The Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-01-04, Page 13t1
a
•
•
:yr*
- 0
4
0
?AGE rouriEEN
•
tt•
a
THE LiTeKli10791/ SENTJNEL, LUCKNOW; ONTA140
4
a
tlf
WEDNODAY, JatililUART4, 1973
* . 4
• °,
Na:tAt..
.7'At •
. . • • • ' •1••
,s -or
Clay must be kneaded for unifOrniity and to take out the air bubbles
before a potter can wedge itor wheel it. This process usually, takes
about twenty minutes says,,,Sheila and it prepares the potter so that
!he is really into his , art when he sits down to his wheel.
,•••
Lucknow Service Cede
-BUD HAMILTON, PROP.
Doyoir..ortot change..or.'.0ease,'etc.
; • ..$,6.00...,per; how over .hoist
Other bay, wash your own car or
we will do it for you
Vactium. .polish whatever you wish
WE ARE NOT EX\PERTS,BUTWE DO OUR BEST
For Appointrnenits CaII0i Drop in and see
JAMES CLARK*, :.DOUG .HAMILTON
" • • Phone 528•2812.
• a •
' • 0
st"
1 eta
_The thing that Sheila Gunby, R.
R. 1 Dungannon, likes about
being a potter is that, each potter
is an individual. "Even if you use
the same Ray and glaze, the pot is
going to be different because
each potter has his own style,"
she. says, "Some are more precise
while others are freer."
Your personality • really comes
through in your pot; says Sheila,
who •has, been working with clay
..7for 61/2 years. She had, painted
"-• before becoming interested iii
pottery because she didn't like
working at the end of a:brush. She
wanted to work with her hands
and feel.her own creativity more
closely with the work.
"Pottery is not° something you
learn and then repeat Whatyou've..•
learned with slight variation,"
says' Sheila, "There is always
something to learn.",
You would never 'considei the •
style of a functional pot as being
important until you realize that
•the spout on the- teapot you've
• just imade is • too low and the
• teapot will only hold enough
water for one cup of tea. •
Sheila' has her own. "pottery
•place" in the basement of the
huge.stone farmhouse she shares
with 'her husband, Merle, and
• their three teenage children. •
She says that . she often
procrastinates about going down
to start a pot but when she finally
gets to :work she becomes so
involved she •doesn't • want to
leave. .••
• Pottery starts • with kneading
the clay for twenty minutes for
uniformity ' and to Jalt6 „out air
bubbles:, The kneading sets you.
up says. Sheila. The process
psyches you so that you are really
into it when yv sit down' to the,
,wheel to form a pot.
Sheila waits to get away from •
craft pots and do more work in
jardiniere which •is, graduated
sizes of large planters. She says
pat most potters have a range of.
casseroles, mugs ,and dishes but
she would rather specialize in a'
• couple of things. do what I
want to make," she says, "Ad
then find a market for it."
The idea of the big flover pots
was an inspiration in the middle ,
Of the night. The method she uses
to _make these pots came to her .
during the night and . she has
• worked it out in her pottery.
• 'Sheila uses local claf as -glazes
which vary, in colour from lig t•
•
tan to red. She sieves the clay to
° take out the twigs and grass And
then makes a slip by mixing water
with the clay. She then brushes
the Slip onto the pots as a glaze,
before the first firirfg.
The local clays give an eart
look to' the pots and planters slie
glazes with them.
• Sheila found a Piireclay where
• a farmer had built a silo and
• another clay she uses as a glaze
she found in a brickyard at'
Benmiller. She has also dug for
• clay along gUlleys by Lake Huron.
She does not use local clay to
make the pots because it contains •
•too much lyme and presents a
ale
1^4
. problem with air bubbles bursting
through. • '
"
A friend found a clay brick.
Which had been pressed with
hands and never fired under the
haymow in' their barn. It must be
40 years old says Sheila and she
doesn't have the heart to use it as
"clay fOr pots.
Sheila took courses with the
Burlington Potters" Guild before
she and her family moved to "the
Lucknow area. She attended the
Ontario Potters' Association Con-
vention sat_ McMaiter-44,*ersi
in Hamilton two years ago where
everyone 'learns from everyone
else.
• "There were no secrets at the '
• convention," says Sheila, ."The
• only way to learn is from another
potter."
So Sheila' likes to teach pottery
and taught at •• the Goderich
Orange Lodge for two years a
program sponsered.by the Recre- ,
ation Committee. .
She may 'consider teaching
lessons at home next °spring and
• summer but would like to make it
_a...two week seminar which would
be an especially good program for
children in the summer. Sheila
likes to see children getting into
• pottery, because "they are a
• natural „with clay." •
"The r designs and patterns of
pottery are endless," says Sheila.
• Adding slips, adding clay or
taking it out, or, paddling it are all
ways of making every pot slightly
different from another,
•
• ' •
• ik
.* • Irt.,
• °.
. .
0 4,,
The potter at his.wheel.cetttres the clay by raising and lowering the column with even consistency to work
out air bubblesasing water and pressure. The wheel is made to go as fast as possible at this stage. The
potte,r then makes a hole in the centre which ,determine,s the thickness of the pot's bottom. Working
together with both hands, the potter brings out the thickness to form the bottom,. By applying pressure on
the inside and outside of the hole, the potter brings up the pot and shapes it by applying less and more
pressure on either the inside or the (autside.of the pot. After the wheel, the pot is dried for two days,
biique. fired, waxed, glazed and fire again. Stoneware clay must be fired at a higher temperature than
earthenware, Stoneware. is much stronger and can be used as ovenware.
tat
•tazIA
St.
h tild44
maev7s
•St, -Marys Church, Lucknow
was filled to capacity on Christ -
Inas Eve, at the eight o'clock'
Mass. Carols were sung before
the liturgy began4The front of the
church to thb left side of the main
altar was adorned with the
•
istmas sery• ice
"Crib", the scene of the nativity,
a tall spruce tree with coloured
lights and the red poinsettias
made an attractive setting.
Inthe semi -darkness of the
church the altar boys and the
children with their. glittering
crowns carrying lighted candles
preceded Pather E. Dentinger up
the middle aisle of the - church
singing "Silent Night".. Marilyn
Murray was the organist. Treats
were given by .Father Dentinger
to,.the children after Mass.
. 1.
9
•ri
A