Dunedin Block Course

Did we just fly to Dunedin or some other European destination? Lovely historic feel to the CBD and surrounding suburbs with beautifully maintained colonial architecture. Quite a few students around too (me included I guess).

Got to meet some of the nicest people, including masters student Debbie Fleming. I was so taken by her positivity and skill that I have incorporated her image into one of the pots I made on day 1 using a Dunedin Red clay no longer in production (her kindest even extended to not scratching it off in horror at my crude attempt).

What a treat to watch Neil Grant in action. Its hard to describe what it is like to watch someone throwing who has so much experience that it has almost become part of their DNA. An opportunity not to be missed.

Man did I come home with a suitcase of smokey clothing to wash. Hours to load (stoneware or high temperature porcelain due to the high temperature) and warm the wood kiln on Tuesday, followed by a 6am thru to 2am of stoking, clearing the mouse hole, splitting more and more wooden pallets, before “cone 12 down” (could only manage 11pm myself – thank goodness for the kindness and dedication of those who stayed on).

Morning spent loading the stoneware and porcelain work for salt firing. After the kiln is sealed with bricks and fire clay mortar, a diesel burner progressively heats the kiln until it reaches 1100℃ at which point a mixture of rock salt and water is introduced into the kiln using a long metal half-tube. Once a popping sound can be heard, the salt is tipped into the kiln and openings closed to allow the salt to vaporise, seeking out the silica in the work, and forming an orange-peel like textured translucent glaze. This process is repeated, with every other introduction checked for its affect on the work by removing clay rings positioned within reach of one of the removable bricks from the front wall of the kiln (quite a delicate operation to ensure only one ring at a time is removed and not dropped on the way to the bucket of water).

Steve Peyroux was kind enough to offer to run a screen printing workshop that would allow us to print on to ceramic with a ceramic colourant. Beginning with a crash course on how to construct a well-stretched screen, we headed into dimly lit studio (absent of any UV light) and applied a thin coating of a light-sensitive printing emulsion to the screen. After drying this for at least 20 minutes, we overlaid our chosen images (good contrast between light and dark is most effective) with the screen and then exposed this to ultraviolet light for 6 minutes and 30 seconds (to be precise). Next step is to remove the emulsion that has not hardened (due to being blocked from the light by the darker parts of your images) as quickly as possible to avoid it hardening also. Warm water sprayed onto the screen from a shower head was very effective. Once all soft emulsion has been removed, the screen is again dried using a hair dryer. Unfortunately time did not allow for any printing while in Otago, but i have included the recipes for your to try.

A trip to the Hoffman kiln at Benhar (5 minutes drive from Balclutha). This amazing kiln has obviously seen better days since its opening in 1864, but still in surprisingly good nick, having been saved from demolition by current owner Laurence Baird. A massive undertaking to take on this heritage-listed building with plans to restore it and create artisans spaces (definitely needing a new roof and guttering to stop the ongoing deterioration from the Otago weather). The brick construction is quite beautiful, from arched kiln chambers and sloping buttress-like first floor walls, to second story arched windows and very tall chimney. Lets hope Laurence gets all the support he needs to revitalise such an important part of our ceramic history.