Ceramic artist and potter, Jo Duggan of Heytesbury, will be giving a demonstration to the Warminster Art Society, at the Lakeside Community Centre, in the Lake Pleasure Grounds (The Town Park), Warminster, on 21st February 2012, from 2.00 to 4.00 p.m.
Jo Duggan has always been involved with the arts in some way, and has been fascinated by the versatility of clay for nearly 30 years. She is strongly influenced by organic objects such as seedpods, buds, stones and the colours in rock formations. She hand builds some pieces with coils and then scrapes and smoothes until the surface is thin and even. At this stage, she either burnishes the piece ready for the bisque firing; or if she wants colour added, she will brush a coloured slip on the piece, in some cases using a masking tape or wet newspaper as a resist. After this treatment it is ready for burnishing which can take a few hours of rubbing with the back of a spoon, then bisque firing to a low temperature. Then the piece is smoked in a brick box using a variety of combustible materials, such as: sawdust, dried lavender storks, and newspaper. The piece is then polished with a furniture polish. Some of Jo’s smoked pieces are not glazed in any way so are slightly porous; so she does not recommend water be put into them. She also makes a range of traditional kitchen slipware, which are hand thrown on the wheel, and decorated in earthy colours using oxides to colour the slip. The work is then bisque fired as above, and then dipped into a transparent glaze to enhance the slip colours and give a glossy finish.
The demonstration will show something of the process with coloured slips. As time is limited Jo will show how to make a plate using a “hump†mould and will demonstrate the use of slips and resist worked pattern. If there is time, those who want to can try their hand at making a pinch pot.
Admission to Jo Duggan’s demonstration is £1.50 for Warminster Art Society members, and £3 for guests.