Post 241 AABC Convention 2017 Brisbane

It's been a hectic few days at the 2017 AABC Convention at Royal on the Park in Brisbane city.

I had 4 largish trees accepted in the exhibition. Getting trees ready usually offers a busy few days. Last minute pot changes, surface dressing, foliage manicure, stand selection and prep etc etc and then getting them to and from the venue. On top of all that was about 50 pots for my trade table. Fortunately I didn't have to bring too many home.

Marc Noelanders was the international guest demonstrator and spent a few days on his feet talking.

He was of course absolutely first class in every way. I had the honour of sharing the stage with him for two and a half hours doing a pot making demo while he worked on a black pine.

Doing the demo was great for the delegates. Many said that when they saw pot making was on the agenda they expected something about as exciting as watching grass growing. Afterwards it was a different story and they came away entertained, informed and awakened. It was a great promotion for all potters and especially good for my trade table sales. My sales page on the blog has now been considerably depleted. I feel some more potting coming on.

Some of the new colours and styles of recent pots were very well received. Things like Pots 288, 292, 294 and 297. Those antique bronze/cast iron glazes were picked out fast and people just stood there stroking those sweet satin glaze surfaces.

I had an ambitious plan for the demo - to make a pot from scratch and then take it through two firings to a finished glazed pot. In preparation I bought a big cardboard box and dressed it up to look like a kiln. In convincing voice I told the audience it was brand new experimental technology that was powered by a mix of plasma and microwave technology and like all good appliances these days was wireless. Wouldn't it be great to really be able to go from a wet clay pot through to bisque in 3 minutes, and the same for a glaze firing!!!! Lots of fun.

 This is my sales table. The drawcard was one of my ceramic tanukis. I had my book "Bonsai Foundations" there too and sold 50 copies over the two days. This will be a great step to getting the message of 'Bonsai like trees, not trees like bonsai' out to the Australian bonsai community. It should also expand coaching opportunities as an AABC Visiting Tutor.

I've taken photos of nearly all the trees in exhibition and will get them posted soon.

Post 240 More new pots for the convention

This is my last batch of new pots before heading to the Brisbane Convention in a couple of weeks. I should have a stock of about 45 pots to show and sell.

First up is Pot 289 a largish bowed wall rectangular pot with slightly convex walls. It is in a darker brown satin glaze and is 385 x 280 x 88.

Next is Pot No 290, a ever so slightly bowed wall rectangular pot with straight walls. Just enough bow to soften the form and support the tightly rounded corners. A nice light brown satin glaze; size 350 x 275 x 75.

Pot No 291 is a small rimless oval pot with a dark speckled glaze, actually beige breaking red brown. Size is 215 x 162 x 46 The glaze finish here is achieved by using a paint roller to apply the glaze.

Pot No 292 is another small rimless oval which is 240 x 185 x 50. The glaze is my new but old antique bronze.

Pot No 293 is another rimless oval at 260 x 185 x 55. It is glazed in a favourite beige breaking glaze also applied with the paint roller.

Pot No 294 is a long low rimless oval glazed in a surprise glaze. Testing showed a homogeneous brown but this time it emerged with a few depth colour changes and the iron oxide colourant showed with a slight olive tone. Size 370 x 285 x 52

Pot No 295 is a small square rimmed oval at 260 x 200 x 52, glazed in an inky dark satin blue glaze.

Pot No 296 is a small rimless oval but this one has convex walls. It is 265 x 185 x 60 and is glazed in a slightly mobile beige toned glaze.

Pot No 297 is a rimless oval with lower bead. Glazed in another dark variant, this one with inky olive tones on the surface giving it quite a metallic look. Nicely proportioned at 320 x 230 x 64.

Pot No 300 is a round semi cascade with diameter 185 by 126 high.

Post 239 More pots more supports

   I'm processing another 12 pots for the convention in May. This will be the last I make for a little while.  6 are glazed and sitting in the kiln waiting for a day when I'll be here all day and another 6 are bisqued and on the shelf waiting their turn.

   This picture is a tray of supports (props) ready to slip under the pots for their final glaze firing.

   When I'm making a pot I cut these supports to suit the feet depth and place them under the pot floor as the pot dries. A sheet of newspaper is a good separator between the pot and the props. To dry, the pots sit on a stack of newspapers sitting on a sheet of plaster board, to wick the moisture away from the depth of clay at the base - pot floor plus props.

   As part of my focus on eliminating variation; when the pot has dried I scratch numbers on the props so that when it comes time to use them in the glaze firing each one will be in its right place. I use about 9 or 10 props per pot.They usually just sit in the pot or on the shelf for the bisque firing as the pots never move in that firing.

   I'm sure non of this is superstition, just the product of repetition and continuous improvement.

   My routine then for placing pots for the glaze firing is this:
Place the bisque pot on the shelf where it will be fired.
Run a pencil line on the shelf around the outside of the pot.
Remove the pot and place the props within the pencil line.
Glaze and place the pot in position on the shelf, guided by the pencil line.
   Once I've glazed a pot the only place I want to put it down again is in the kiln. This minimizes any chance of the slightest bump of a pot, damaging the glaze surface before firing. If this happens repairing that little blemish, so that it can't be detected after firing, is not easy.

Fixated perhaps but maybe just focused.