 March 2026 Monthly Newsletter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Check Your Space |
Clean your workspace (including floor and chairs) thoroughly. |
|
Broom for Outside Only |
Do not use the broom in the studio; it’s only for outside use. There is a new vacuum for the studio. |
|
Studio |
Glazes are for use in studio only; do not take containers of studio glaze home. |
|
Business Cards |
Business Cards are not to be used to promote sales of your artwork. |
|
Two in Club Exclusions |
The two people in club rule does not apply to monitors, kiln loaders, or glaze team when on duty |
|
Kiln Shelves |
Place your work in the back and work forward with placement to make room for others’ work and to eliminate need for your piece being moved. |
|
Drying Racks |
Do not put short pieces on tall shelves. The signs indicate where tall pieces should go. |
|
Gallery Sales |
When an item is not listed in the online Gallery, process the sale using the $Market Sale item on the Square iPad. |
|
Wedging Table |
Do not use wedging table for drying out clay; use a drying board. |
EDUCATION
Have you recently scanned all the fantastic class offerings? You’ll find demos from guest artists, some tried and true classes that return year-to-year, and a number of new classes.
No matter what you take, you will learn something. Classes can boost your creativity, teach you things to keep your projects from cracking/breaking, or make the final result… just that much more fabulous!
As we wind down peak season, we lose a few of our instructors. No worries, because we still offer a few classes during the summer. So check out the class calendar.
GALLERY UPDATE
Just a reminder that you are now able to submit up to 7 items for the in-studio gallery. This increase will be effective through the summer and will be reevaluated in early October. Our in-studio gallery has been extremely busy with visitors during this March Spring Break season. Many purchases have been made with all buyers telling us how wonderful the work is and how talented the artists are. It’s such a compliment to our club. Keep submitting your pieces and remember to:
- Use gallery brown tags with a distinctive title. Please don’t use the same title for similar pieces and submit new photos for each submission.
- Bring your pieces in only after you receive notice that they have been accepted to the online gallery.
A new addition from the online team is that you are now notified when your work has sold. I’m sure you all appreciate knowing what was sold and when.
Monitors…please make sure when selling that you choose the correct picture, description and price of the item being sold. There have been mistakes made which causes lots of work for the online team.
Thanks for your cooperation! If you have any questions, contact me at 651-428-5368 or Sherrisinger@hotmail.com
GLAZE ROOM UPDATE
Glaze Status
- Cleanliness
- Contamination
- Glaze Room Procedures
Community Glazes |
Community glazes are the small one pint glaze bottles currently being stored in the glaze room on the right hand shelves with a sign of that name. Glaze stickers are not required when you use these glazes. Please note on the white high fire sheets that it's a community glaze. If you are using a combination of community glaze and our studio glazes, glaze stickers are required.
Your cone 5/6 glazes can be donated for community use. Please remove or cross-out your name so there is no confusion.
|
Club Glazes |
Glazes that belong to the club stay in the club and should not be stored in your cubby or taken home.
If you have added gum solution but have not otherwise contaminated a glaze, it may be returned to the bucket.
|
Glaze Buckets |
One glaze bucket opened at a time will ensure that the lid goes back on the correct bucket. The name of the glaze is on the lid and taped on the inside of the bucket.
Bucket lids will seal just fine if you set them flat on top of the bucket. You do not need to press or hammer down.
|
Stains |
Stains do not require using glaze stickers. That said, some of our stains are more expensive than glazes, so try to be conservative in your use.
Stains settle quickly and need to be stirred. Please don't shake them.
|
Glaze Combos |
If you're not sure how a glaze combination is going to work, use test tiles provided or some low value piece to experiment before you commit a glaze to your work of art. Test tiles are free to use, but they do take time for us to make.
|
Swish Tools in Bucket First |
When cleaning tools, first use the ‘swish’ / rinse bucket below the sink then rinse again with tap water. This keeps a lot of goop out of the drains.
|
Spraying? |
If you spray, turn ON/ OFF the vent switch. No canned sprays. The room limit is one person when spraying.
|
Dippity Do |
If dipping, allow the first layer of glaze to dry before applying another color.
If you are going to glaze the inside /outside or top /bottom at separate times, make sure the piece is thoroughly dried before the next application.
We count seconds as 1000-1, 1000-2, 1000-3. In general, a 2-second dip is a good starting point.
Our glaze tiles are made with a 2-second dip at top and bottom with an overlapped (double) dip in the middle.
|
Mix It Up Well |
Most glazing problems appear to be insufficient mixing, too thick, or uneven application.
When you don't mix the glaze sufficiently, you get more water than you should. This alters the chemical balance of the glaze affecting those that come after you. A good rule of thumb is 100 strokes, if a glaze hasn't been used in a while.
|
White High Fire Sheets |
We use this information to determine frequency of glaze use and trends. This in turn affects our decision to retire glazes. So your accuracy is helpful.
|
Important tip: Be sure to wipe well where pieces have been wax resisted and then wipe back a bit on the glaze where it touches the wax. This will help prevent excessive running due to the double dipping. |
The second piece is from Bob Singer - a saki set inspired by he and Sherri's recent trip to Japan.
 |
Clay body: Redstone |
IT UPDATE
Member Help Flyer on the Homepage
We get frequent questions about logging into the website and also accessing door codes. The "Member Help" flyer is available on the homepage and answers many of these questions. Please refer to it for info, and even print out a copy to keep in your toolkit.
