Saturday 22 October 2016



Belmont Potters Group is having another Open Studio Event!!! 

26th November 2pm - 9pm - FREE to all
39 Elizabeth Street, Cloverdale
Next to Faulkner Park

Come and join your local potters for another fun clay day.

If you missed the first one, be sure you don't miss this one. Find out what is happening behind the doors of the community potters group, watch demonstrations of wheel, slip casting and hand made clay work, perhaps even try it out yourself.

With an opportunity to purchase hand made functional or sculptural pottery and ceramics or just join us for a coffee and chat.

We'd love to see you there.

Like us on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Belmont-Potters-Group-191557604594145/?ref=nf
https://www.facebook.com/LittleMissMudCeramics/

 Just a few photos of some of the items you may find at the Open Day



Sunday 11 September 2016

Wednesday 24 August 2016

workshops at Belmont Potters

We are having Workshops September:

1. September, Thursday 6.30 – 9.00 pm  INTRODUCTION TO SLIPCASTING
4. September, Sunday 12.00 – 4.00pm  GLAZE MIXING FOR BEGINNERS
11. September, Sunday 12.00 – 4.00pm  PRINTING ON CLAY with Elaine Bradley

The workshops are free to Belmont Potters Group members, sponsored by Belmont City Council.

Please Email or SMS Andrea to confirm your attendance if you did not put your name on the list on the notice board. Numbers to Printing on Clay are strictly limited to 10 participants, there are 4 places left.
E: vandvin@iinet.net.au
M: 0417 181 594

Monday 22 August 2016

open studio & birthday party

It was a busy weekend at Belmont Potters, with the open studio and the 25th birthday party celebration. 









Workshop

Immersion program for multicultural parents at Carlisle Primary school participants made some lovely clay works at Belmont Potters last week. It was soo much fun!





Monday 27 June 2016

Open Studio


We will be participating in the 

Australian Ceramics Open Studios 2016!


Click HERE for more information




Friday 20 May 2016

Wednesday at Belmont Potters

My phone camera is really dying, and I apologize for the quality (or lack thereof) of the photos. We are having lots of fun though:




Sunday 28 February 2016

Glazes: from Stoneware to Midfire

I have been firing to cone 6 (1220o C) ever since my student days. Opening the stoneware firing kiln and  finding my "elegant" (thin) lids warped like frisbee left in a hot car was the deciding moment.
I have tested most of the local stoneware clays and discovered that they are vitrified at cone 6 - so why not? Colours are better, there is less wear and tear on the kiln and less stress for the clay.
But a few months ago I have got a challenge: Lower the firing temperatures for the Belmont Potters Group.
The Group has been talking about it on and off for years, but it could not quite make the decision to "jump" into it.
The biggest stumbling stone: What shall we do with all the Stoneware glazes?
So first thing that we did was to fire all available glazes to the cone 6 (1220oC)

And discovered that they are not very exciting, but there are a few we can keep:


We chose some complimentary glazes from my files (bottom row):


(I have to apologize for the quality of the images. My phone really does not give them justice)
...and mixed them up.

And than comes the exciting part:

By testing each glaze on top and under each glaze (superimposing) we have a complete range of choices:

yes, all of that:



On the closer inspection, the kiln was slightly underfired, so they all went back again, 10 degrees higher.
I'm going to the Belmont Potters now, to see how did the second firing go. And I will take a camera with me.

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Glaze workshop

Here are a few photos from the recent Glaze workshop. Thanks Paula!

It was definitely a busy and fun day.





The top row is what the glaze tests look like before firing.
Bottom row is what we are aiming for.
Right now, those test tiles are in the kiln working their way to the 1200 degrees. I'm hoping that they will work out well, and that they cool down in time to take them back to the group tomorrow.
The recipes for those glazes are on the NOTES page.
I will post pictures of the results soon.

20.January:
Here they are.
Bright sky blue:

Dark green Satin:

Maroon:

Mauve:

Phila green: