The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 50 No 2 July 2011

Focus : Ceramics + Util ity
-------
finished bowls
After producing an acceptable prototype bowl for Gay, Prue set about looking for the workforce to
produce 1000 of them between October 2010 and February 2011 with a few days' break for (hristmas.
She needed more than the Jam Factory's trainees and residents for this enormous task .
Prue discovered there were lots of people in the area who used to be production potters but who
had just stopped. "They had given up for a variety of reasons and the good news is that the ones who
joined the team said they really loved being involved in the project and are now going to make this part
of their lives again."
Prue measured the wet clay used in her prototype and instructed her makers to use this amount for
each bowl. "I wasn 't too strict because of the time restraint. I just wanted the bowls to look beautiful
but not necessarily identical. The differences were softened by the glaze."
Gay's idea was to have a truly local event, so terracotta clay from South Australia 's historic Bennett's
Pottery at Magill was used. 'This clay is very robust and a delight to throw,' says Prue. 'Because the
bowls would contain hot soup or stew and be held by hand, they had to have a turned foot on the
base. One of the team, Jane Burbidge, could produce one hundred bowls in one day and turn them the
next - a phenomenal record.'
After being bisque fired at 980 0 (, the bowls were hand-dipped in a tin glaze. After the second
firing at 1150 0 ( they came out of the kiln a creamy white colour, matching the cliffs and sand at Port
Willunga, the location for the event. Where thin, the glaze softened to a sandy brown revealing the
clay's natural terracotta colour. As a final flourish, the inside of each bowl was stamped with a seaweed
motif in blue, reminiscent of the turquoise sea .
The final step was to pack the bowls carefully in cardboard boxes so they could be transported to the
venue . Watching them being driven off, Prue and her team were very proud of their efforts in producing
such a large quantity in such a short period of time.
34 THE JOURNAL Of AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS JULY 2011