Suggestions
welcome Please
More
regular information about this site;
The Gallery is open most days but
call ahead (250) 838-6800 to
avoid disappointments.
Video
clips below showing how I make my
Celtic Knot decorations on a bowl.
Each clip is basically the same but
in different sizes for those with
a 56k modem.
About Us has
some Newspaper articles and
pictures and some favourite poems.
"Campfire
Pottery" was written for Scouts
(and others) by The Revelstoke
Pottery Plant. The Clay Kit
Directions are a refinement of this
early article.
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