The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/Ceramics have evolved over thousands of years.Earthenware dessert plate, cream colour. Made by Alfred Meakin, England. Backstamped ‘Alfred Meakin England’. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, alfred meakin, ceramics, earthenware, kitchenware

Item that was used daily for patient ablutions. Would have been used by Alfred hospital nurses on a daily basis. Many of our membership would have memories of using this item. The item is marked with the ward as items sometimes were borrowed or used by different wards or areas of the hospital so labeling was essential for staff to retrieve their equipment back.Item that was used daily for patient ablutions. Would have been used by Alfred hospital nurses on a daily basis. Many of our membership would have memories of using and servicing/cleaning this item. The item is also a good example of wares made by K.G. Luke Pty Ltd.Large monelmetal wash bowl. Bowl is round and made of metal. It has 2 cracks on the rim. It has numerous dents and small scratches from use. On the base/underside of the bowl is an inscription from the maker and additional inscription from it's use on "Ward 5 - Alfred Hospital"PARAMOUNT/ WARE/ K.G. LUKE/ MELBOURNE/ ALFRED/ HOSPITAL/ WARD 5/ahnl, alfred hospital, nurses, patient care, bed bath, alfred hospital nurses league, ward 5 alfred hospital, metal bowl, wash bowl, ward 5, melbourne hospitals, school of nursing, prahran, nursing history, kenneth luke, k.g. luke pty ltd.

Former St Marks Presbyterian Church opened 1874. Became scout hall in 1992. Corner of Alfred Street and Sharps Lane.stawell religion

Small booklet, A Lifes's History of the late Henning Rathjen of Colbinabbin, compiled and written by Alfred E Rathjen, 15 pages with black and white photographs.Alfred e Rathjenperson, individual, henning rathjen, history-victoria-colbinabbin-rathjen

SEPIA COPY OF PHOTOGRAPH OF HANNAH SHRIGLEY NEE PARKER (5TH FEB. 1835 - 19TH APRIL 1899). BORN IN LIMERICK, IRELAND. MARRIED IN MELBOURNE 12TH JAN. 1855 TO JOHN ALFRED SHRIGLEY.PHOTOGRAPH - SEPIA COPY OF HANNAH SHRIGLEY [NEE PARKER] 5th FEB.1835 - 19th APRIL1899. BORN IN LIMERICK, IRELAND. MARRIED IN MELBOURNE 12TH JAN. 1855 TO ALFRED SHRIGLEY.HANNAH SHRIGLEY NEE PARKER (5TH FEB. 1835 - 19TH APRIL 1899) BORN IN LIMERICK, IRELAND. MARRIED IN MELBOURNE 12TH JAN. 1855 TO JOHN ALFRED SHRIGLEYlocal history, photography, photographs, crick, shrigley, mc lennan, lazarus

After training as a Cartographic Draftsman within the mining industry, I worked as a property illustrator for real estate firms in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne for 23 years from 1983. I initially photographed houses with a Polaroid camera and made a 'thumbnail' sketch while there. The photos were used to scale off a sketch in pencil and then that sketch was overlaid with drafting film and the 'pen and ink' completed. The pens I used were the Rotring ‘Rapidigraph’ drafting pens. The ink was also made by Rotring (German).The film was ‘Rapidraw’, polyester drafting film, double matte. It takes a very fine line and doesn’t bleed. As well as house sketches, there were often floor plans and site plans ordered. Aerial sketches were ordered when the property needed an overall view. (Margaret Picken, 2020)This drawing is one of a series created by Margaret Picken for a range of real estate agents in Melbourne between c.1983 and c.2003. Each work is signed and dated by the artist.Gift of Margaret Picken, 2020Pen and ink drawing on drafting film of 67 Alfred Street, Kew by Margaret Picken.67 ALFRED ST., KEW / MARG. PICKEN '87architectural sketches -- houses -- kew (vic.), artist -- margaret picken 1950-, 67 alfred street -- kew (vic.)

After training as a Cartographic Draftsman within the mining industry, I worked as a property illustrator for real estate firms in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne for 23 years from 1983. I initially photographed houses with a Polaroid camera and made a 'thumbnail' sketch while there. The photos were used to scale off a sketch in pencil and then that sketch was overlaid with drafting film and the 'pen and ink' completed. The pens I used were the Rotring ‘Rapidigraph’ drafting pens. The ink was also made by Rotring (German).The film was ‘Rapidraw’, polyester drafting film, double matte. It takes a very fine line and doesn’t bleed. As well as house sketches, there were often floor plans and site plans ordered. Aerial sketches were ordered when the property needed an overall view. (Margaret Picken, 2020)This drawing is one of a series created by Margaret Picken for a range of real estate agents in Melbourne between c.1983 and c.2005. Each work is signed and dated by the artist.Gift of Margaret Picken, 2020Pen and ink drawing on drafting film of 69 Alfred Street, Kew by Margaret Picken.69 ALFRED ST., KEW / MARG. PICKEN '87artist -- margaret picken 1950-, architectural drawings -- houses -- kew (vic.), 69 alfred street -- kew (vic)

