 November 2024 Monthly Newsletter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Charitable Giving | Laura Abraham | Cleaning | Michelle Hansen & Dale Hamacher | |
| Education | Cindy Wright | Expansion | Jim Donaldson | |
| Finance | Debbie Meyer | Glaze | Jim Donaldson | |
| Hardware support | Geoff Iverson | Kiln | Al Dadd | |
| Maintenance | Bob Piper, Cliff Ellis, Bob Singer | Market Staging | Dave Dick | |
| Marketing & Design | Jim Perez-Wood | Membership & Policy | Pat Conlen | |
| Monitors | Janet Bonner | Newsletter | Leslie Friedman | |
| Online Gallery | Jake Reimers | Purchasing | Theresa Fritz & Becki Alexander | |
| Safety | Jacqueline Wodach | Sales Events | Cathy Rick | |
| Social Events | Trish McGinniss and Diane Palley | Studio Gallery | Sherri Singer | |
| Sunshine | Sharon Rothzeid | Website | Karen LaMar |
IT CORNER
Welcome back to those who are just getting settled in AZ for the season!
HERE ARE SOME REMINDERS
• The club's website is grandclayarts.com. Go there to sign up for Classes, Volunteering, Selling at an event, and to find other info.
• If you don't recall your login or password, click the RED Member Login button at the top of the page, then scroll down to reset your login info.
• If you have a new CAM card, the ID is likely different from your old one. Login in to the website and click on "Change Contact/Profile Info" to update this and other member data. (Note that changes to CAM IDs will take a day or so to process.)
• Make a plan to be current on service hours. You can see your current hours by logging into the website, then click the Volunteering button. Once there, click Volunteering Reports, then the green "Run Report" button.
There is a handy reference guide right on the homepage, called Member Help, that covers this information and more.
Contact webmaster@grandclayarts.com with any questions.
GALLERY
Just a reminder regarding submissions to the online and in studio gallery.
Up to 5 pieces can be on the gallery and can stay on for 2 months. Approximately every two weeks I will be checking dates and notifying you if any pieces need to be picked up. Please remember to request to remove from the online gallery when you pick up your pieces of art. Request to remove is on the home page.
When submitting your pieces, also on the home page, please wait until they are accepted before bringing them to the studio. They are to be staged on the shelves in the front windows facing the parking lot. Please do not place them on the gallery lobby shelves. I need to check them in first and date them. The brown tags by the computer are to be used for gallery items only. The white tags are for selling in the market. The tags need the price and your name on one side and description on the other side. Please leave me room to put the date on the description side.
Any questions, please feel free to email, call or text me.
Sherri Singer
Sherrisinger@hotmail.com
651-428-5368
SUPPLIES
I extend heartfelt thanks to Becki Alexander who has ensured that you have the necessary supplies over these past months. She has been a wonderful addition to our supply team. Thanks again Becki ❤️
If you have special requests, please continue to place them on the special order form which is located on the bulletin board near the glaze room.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
EDUCATION
The education team offers many great opportunities to challenge your creativity, learn new skills and develop. Review the calendar of classes on the website to see what’s coming. Remember, you need to be a member in good standing with 12 service hours in order to be eligible to take a class.
This season there are also some new class offerings. There’s a Bird Head class, a Pinch Pot class, and Using Templates class. These classes are ideal projects for those newer to clay. Upcoming new classes: Wall hanging class to make a three-piece modern mask hanging, a lecture series for those interested in learning more about the various processes in our alternative firing program, and Bubble Glaze class to learn a new glazing technique.
We will continue to offer the Wheel 1, Wheel 2 and Wheel 3 curriculum and we are pursuing expanding hand building with a more advanced class. In addition, look for returning class offerings to challenge yourself.
We are so excited to offer members a broad array of classes from our dedicated, talented instructors. We are lucky to have them!
MARKET SALES
We are launching an online sign up for cashiers at sales events.
Two cashiers are needed for Market days from 9am-1pm on the first Saturday of every month and for our Spring and Fall Fests. It’s typically a fun, busy day for cashiers. If you enjoy engaging with customers and feel comfortable handling gallery sales on our iPad and Square (just like you do when you’re monitoring), please sign up
using the volunteer calendar. Cashiers for the events will earn
4 service hours.
GLAZE ROOM
• Remember the sign-in sheet on the door and observe the two person limit.
• Use the room for glazing and staining. Waxing should be done in the studio.
• Please avoid even bringing GREENWARE (unfired clay) into the Glaze room. Accidentally dipping unfired clay into the bucket will ruin the glaze. This is a very expensive mistake. If it happens, let the Glaze team know immediately. Fired clay will have a distinctive ring when tapped. Hear your piece ring before you dip.
• We routinely sieve the glazes to remove contaminants that would create defects on your art. What we find is a combination of stuff (grog, chips, trimmings, sponge dust and paper towel fibers. Please make sure to have rinsed (and dried) your bisqueware before glazing.
• We have a small team. We try to maintain the glazes and stains. We expect you to clean up.
• Bucket lids will seal properly if set flat on the bucket. No need to press them down.
• The Glaze Room Request form (in binder on top of Microwave) is a great way to let us know of a concern or suggestion. You also have the email option: GlazeLead@GrandClayArts.com
• The Glaze tile board has been redone over the summer so we now know the vintage of our tiles. Each tile was dipped for two seconds from either end. So the center portion of the tile will show how the glaze behaves when double dipped.
• Changes made and planned in our Glaze color selection:
1) Spring Green was dropped. We have 5# of dry remaining. If you are a Spring Green fan, let us know.
2) Deep Firebrick was discontinued.
3) Blue Rutile was discontinued. We will replace it with Mayco Stoned Denim, which is very similar. There are representative glaze tiles for your review.
4) Light Blue will be dropped when Stoned Denim is brought online.
5) There is a trial glaze called Delphinium Blue which will be discontinued when the bucket is empty. Stoned Denim is considered a better choice. There are representative glaze tiles for your review.
6) Ochre will be dropped due to lack of interest.
7) Albany Slip: We are on our last bucket. It will be replaced with Mayco MaycoShino. There are new glaze tiles to show how close the replacement is.
If you have a favorite glaze combination to share; send a picture and your recipe.
This month’s examples:
Cinnabar (dip), Xavier Green (rim dip,splash) on Speckled Buff.
MENDING TIP
Thanks to Cheryl Kirscher, we have a great new solution for those pesky cracks and breaks that sometimes happen to bisqueware. Cheryl did a little research over the summer and found a recipe that has received high praise from members who, unfortunately, had a reason to use it…
Check out the “slip shelves” for the small jars marked, Cheryl’s Bisque Fix. Choose the jar that matches the clay you need to repair. Let me know what you think.
Oh, and a reminder: please remember to securely replace the lids on slip and bisque fix jars. Thank you!
THE MAGIC OF MATA ORTIZ
Finally, the dried pots were fired on sawdust and covered with a metal can. Reduction firing and carbon from the burned sawdust transformed the pots into captivating onyx-colored art pieces with alternating matte and polished surfaces.
WHAM recorded the process and will post the video on their website within the next week or so. Visit https://www.wham-art.org/ to view the video.
