The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 48 No 3 November 2009

Profile: Technica l
Trial by Fire
Two examples of research on glazes from Tasmanian local materials
by Ben Richardson
I came to studying ceramics in a special place and at a crucial time - Tasmania, late 1970s. In 1979 I
went on the last field trip run by the ceramics department of the School of Art in Hobart to gather raw
materials. Had I been a year later, the chance to locate and test local materials as part of a structured
research program would have disappeared . Since then, I have built an aesthetic based on the materials
of place, from a foundation laid in the early 70s by
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott and Les Blakebrough based on the empirical knowledge of local amateur potters.
The suite of materials that Gwyn and John Pigott, in particular, tested, analysed and used gave me an
incredibly valuable starting point. The glazes shown here rely on two of the materials they used - a
feldspathic shale and feldspathic sandstone; however the resu lting glazes and how they are used are
based entirely on my own research .
Photographer: Robin Roberts
www.benrichardson.com.au
Foliage Vase, Torso Series, 2009, h.27cm,
w.18cm. d .16cm
Below: Foliage Vase (detail)
Glaze:
Forcett Shale 90
New Norfolk Sandstone 10
Description: For some time now I have been using this glaze over surfaces impressed with found rope,
working with different thicknesses of glaze, applied by pouring, to give varying degrees of crawling .
This glaze is made up with seawater to naturally enhance the sodium content of the glaze. Fired on its
side and packed on shells gathered from the loca l beach, this was fired for thirty hours in my smaller
wood kiln, using deadfall black wattle from our land. The detail shows the localised colours and surface
around the packing shell imprints over the rope-impressed patterning.
22 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2009