General Meeting of Grand Clay Arts will be Thursday, 11/21 at 9:00 AM, Chaparral Center in the Hopi Room.  Remember, along with lots of information, donuts and coffee are available.  See you there!

As our club grows in membership, more individuals share space, equipment and materials.  Much like a family driving one car, upkeep is a family affair, or the car won't run properly.

Our glaze room, and specifically our glazes, needs TLC at the time that we, the members, use it.  It is not the sole responsibility of the glaze committee members who refresh or make up new batches of glaze.

Directly after using the large or smaller (brush on) buckets of glaze, please clean the inside side walls, the top of the rim and inside of the lids.  Not doing so will result in hardening and crusting of the glaze which will settle in the liquid when the next member stirs the glaze.  The glazing result will NOT be pleasing.  (The Glaze Committee sieves all glazes on a rotating basis, but cannot sieve every glaze every week.)  To this end, we are equipping the glaze room with spatulas specifically for this bucket clean up process.

Additionally, we are replacing all the 5-gallon (large) buckets in order that the inside walls and rims remain pristine.  You might have noticed how the glaze crust is not removable after a week or two of inattention.  Please be patient.  This bucket exchange will take several weeks.

A side note, our "plunger" mixers need way more cleaning than most members realize.  The entire handle needs to be unscrewed in order to clean the glaze deposited in the handle.  Plus, the rubber plunger needs to be thoroughly cleaned at both ends.  We've experienced some contamination from poorly cleaned plungers.

May we also remind members to leave the glaze room clean and wiped down (including walls and floor), and please return all equipment and tools to their proper places.

Thanks for your cooperation.  We look forward to seeing you soon in the studio!

 

Monitors are frequently asked questions about the Clay Try Me Class.  Here is a brief explanation and tips on how to handle inquiries.

In 2018, with the aim of raising awareness of our club within the community, the Clay Try Me Class was developed to be administered through Grand Learning.  The classes appear in the Grand Learning Semester Catalogs and as a benefit, we receive a complimentary quarter page ad promoting our club.  The two session class is an affordable opportunity to explore the techniques of hand building and glazing.  We create push plate coasters or spoon rests.  All materials and tools are provided as well as kiln firings.  Final projects are ready for pickup one week after the final class.

Our next class is scheduled December 3 and 10 from 5 to 7 PM.  Cost of the class is $5 paid to Grand Learning.  Material fee to our club is $15 and must be paid two weeks prior to the class.

Attention Monitors!  Registration for class is through Grand Learning.  The class is currently SOLD OUT!  Attendees will be coming into the club to pay the material fee of $15 payable to Grand Clay Arts.  You will place their payment in the appropriate envelope (found in the manila envelope on the front desk) and drop into the door slot.

We are so lucky to have a new member join us who is an experienced clay artist and has already taught her first class at Grand Clay Arts. Jeanne Rudolph comes to Grand from Palm Desert, California, bringing with her about 50 years of experience playing in the mud.  As you can see in the photos below, her recent Lidded Box class was a great success resulting in many happy faces among her students. Some of their comments included “Love her relaxed teaching style!” and “Highly recommend this class!” We look forward to seeing more of Jeanne and her class offerings.

                              
Gayle Tennant                                                                              Sharon Tencer

We think we will remember what glaze we used, how we applied it, the type of clay, the list goes on. However, over time those details seem to just fade.

It is invaluable to be able to look back at your notes to find out what you did. This is just as important if the piece was less than pleasing as it is when it's a resounding success. You may want to recreate the effect at some point. The more details you can record in your notebook, the more valuable it will be as you move along in this adventure known as clay!

Check out the event calendar on the website to keep up to date on all currently scheduled classes.  There is also a paper calendar mounted in the studio.  Don't see the class you want?  Request it through Mary Walker or the instructor.

November 12    Wheel Continuum, Dick Walker (continues through December)
November 17    Raku, Diane Niehof
November 28    Circles in Clay, Diane Thompson
November 20    Independent Study, Diane Niehof
December 5      Leaf Bowl, Pat O'Brien and Nancy Boggs
January 9          Extruder 1-2-3, Lynne Shanrock

Note:  Dates shown are beginning dates

Do you have projects, events, tips, information to share?  Please submit your articles for future newsletters to Lynne Shanrock.