Just last week, on June 14, we had an inspiring demonstration on sculpting hands by Sandy Frank, a visiting Bay Area ceramic artist. It was extremely interesting to see how she formed the piece (of Navajo Wheel, a.k.a. Red Velvet clay) with an interior structure inside of a cylinder that she'd made with a slab. She then added to it with pinched moist clay as it was built upward and spread out into the shape of a larger-than-life hand. The fingers were all hollow, with the help of some wooden chopsticks extending out of each digit.

The 45+ members of our club who attended the meeting were quite receptive and appreciative of her skill. Sandy may be able to return to our studio to teach a workshop on figure sculpting at some point, which would be great!  Below are some pictures of her in the process of creating her sculpture of a hand.

Earlier, at the previous meeting in May, our own Carolyn Guerra demonstrated how she makes her wonderful hand-built pots with sculpted faces. Below are some pictures of finished vases she has made, and then some showing the process she uses to create them.

Since then several other CAC members have been inspired to make their own versions of ceramic planters with faces. 

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.

Lots going on.. most recently, the first ever Rossmoor Earth Day celebration last Friday afternoon (April 15). We collected about 85 bowls of all different sizes and shapes, all of them made in our studio by our members, and sold them at prices ranging from $3 to $15. We had 10 different homemade soups (also from CAC members) and let the buyers of the bowls fill them with whatever type they wanted. There was even a batch of matzoh balls, as well as crackers, to go into the soup. People loved it! We sold all but 2 of the bowls and used up almost all of the soup. (People asked for the recipes, so I'm going to post them here -the first one that was sent to me is below, along with photos of the event.) This whole process is an Empty Bowls Project, and by the end we had raised $670 for the Contra Costa Food Bank.

Oh yes - we also had a demonstration of pugging, which is how we recycle clay in the studio. Folks were very interested in that, and lots of clay was processed in the course of the afternoon. Pictures of that are below, too.

Earlier this month we had a new display of CAC members' artwork installed in the Rossmoor Event Center (see the middle row of photos above - also the card showing the artists' names and titles of the work). And we had a lovely demo by Oakland potter Lynne Meade. Last but not least - our people have been very creative! (But that's not unusual.)

Lots of interesting things happening in the CAC studio lately - see below. Folks have been sculpting, learning to throw on the wheel, sharing their work in Show & Tell, finding out  how to glaze for raku firing, etc. We always have a lot of fun in the studio!

Bob Pool gave us an interesting demonstration of using ceramic stamps and inlaid slip to make beautiful designs on pottery last week. He also showed how to cut facets into a round wheel-thrown vase, making squared sides. In the process Bob shared some fascinating Asian ceramic techniques and history he's gleaned from the working trips he takes to Korea (and sometimes Japan or China) on an annual basis. Below are photos of two of his finished pots, as well as the one he was working on while he was with us (that's the one on the right - shown when it's dry and has been sanded, but hasn't been fired yet). He does beautiful work!

We had a wonderful demonstration by the Bay Area sculptor Fred Yokel yesterday. He gave a slide show as well as showing us how he sculpts and glazes he pieces, hands-on. A video was made of the whole presentation, which will be available for our members to view at a later date.

The next such demo will be at our January 12 meeting, by the ceramic artist Daniel Oliver. Mark your calendar!