Quickly, here is how to access the system if you've forgotten your password:
What if I forgot my username? What if I forgot my password?
On the Homepage, click the red Member Login button. Under “Reset Your Password”, type in your Username or Email. The system will email your username and a link to set your password.
For additional help, contact phone numbers are listed by the monitors' desk in the studio, and do feel free to contact webmaster@grandclayarts with any issues.
Member Survey Results Are In
The Member Survey results are in and compiled. Thank you, everyone, for taking the survey! The talent and energy in our club is really inspiring! The info collected in the survey has been distributed to team leads, and they will be contacting folks to see where there are synergies.
To see all the various opportunities in the club, log in to the Members' page and click on "Committees". All of the work groups are listed there, along with the contacts.
MONITORING
New Monitoring Handbook
There is a new Monitoring Handbook located at the Monitor desk. This handbook is a tool to help you when monitoring and provides answers to questions such as “why isn’t my CAM card working”, “my door code does not work”, and has step-by-step instructions on how to ring up a sale using Square, to mention a few.
Please look it over when you are monitoring and let us know if there is anything else you think needs to be added or changed. You can leave your comments/suggestions in the comment box on the last page of the Daily Monitor Checklist, or contact Sandi Schultzenberg or Beckie Alexander at monitor@grandclayarts.com. We need your help to make sure it is clear and complete. Thanks!
New Monitor Video!
Coming to a theater near you...
It’s here, the Monitor video has arrived! If you’d like to do a quick review of the basic monitoring duties, go to the Grand Clay Arts website, scroll to the bottom of the homepage, under Library you will see "MONITOR DUTIES" - tap there to view the video. Happy viewing!
GET TO KNOW - YVONNE BOTZ
When did you move to The Grand and from where? My husband, John, and I retired early and moved to The Grand in December 2001, and we have been traveling back and forth from Minnesota since then. We have three children: a son in Florida and two daughters who live out here. We have 5 wonderful grandchildren. |
 |
What did you do prior to retirement?
Throughout the years, we have owned different businesses in Minnesota and Arizona. It was a great way to earn a living and have family involvement throughout the years. I've been a seamstress for many years. When the kids were young, I really enjoyed making clothes for the family.
When did you begin working with clay?
I started working with clay when we first moved here in 2001, and I'm still loving it.
Is there a pottery piece that you’re particularly proud of? I recently finished this Chip and Dip for my daughter. To me, a larger platter with a separate bowl for the dip is perfect, rather than one integrated piece. The platter can be displayed on a stand, since it's often too large to fit inside a cabinet.
 |
Clay body: Speckled Buff |
What's your favorite drink? Margarita and Manhattan
What is one word to describe how you feel when you’re playing with mud: RELAXED
SUPPLY
On behalf of Beckie Alexander and myself, a huge Thank You to all of our helping hands who keep stepping up when a ton plus of clay arrives at the studio. It is a big task that needs to be taken care of, and we are so grateful to those who help out each time. Brian Marx continues to keep the cubicles filled by rotating the clay bags throughout the few months he's here. Thank you Brian for always being there to help.
Marjon Ceramics Open House Well Attended
Our suppliers at Marjon Ceramics were very happy to see all of our many members show up at the Open House at the end of February and are grateful for our continued support. We are very fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and supportive relationship with the owners and staff there.
Molds and Tools
A quick note to please take the best of care when using the Grand Clay Arts molds, shared equipment, tools, and other supplies. Please clean all shared tools and equipment as though you would in your own homes. Wipe that clay off and then wipe it down again. Much appreciated by everyone. Note, the ceramic molds should not be immersed in water.
Special Orders
Please continue to place your special orders on the order sheet on the peg board close to the glaze room for any of your favorite glazes or tools that you might need. We will do our best to get the orders filled as soon as available.
TOTEMS and POP
|
Great News for Totem Builders
Have you been thinking about creating a standing totem? Now might be the perfect time! GCA has totem stands for sale! The stands are available in two sizes:
3’ stand - $18.00 - includes a single block base.
4’ stand - $20.00 - includes two block bases for extra stability. Plates of Plenty (POP) at the Spring Arts & Crafts Faire on Saturday, March 21st
Do you have a friend or neighbor planning to attend the Spring Arts & Crafts Faire? If so, encourage them to stop by our Plates of Plenty charitable giving tables. They’ll discover beautiful pottery at great prices - and best of all, 100% of every purchase goes directly to the Valley View Community Food Bank. Beautiful art. Meaningful impact. It’s a true win-win!
|
 |
LYNNE SHANROCK TRIBUTE TABLE A SUCCESS
I'd like to acknowledge everyone responsible for making the Tribute Table to Lynne Shanrock wildly successful. The photo doesn't do justice to all the gorgeous pieces we sold at the March 7th market, however, pieces flew off the table from the get-go, and we didn't get a chance to document the table till close to mid-morning.
Thanks to Debby Luchetti for organizing, Diane Niehof for staging, Jim Perez-Wood and Monique Greer for graphics, and The Board for your support.
We raised $673 for The Arizona Humane Society in Lynne's name. We know she was smiling down that day! (Lots of hummingbirds around!)
We will miss her sweet and kind demeanor. The sale was a testament to her incredible artistry and talent.
