Ellen Currans on mon 26 jul 10
Mel said:
"had an interesting exchange with a friend, and a vendor.=3D20
the amount of glaze making material sold has dropped off=3D20
dramatically in the last few years, train carloads purchased in the=3D20
past, now come in a pickup truck.=3D20
=3D20
the world is changing."
When we organized the Oregon Potter's Cooperative (now Association)
in l980 one of our major interests was in making group buys of clay and
glaze materials so as to get a better wholesale price. Each bi-monthly
Newsletter listed the chemicals available to us at a =3DC3=3D87o-op price a=
nd
members sent in their order to a Buy Chairman. Our meetings were
held on Friday at 6:00 at the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts (now
OCAC) and the materials were delivered in front of the Ceramics
Studio there an hour or so before our meetings. Most of our early
members were Studio Potters, and most of them made their own
clay and glazes. My husband, Tom, would drive our flatbed truck into
Portland the day of the meeting, pick up the materials ordered from
three different warehouses, sometimes as much as 6 or 7 tons. I think
the guys who regularly ordered with us had more fun unloading the truck
and talking down at the studio, than they did coming to the actual=3D20
meetings! =3D20
We continued our Buying for about 10 years, until we had outgrown
the meeting space at OSAC, and the new meeting space did not
make for an easy delivery of materials. One result of our group buy
was to set-up an OPA discount price for basic materials that has continued
to be available to OPA members who buy in bulk, even after we
discontinued the group pick-up. =3D20
I think you are right about most newer potters today buying their clay
ready made and purchasing glazes. It has got to be a lot more expensive,
and limits glazing techniques, but I can understand how many younger
potters cannot afford the studio space or equipment to do their own. We
have a space about 12' by 30' just to store clay and glaze chemicals
that we purchase by the bag, and the pug mill and dough mixer. I do not
think I would have enjoyed pottery nearly as much as I have without the
freedom to make my own clay and play around with glazes. I have always
felt that having as much control of your product as possible is essential
to making a living from pottery, which we have for 35 years.
When I die, someone is going to have a really messy time sorting out
and selling, or giving away, 45 years accumulation of strange dusts,=3D20
ashes, old clays no longer available) barrels of hard chunks of something
that works like albany from Grandma's farm, and every possible ingredient
for glaze making. I tell my kids, "don't even think about dragging me off
to a retirement home away from my bags and buckets and shelves of
magic materials"
Ellen Currans
Dundee, Oregon =3D20
=3D20
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