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2010

Date line is now most recent information first

                                          

A Tale of Two Cities.                                                  Jacqui Clayton - Paul Davis

Jacqui Clayton came to ceramics from a study of the Japanese language.  When she completed her studies she travelled to Japan to further develop her language skills.  During this time Jacqui fell in love with Japanese ceramics and undertook a study of techniques and methods.  On her return to Australia she entered a Fine Arts degree at ANU in order to convert her technical information from Japanese to English and Australian equivalent technical terms.  Jacqui now holds the position of Director of the Ceramics Dept at COFA, University of NSW.  Paul is a well known and highly respected Australian potter, teacher and head of Sturt Pottery in the Southern Highlands.  Recently Jacqui and Paul took a study tour of Jingdezhen in China and Seto in Japan both major ceramic producing cities for over 1000 years. 

Jingdezhen was a dedicated Imperial pottery centre.  In recent years the Chinese government saw the city as archaic.  The official pottery centre was relocated south and brought in more modern mass producing technology with good OH&S, security and double wages.  This resulted in the abandonment of centuries old skills and methods in Jingdezhen, many of them family based.  These potters were used to employing individual skills at a very high level, including throwers, carvers, and brush, tool, tissue transfer and crate makers.  Eventually they unofficially resumed their closed factory and began work as a niche group, albeit an OH & S horror.  A pressure casting plant was dummied out of available materials and dozens of articles could be produced at a leather hard stage in 40mins.  Jigger and jolleys are also used.  The government came to recognise the skill loss and set up suburbs for skilled potters, building garage spaces to be used as studios with accommodation on top.   Each individual does his specialty then passes the pieces on to the next specialist, the ‘turners’ are the top of this pecking order. Porcelain is trimmed inside and out, dust is a problem.  Decoration encompasses tissue transfer, stencil, carving and hand painting.  There is a quick turn around, pieces are often removed from the kiln at 800deg after a 1350deg firing and slip cast pots can be joined bone dry.  Everybody has a job. Intellectual property as we know it doesn’t exist, plagiarism is seen as normal.  On the other hand unscrupulous westerners commission works from Chinese artisans and sell it as their own, making extraordinary profit.

Seto Moro one of 6 dedicated cities for ceramics in Japan employed 40,000 people 10 years ago in it’s ceramic industry now employs 10,000.  China competes directly with it. The Japanese have 3 hierarchies of potters, family or lineage potters, traditional potters, and new families of potters who have come to ceramics by some diverse direction.  Seto also has turned to pressure casting.  To keep time honoured methods alive experts like Yasuro Terada are developing  traditional kilns for ceramic departments of institutions.  Yasuro Terada has also perfected a mold making technique from glazed forms.  Japan is learning to adapt commercial skills to studio pottery; it is also archiving, and creating museums, often privately owned.  

Thank you Jacqui and Paul for your extremely interesting tale of two cities with their rich traditions and great skills, which have had to adapt what they know to modern circumstances.                                                                                                Rita Flynn.

Members Meeting at Jeff Sosower's Southern Cross Pottery on Friday evening, 19th February.
Location: 14 Caba Close, Boambee West, NSW 2450

Phone: 1800 761144

Details: Monthly Meetings Page

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NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS!!
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL IS NOW DUE - DOWNLOAD THE MEMBERSHIP FORM OR FILL OUT THE FORM WHICH WILL BE POSTED TO YOU.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU CAMPAIGN

  In order to make the Coastal ClayMakers group as inclusive and relevant as possible, we encourage members to participate in this web site by having a web page of themselves and their work.  The members' web pages are now FREE to all members.

                                                    Also......

Part of our aim in promoting the study and practice of ceramics is to encourage the professional development of  its members as well.    With this in mind, any member who would like to make a presentation to a monthly Members’ Meeting is invited to send in a proposal.  It might be of their own career in ceramics, travel experience with  a ceramic focus, a community art project or perhaps a study of a ceramic artist of renown.  A shared evening of half-hour presentations  is also a possibility.

You are invited to provide a bit of information about yourself with photos of your work (4-6) (including  your portrait) and (if any)  presentation proposal to:
The Committee

Coastal ClayMakers Inc.

PO Box 2124 Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450
Or email:      ozmosis@tsn.cc  or   gstubs@ozemail.com.au

January

Coastal ClayMakers Inc. new committee met at Shirley Stubington home to plan the year ahead. (Committee)