Potclays Limited - General News - Clay, Glaze, Plaster,

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General News

Derek Clarkson

Published 27 February 2013

We are sad to report the passing of Derek Clarkson, esteemed ceramicist, senior lecturer in ceramics and close friend of Potclays, on 17th February 2013 aged 84. His trademark calligraphic brushwork presented in his words "...a never ending challenge and rewarding form of self expression". His inspiration was drawn from many and varied sources including the form and glaze qualities of the Sung Period, early Minoan and Persian ceramics. The work of Schiele, Klimt, Escher, Mackintosh and Gaudi influenced his work as did lettering, growth and decay in nature, patterns and rhythms in perspective and mathematics.

Mervyn Fitzwilliam

Published 21 January 2013

We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mervyn Fitzwilliam, President and Chair of the Dacorum & Chiltern Potters Guild and good friend of Potclays. Creator of the legendary Fitzwilliam and Craftsman potters wheels, Mervyn was an outstanding engineer and a man of integrity. He will be greatly missed by all of us at Potclays, and indeed the entire ceramics community.

ICF Aberystwyth 2013

Published 8 January 2013

Potclays are honoured to be the main sponsors of the International Ceramics Festival once again.

The festival is held at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on the campus of Aberystwyth University on the mid-Wales coast. Since it began in 1987 the three-day festival has grown to become the UK's leading ceramics event.

It offers teachers, students, ceramic artists, collectors, working potters and amateurs the chance to meet and study the work of distinguished, internationally known potters and ceramicists from Wales, the UK and around the world .

The Festival attracts about 1000 people who attend lectures, watch practical demonstrations and visit the special exhibitions over three days. International demonstrators show skills and techniques on a specially adapted stage and also have their own workspaces, enabling personal discussion about their work. The focus is both practical and inspirational - kilns are built, pots are made and fired.

There are exciting new developments afoot! Keep an eye on the Potclays and ICF facebook pages for the latest news. Also see the ICF website for full festival information.

Creative Clay©

Published 8 January 2013

Creative Clay© is an air-drying clay developed and manufactured by Potclays using the highest quality materials available.

It is a standard potters' modelling clay with an addition of nylon fibres to provide exceptional bonded strength when dry and unfired. These nylon reinforcing fibres are an excellent bonding agent which reduces brittleness and means that the clay need not be fired. It is an ideal modelling medium for both children and adults, and can be painted and varnished once dry.

Creative Clay© is ideal for schools and other educational organisations without access to a kiln!

And if you do have a kiln: As Creative Clay is basically a standard ceramic clay body, with suitable ventilation it can be fired and glazed in the same way. The firing range of Creative Clay is 1000C to 1280C for the grey version and 1050C to 1170C for the red.

What do others think?

"I thought you might like to know how I got on with my workshops using Creative Clay (165-1187) for the first time. I started with some Year 4's making Tutankhamuns. This project involves using tiny amounts of clay and rolling it into the finest of coils, so the children were really putting the clay through its paces. I knew I loved using it, but I wanted to know what they thought of it too. The results were a resounding success and I have attached a picture of one of my favourites. I asked the children if they enjoyed using the clay and they all loved it because it was so soft and easy to use. I was delighted to see how long it stayed soft - absolutely ages! I have also found reclaiming it far easier to do than I expected, when I added water to the used bits in the bag the clay seemed to sort itself out really quickly and easily. Fantastic!"

Victoria Houghton, Clay Workshops for Schools

www.clayworkshopsforschools.com

How much does it cost?

We have recently undertaken a pricing review to make Creative Clay even more accessible to everyone. Our latest prices are shown below.

165-1187 Creative Clay - grey (12.5kg bag)

1 bag £5.75

2 bags £11.50

4 bags £23.00

8 bags £46.00

20 bags £114.98 (quarter pallet/250kg)

40 bags £212.71 (half pallet/500kg)

80 bags £397.31 (full pallet/1000kg)

165-1188 Creative Clay - red (12.5kg bag)

1 bag £5.06

2 bags £10.12

4 bags £20.24

8 bags £40.48

20 bags £101.13 (quarter pallet/250kg)

40 bags £192.15 (half pallet/500kg)

80 bags £364.83 (full pallet/1000kg)

To help you visualise, a 12.5kg bag of clay is about the same size as a large box of cornflakes!

What about delivery?

Clay is notoriously expensive to transport due to its weight but ordering in bulk (pallet loads) means that not only do you achieve the best price for the clay itself, you also save considerably on transport costs. As a guide, a quarter pallet costs between £30 and £44 to deliver to many postcodes in England and Wales and a full pallet - four times more weight - costs between £34 and £62. Please talk to us and we'll make sure you get the best deal.

Want to try?

We understand that there's no substitute for trying before you buy so if you'd like to give Creative Clay a go, get in touch and we'll send you a one-kilo sample free of charge with only the postage cost to pay.

Please note that all our quoted prices are net and therefore do not include VAT (currently 20%).

Firing Up: Raising the Profile of Ceramics in Education

Interest in ceramics education is dwindling: Our response is a national clay programme to "re-fire" kilns in schools and inspire learners. A national programme of networked-learning in ceramics, Firing Up has been developed by the Crafts Council through a steering group of representatives from the National Arts Learning Network, the National Society for Education in Art & Design, University of the Arts, Clayground Collective and Ofsted.

Firing Up will provide teachers with the skills to teach ceramics in a creative and enjoyable way, finance the maintenance of kilns and train staff how to use them, delivering inspiring school workshops with Clayground Collective and local ceramists.

Firing Up will support schools in using clay creatively and confidently, and will showcase the work of young people, optimising the educational value for students and demonstrating the links between clay and the wider creative industries to show working in ceramics as a viable career choice.

Firing Up is a very significant scheme for the future of ceramics in schools as it will create sustainable links to ensure the continued presence of ceramics within secondary schools and HEIs across the UK. Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council

Firing Up will be delivered over a three year period starting with an initial cluster of 3 higher education institutions and 15 schools in 2010-11 expanding to 11 clusters and reaching 55 schools in total.

Potclays Ltd. are proud to support the FIRING UP programme.

We are offering the following to schools participating in the programme:

Reduced engineer's hourly rate of £35/hr for travelling/labour (usually £50/hr) in respect of kiln deliveries/sitings/installations or kiln repairs.

Free-of-charge initial site visit/survey if your school is within one of our catchment areas or if you are teamed up with other local schools. Site visits may otherwise be offered free of charge in certain circumstances - for example, if our engineer already has plans to visit a certain area on a particular date and you can be flexible.

Replacement kilns and spares at 10-15% discount when you quote Firing Up.

Use your £200 ceramics supplies budget and receive £300 (before VAT) worth of materials and delivery.

Free of charge technical advice on any aspect of ceramics - please mention Firing Up when you call!

Find out more about the Crafts Council and this project at www.craftscouncil.org.uk/learn

Crafts Council registered charity number:280956

Brickkiln Lane, Etruria
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 7BP
Tel: 01782 219816 Fax: 01782 286506
Email: sales@potclays.co.uk

Please note that unless otherwise stated prices shown on our website do not include VAT