Pottery In Australia Vol 39 No 4 December 2000

'Book', porcelain
and mixed media.
Photo C. Meagher.
temperature firing - from a wet dissolving mass into a hard glassy
substance, particularly evident in porcelain.
Hely very generously responded to a number of questions asked
about her use and preference for porcelain as a clay body. She has
been using a Cesco slip-casting porcelain, the same one, for 12 years.
She says "The colour is not so white but [ don't mind that. It is very
translucent and thin and forgiving to work with."
She likes the way the translucency comes and goes with the light, or
with movement. "[ like the paradox between substantial and
insubstantial - on the one hand it is the toughest material, dense and
hard when high fired, yet when it is translucent it seems so barely there.
"[ like the idea that, in that translucent state, it could (if only the
conditions could ever be right) just disappear or fail to be there any
more 'the way clouds just dissolve.'
The fluid design of the apparently fragile objects produced by Hely
also creates an impression that they might easily dissolve into another
shape and this is reflected in the patterning where nothing is fixed.
Colours, lines, shapes and piercing are introduced in what often
seems a random design and this, too, challenges expectations.
A group of objects such as a tea set with teapot, cups with wooden
or glass saucers, a flower-shaped bowl, is often more like a gathering
of friends than a set as we know it in the European manufactured style.
In order to make the porcelain glassy and translucent, pieces are
fired to 1270°C or 1280°C (depending on shape) and frequen tl y
soaked for up to two hours becoming more translucent the longer
they are soaked.
Hely says she uses a combination of bought and made glazes.
"Lately I've been colouring bought brush-on glazes with ready-to-use
liqUid underglaze and mixing them by eye. It means I can have lots of
little pots of colour to play with."
Hely's methods of glazing reveal her years of experience witl] this
material and her willingness to explore other techniques for a better
or more desirable result. She says: "Glazing takes days because the
pieces are so thin."
Much of the work is sanded, using a wet and dry method, after
bisquing. The pieces are sanded even when they are to be glazed and
after sanding they are dried overnight. The next day the glaze is
applied to the inside and again dried overnight and finally glazed on
the outside.
20 POTIERY IN A USTRAUA + 3914 DECEMBER 2000