ALFRED EDWARD BOLAND V59811, VX120170. Refer 2473 for Service History.Certificate. Appointing an Officer of the Military Forces of the Commonwealth, ALFRED EDWARD BOLAND. Black print on cream coloured paper. Includes an embossed Commonwealth of Australia seal. Frame. Mid brown timber with dark green mount & glass front.On front of certificate in black ink: ALFRED EDWARD BOLAND PERMANENT SEVENTH MAY LIEUTENANT TENTH AUGUST FORTY FOUR Along edge of certificate: 144 133 Sixteenth August Forty fourdocuments - certificates, frame accessories

Blue Doctor's Certificate dated May 5th 1877 certifying that Alfred Mason of Happy Valley was unable to follow his usual employment. Signed by H. L. Atkinson. Signed at the end by Alfred Mason declaring himself on the Sick Funds.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no 3770 collection - doctor's certificate, court king of the forest, alfred mason, h l atkinson

The remains of the 180 mine battery as painted by Alfred Perry in 1959. This is a watercolour and indian ink sketch on card. Yellow card attached with painting states: ' George Lansell Exhibit No 4. The remains of the 180 mine battery as painted by Alfred Perry in 1959. It was from the 180 that George Lansell laid the foundations of his fortune and indeed the fortunes of the district. With his capital behind the field mining flourished for nearly one hundred years and ensured employment for the many miners in the district.'Alfred Perryartwork, print, mining heritage, alfred perry, mining battery, 180 mine, victoria hill

Blue Doctor's Certificate dated May 11th 1877 certifying that Alfred Mason of Happy Valley was able to follow his usual employment. Signed by H. L. Atkinson. Signed at the end by Alfred Mason declaring himself off the Sick Funds.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no 3770 collection - doctor's certificate, court king of the forest, alfred mason, h l atkinson, j brockley

Blue paper dated June 6th 1876. I hereby certify that Alfred Skeats of Long Gully is unable to follow his usual employment. Signed by H. L. Atkinson. Signed at the end by Alfred Skeats declaring himself on the Sick Funds of the Court.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no 3770 collection - medical certificate, court king of the forest, alfred skeats, h. l. atkinson

Blue paper dated July 14th 1876. I hereby certify that Alfred Skeats of Long Gully is unable to follow his usual employment. Signed by H. L. Atkinson. Signed at the end by Alfred Skeats declaring himself on the Sick Funds of the Court.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no 3770 collection - medical certificate, court king of the forest, alfred skeats, john thorn

Old Princes Bridge - 1845. copied from book "Melbourne's Yesterday's" See Phillip Island Book re Solomon West etc. Nov. 1983Sepia photograph of the old Princes Bridge Melbourne decorated for Prince Alfred's visit in 1867."Old Princes Bridge decorated for Prince Alfred's visit 1867"old princes bridge melbourne, prince alfred's visit 1867, w a mcleod

Lance Corporal "Alfred Alexander Priest" No. 5162. Enlisted 31/12/15 into 6th Battalion, 16th Reinforcements. Embarked 1 April 1916 for England the 29 Aug 1916 to France. Hospitalised 8 Nov 1916 for trench foot and rejoined unit 11 Feb 1917. WIA 27 Feb 1917 GSW left forearm and rejoined 30 July 1917. WIA 4 Oct 1917 GSW left finger and rejoined 1 Jan 1918. WIA 16 May 1918 multiple gunshot wounds - died 27 May 1918. Buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.Ful length portrait of Alfred Alexander Priest in full uniform of WW1 ANZAC Soldier, in sepia. Man standing in an outside setting, holding a cane.Front bottom right hand corner written "KALMA BENDIGO". Back top right corner written "Len's Uncle, Alfred Priest".ww1, 6th battalion, alfred alexander priest

Blue paper dated Jan 13th 1872. I hereby Certify that Alfred Clear of Long Gully is unable to follow his usual employment. Signed H. L. Atkinson. Also signed at the end by Alfred Clear declaring himself on the Sick Funds of the Court.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no. 3770 collection - medical cetificate, court king of the forest, alfred clear, h l atkinson

Blue paper dated Feb 17th 1868. I hereby certify that Alfred Clear of Iron Bark is unable to follow his usual employment. Signed H. L. Atkinson. M.D. Also signed at the end by Alfred Clear declaring himself on the Sick Funds of the Court.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no 3770 collection - medical certificate, court king of the forest, alfred clear, h l atkinson

