The General Meeting of Grand Clay Arts will be Thursday, February 19 at 9:00 AM, Chaparral Center in the Hopi Room.  We look forward to seeing you there.  Remember, coffee and donuts will be available!

Class Name	Class Dates	Time	Instructor
Raku	2/23	8:00 AM	Bob Little
Wow of Glazing Pt. 1	2/26	6:00 – 9:00 PM	Brian Marx
Texture & More Vase	2/27, 28	3:00 – 6:00 PM	Sharon Rothzeid
Wow of Glazing Pt. 2	2/29	9-11 AM and 12-2 PM	Brian Marx
Basic Clay	3/3, 10, 17, 24	3:00 – 6:00 PM	Brian Marx
Stains & Underglazes	3/3	6:00 – 9:00 PM	Brian Marx
Beginning Wheel	3/16, 18, 23, 25	6:00 – 9:00 PM	Brian Marx
Owl Luminary	3/19	3:00 – 6:00 PM	Bonnie Green
Basic Clay	4/7, 14, 21, 28	3:00 – 6:00 PM	TBD

Check the website frequently for updates.

 

We are chugging along with our renewal efforts and I would like to thank all of you who have already paid for your dues and/or your cubby rentals.  If you have not yet paid, please take a moment to catch up and send in your renewal today.  A big THANK YOU also to everyone of you who take such great care in completing the information on the supply envelopes.  It is so very helpful to have all of the information completed when posting monies.  Thank you one and all.  I am looking forward to working as your Treasurer and to getting to know everyone better this year.

Have you seen this familiar (to most of us) face at the studio?  It's so good to see Al Miller back at work on the wheel!

                           

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In his recent demonstration of his GR forms for hand building bowls, plates, trays, etc., Jeff Rottman provided lots of information.

                            
The club acquired some of his forms for our members to use.

We all need to pitch in during these very busy months to keep our Studio in top notch shape.

A couple of areas that need special attention include:
 

Sinks and Counter Tops:
 

Please clean up after washing tools used in creating your masterpieces. One time sponge wipe down of the area is good, but great is going over the area with a second clear water rinse to remove the dull white film from clay residue. Also please feel free to reduce the “in sink” water level by removing the cork for just a few minutes, then replacing it. Also it would be very nice of you to wipe the clay residue off the faucet upon completion of the clean up.

Floors:
 

Additional consideration: Please allow a few minutes upon completing your project to mop around your wheel or table. Same process as the sinks; double mopping cleans off the dull white (or red) clay residue from the floor. Sweeping clay particles is not recommended. Clay dust generated from sweeping releases damaging micro particles into the air that is unhealthy and over time may introduce respiratory issues. Please mop daily. Just an additional thought, when the mop water is dirty, please take the opportunity to change out the yellow rolling bucket for clean water for the next member to use.
 

Your thoughtful efforts to help keep the studio in top notch shape will also aid in clean air circulation through our new air purification system. The studio’s three HEPA filtered units circulate the studio air supply five to six times per hour. The cleaner we keep our studio, the greater level of purified air we all breathe.

The past six months have been a real challenge for the Monitor Committee to get enough volunteer monitors to man the 9AM to 3PM studio hours. Without a monitor, our members are unable to buy supplies, our artists miss sales, our visitors are unable to observe us in action and we possibly lose new members for our club.
 

The Monitor Committee’s highest priority this year is to fill the morning and early afternoon monitoring sessions with members who have received quality training. Recently the GCA Board of Directors approved the following changes in the Monitor Committee operations.
 

1. Monitor trainers will provide one-on-one training to all members of Grand Clay Arts. This concept will replace the periodic training classes conducted throughout 2019.
    

2. Four new members have been added to the Monitor Committee. The four are long time members of Grand Clay Arts and well qualified to bring new and existing members up to speed on monitoring duties. The committee now consists of Ann Funk, Chair; Leah Rosenthal, Lead; Carol Struck, Jan Nolan, Susan Cover and Odette Olson, Trainers.
    

3. All new members will be required to register in the Monitor Pool and to perform monitor duties one time with a monitor trainer prior to volunteering for participation in further monitoring or other club committees.
 

4. Trainers will be used to train new members as well as existing members in “How to be a Monitor for GCA.” This eliminates the periodic training sessions previously conducted. New members will be given trainer contact information at the time of orientation. It will be the new member’s responsibility to contact the appropriate trainer and schedule a monitoring session with the trainer.
 

5. A Monitor Training Seminar will be conducted annually to reinforce monitoring policies and procedures for Grand Clay Arts. All members are urged to attend.
 

6. Two incentive programs have been approved.
 

• Monitors completing ten or more monitoring sessions (30 hours or more) from April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021, will be invited to a luncheon or dinner event honoring them as a “Super Monitor.”

• “Monitor of the Year” award will be given to the monitor chosen by our membership. Members will be allowed only one vote and the recipient of the award will be announced at the March 2021 General Meeting. The criteria for nominations will be friendliness, helpfulness, performance, and number of monitoring sessions completed.  The recipient of the award will receive $150.00 cash.

       Note: Monitor Committee members are not eligible to participate
 

I encourage you to remember that our monitors are the face and voice of the studio to members and to outside visitors. Be kind to our monitors and monitors, be kind and helpful to all who enter.

Tips from IT: Managing Your Member Information

There are several types of personal info stored within the GCA website. This includes your username and password, contact info, and some contact preferences.

 

On the upper right on the screen, once you've logged in, there are two links to manage your personal information:

Member Information

    Change Contact/Profile Info

    Change Username/Password

 

Change Contact/Profile Info

This link shows you all the information that the system has about you. Information in the white boxes can be changed; for example, your address, phone, or email.

 

In the next section, you can choose not to have your phone, address, and/or email displayed in any member lists that come from the website. (More about this later...)

 

Finally, the system will show your door access code and your cubby. (Just in case you forgot - like I usually do! ;)

 

Once you've made changes, don't forget to click on "Submit" at the bottom of the page.

Don't worry too much about making mistakes; everything can be fixed!

 

Change Username/Password

You can change these at any time, and as often as you'd like. When you click on this link, you will be able to erase the current username and type in a new one, or you can just leave it.

 

Next, you can change your password (whether or not you've changed username), by typing in a new password then confirming it.

 

"Forgot your password?"

If the system is saying your credentials are invalid, try resetting them using this link near the upper right corner of the Home page. Here, the system will email you what it thinks your username is, and allow you to reset your password.

 

Unlike other systems, you can "change" your password to what it already is. This is handy if you think you know your password, but it is not working.

 

Hope this is helpful; email me with questions!

webmaster@grandclayarts.com