Here are some pieces by the CAC artists who are demonstrating the Kurinuki technique at the September 8 online meeting of our club. They are Darryla Green (hers are on the top row) and Patty Taylor (see the lower row), who learned about this method of working with clay last summer from ceramicists in Japan when they were on a wonderful art-themed tour of that country .

We had a "dress rehearsal" of the Kurinuki demo with a few of our members last week, and below are some of the results. There are sure to be plenty more after the full-scale demonstration on September 8.. so stay tuned!

Pat Hanscom's little "Covid cup" is below, on the top left. She said "I ended up using my zester to make this organic pattern on the outside. Even during the pandemic, one can find a zest for life!" And on the top right is Mary Ann Stanley's Kurinuki vase.

Jim Anderson also participated (above, left) and he reported that "I just couldn’t help myself: I was having so much fun… It was so nourishing to have my hands in clay… (I’ll call it Spectacular Buff from now on.) AND, seeing all my Favorite peeps at the same time… (just like old times, the before times). THEN my clay began to look like a “BOX” with all those sweet 90 degree angles and I just couldn’t help myself. Kurinuki FAIL." 
[No, we cannot agree on that, Jim - it's very nice, and far from a failure! So you like boxes - what's wrong with that?]

Amy Pitt made the small box with a lid on the right (2 views of it are shown) during the demo rehearsal. She said "For the first time in months, I had FUN. In fact this is the first time I've used that word since the shutdown!"

The old year is gone and the new one's well begun - time flies! The gallery of photos below illustrate some of our activities from late December (2017) through early February, including a Show and Tell session, a visit to the studio by grandchildren, a demonstration (by ceramic artist Daniel Oliver), a class on painting with underglaze and a presentation about raku and sagger fire techniques.

Now we are about to welcome a new crop of members, with an Orientation Class that will be starting in two days. Never a dull moment!

On February 14 our featured artist was Yumiko Aso, a delightful young lady from the Santa Cruz area. She demonstrated some of her unique texturing. sculpting and wheel throwing techniques - see  below. We enjoyed some cookies and cranberry juice and everyone had a good time!

During the business part of the meeting a change to the Rossmoor Ceramic Club's By-Laws was proposed and voted on by members in attendance, and it has passed with no opposition. This change is in regard to the title and duties of one of the club's Vice Presidents, and is shown in detail below. The change will be effective starting our next fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2017.
______________________________________________
 
Article IV, Section 3 of the Rossmoor Ceramic Club's By-Laws currently reads:
 
Vice President, Programs
 
The Vice President in charge of programs shall arrange and direct educational programs with visiting artists, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by resolution of the Board of Directors
 
This will be changed to:
 
Vice President, Media and Public Relations
 
The Vice President in charge of media and public relations shall coordinate publicity both within the club and as well as the broader community, including the website, calendar, and member notification and shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by resolution of the Board of Directors.

We had a fascinating demonstration by Susan Barry at our first meeting of 2017 on January 11. As promised, the artist has just sent us photos of one of the tiles she was working on then - see below. The paler one shows how it looked before the final firing; most of the glaze painting was done as we watched. And of course the brighter picture is of the gorgeous finished piece. Note: that was the afternoon when our power went out, but Sue was a real trooper and went on with the show in the dim studio, lit only by CAC members' cell phone "flashlights." We kept on videotaping during that time too, with a view that had a rather Vermeer-like quality because of the side lighting. The DVD from that demo will be available soon so that any member of our club who wants to can take another look at the techniques the artist used to create her beautiful tiles.

Below are a few snapshots of CAC activities since our last post. Lots has been happening, including  two "Show and Tell"s and a new Orientation class which is due to end on Feb 2, after which we will welcome a batch of new members to the Ceramic Arts Club.