Blue paper dated March 2nd 1868. I hereby certify that Alfred Clear of Iron Bark is able to follow his usual employment. Signed H. L. Atkinson. M.D. Also signed at the end by Alfred Clear declaring himself off the Sick Funds of the Court.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no 3770 collection - medical certificate, court king of the forest, alfred clear, h l atkinson

Padbury’s Funeral Parlour in Kew was the earliest business of its kind in what is now the City of Boroondara. It was established by John Padbury in 1859. Following his death, the company was renamed A W Padbury & Co. The two-storey building is still [in 2023] extant. Members of the Padbury family married into a number of pioneer Kew families including the Whitmans and Morgans. Rare portrait of a significant Kew businessmanOriginal print positive 'cabinet card'. Portrait of Alfred Padbury, owner of A W Padbury & Co. Son of founder - John Padbury.Reverse: “Alfred Padbury / Son of John Padbury / Whitman”funeral parlours. -- kew (vic.), a w padbury, businesses -- cotham road -- kew (vic.)

Blue paper dated Jan 19th 1872. I hereby Certify that Alfred Clear of Marong is able to follow his usual employment. Signed H. L. Atkinson. Also signed at the end by Alfred Clear declaring himself off the Sick Funds of the Court. Printed by J. Brockley, Printer, Bridge Street, Sandhurst.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no. 3770 collection - medical cetificate, court king of the forest, alfred clear, h l atkinson, j brockley

Blue paper dated July 10th 1871. I hereby Certify that Alfred Skeats of Long Gully is able to follow his usual employment. Signed H. L. Atkinson. Also signed at the end by Alfred Skeats declaring himself off the Sick Funds of the Court. Printed by J. Brockley, Printer, Bridge Street, Sandhurst.societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no. 3770 collection - medical certificate, court king of the forest, alfred skeats, h l atkinson

A property illustration by Margret Picken Commissioned by the real estate agency Woodards, Camberwell for the purpose of advertising 1,2,3/16 Alfred St., Burwood for sale in 1995. Made by using Rotring ‘Rapidigraph’ drafting pens with Rotring ink on Rapidigraph polyester drafting film, double matte. The suburb lines are believed to have been redrawn, making this property no longer in Burwood, but located in Glen iris. 1/16 Alfred St., Burwood is listed as having sold for in 1995 for $185,000 Trained as a cartographic draftsman within the mining industry, Margaret Picken is an artist who worked producing property illustrations for real estate agencies in eastern suburbs of Victoria from 1983-2005. Retiring from the industry as technological changes favoured coloured photography over illustrations, and commissioning companies over sole contractors.This artwork is of Historical Significance as a record of local domestic architecture.A black ink line drawing on drafters film by Maragret Picken, of 1,2,3/16 Alfred St., Burwood. Depicted are three one-story rendered houses on one block, one behind the other, situated back from a front lawn with a large tree on the right, and a driveway on the left leading to a garage There to two hole punches just below the upper edge An approximately 1.5cmx0.5 tape reside mark at the centre of the bottom edge A 1cm vertical line of dirty tape residue on the center of the upper edge. 1,2,3/16 Alfred St., Burwood Margaret Picken - 95 Woodards - c'wellwhitehorse historical society, schwerkolt cottage, housing, architecture, margaret picken, burwood, glen iris, house, garden

Was presented to Mrs Lucie Hallenstein, honorary secretary of Alfred Hospital combine auxiliaries c. 1920. Mrs Hallenstein's Granddaughter Jane Helena Walters nee Shannon trainee of Alfred Hospital 1948-1951 presented the box to the nursing achieves with a hand written letter of explanation on 28/04/2011. Paper card insert is signed by Louisa Mann who was matron from 1912-1928.Item is significant as it was presented from Louisa Mann. Item also carries the Maltese cross from the Alfred hospital insignia. Has been presented to the archive from Alfred Hospital trainee. Handcrafted wooden box with parquetry Maltese cross in center. Box is made with multiple timber types and shades, is finished with a gloss finish. Two brass hinges allow the box to open. Hand written note on buff card paper with sticky tape holding item together enclosed within on small card from Louisa Mann stating "Affectionate Xmas greetings from Louisa Mann Alfred Hospital" Four rubber stoppers on base, eight screws visible on base holding wood together Black text marking on underside of box 392/02.3 White sticker with black ink marking 392/02+3[Affectionate Xmas/ greetings/ from/ Louisa Mann/ Alfred Hospital] [392/02.3] [392/02+3]alfred hospital, alfred nurses hospital league, ahnl, wooden box, handmade wood item, lousia mann, parquetry, handcrafted, timber box, maltese cross

Boer War Memorial in Alfred Square, St Kildacolour photograph unmountedAlfred Square War Memorial