by Carole Epp | Nov 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
The Durham Potters Guild invite you to their 26th Annual Christmas Pottery Show & Sale.
Our
Christmas 2013 Show and Sale features a wonderful selection and variety
of handmade, functional, and decorative pottery created by members of
the Durham Potters Guild. Great Christmas Gift Ideas!! Free Admission,
Door Prizes! Saturday, November 9, 10 am – 5 pm; Sunday, November 10,
2013 11 am – 4 pm
Ajax Kinsmen Heritage Centre, 120 Roberson Drive, Pickering Village, Ajax
Portion of sales to benefit St Paul’s on the Hill – Pickering Food Bank
For more information visit www.durhampotters.com
by Carole Epp | Nov 1, 2013 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday
Right
Off The Batt Pottery in Prince Edward Island has got some news to share
! We’re on the look-out again for another Production Potter (or maybe
two ?) to add to our team. The following info will provide the nuts
& bolts type info, but if you have any other questions PLEASE don’t
hesitate to ask !
Right
Off The Batt has enjoyed a lot of success over the past year and as a
result we have another position for a somewhat-experienced full-time
permanent production potter for throwing. We have a complete line of
forms (table & kitchenware) that are of a functional design. Our
work has often been described as “Meat & Potatoes” pottery, which is
a compliment to us as we’ve always created our work to be “consumed” by
a wide market. Nothing fancy… just functional and durable. We offer
9 lines that come from 4 modifications of 1 design line if that makes
sense to you. For instance, one mug form becomes 4 designs which are
glazed differently to create 9 lines. Our forms are very consistent
with dimensions and weights for each product well established, and are
the result of significant design and functionality consideration. From
time to time we stretch ourselves out a little by creating one-of-a-kind
items for our Gallery, but for the most part our potters focus on
faithful recreation.
It
is in fact a permanent full-time position with 3-4 weeks off for
Christmas then back at it in mid-Jan. We would start a new production
potter at $14 hourly for a 37.5 or 40-hr week. After a 3-month period
that rate would be up for review. We are very flexible as far as hours
go i.e. if you’re a late riser then come in later and work later. Next
year we plan on transferring some of our work over to a jigger operation
as the volume is proving to be too much. This change will in no way
eliminate the need for someone to be at the wheel. Primary
responsibility will be wheel work but the right person will also have
input to design decisions, glaze development, kiln work and numerous
other opportunities that can be considered. We try to work as a team so
with this position you could be as involved as you choose once familiar
with the operation.
Our team is presently made up of:
Cindy – Owner, Business Manager, head of creative
Darryl – Co-Owner, Production Manager, HR Guy, plant maintenance
2 Production Potters on the wheel (45% of our product)
2 Hand Builders (55% of our product)
1 Shipper / Receiver / Inventory Girl
1 Hard-Working Clean Up Guy
Right Off The Batt Pottery (or
ROTB)
is in its 5th year of operation. We have 120+ retailers across Canada
and into the states and thanks to our recent addition of an Ontario
Sales Rep that number is growing monthly. We use up approximately 14
tons of custom clay yearly and a ridiculous amount of glaze. Our wasted
material remains less than 1% thanks to an over-worked pug mill. We
have a dust control program with equipment being added as we grow and
we’re very safety conscious. In our 5 years we’ve had a twisted ankle
and I burnt my finger the other day swapping out a hot thermocouple.
We
also offer an experiential product during the tourist season called
Play in Clay where folks are taught to hand build then turned loose once
they have enough knowledge to be dangerous. Part of that very
successful product (over 500 participants last year) is a quick
20-minute demo on the wheel where there are always ooohhhhs and
aaaaahhhhhs as you may expect. We do not offer wheel classes but get
considerable inquiries.
There are some good pics here
http://tinyurl.com/bnubfsp and here
http://tinyurl.com/bqoh4aj
to give you an idea of what our facility looks like. The pics are from
our Grand Re-Opening held last summer after the huge-big move to our
present spot. In the first album you’ll see a pic of Carley our
longest-serving employee and all-round fantastic Studio Dog.
The
Borden-Carleton area is a small town with an old school grocery store,
Tim Horton’s (yay), Subway, Liquor Store (yay for some) and a school.
There are also a few other larger employers as well. More info on the
town is at
http://www.borden-carleton.ca/
Real Estate
on PEI is very inexpensive compared to a lot of Canada. My brother was
looking for a place in the country and most of what he found was less
than $150K with some land and a couple out-buildings. Life on PEI is
not only very picturesque but relaxed as well. Shopping, entertainment
and the like are usually found either in
Charlottetown
(the birthplace of confederation and about 40-minutes away), Moncton
(about an hour away) or Halifax (less than 3 hours away). The closest
city to Borden-Carleton is
Summerside
at about 15,000 folks and 20-minutes away. As PEI has minimal natural
resources other than farming and fisheries they have become very culture
oriented. The Artisanal community on PEI is gaining its voice thanks
in part to organizations like
Culture PEI,
The PEI Crafts Council,
The Guild,
PEI Council of the Arts and many festivals throughout the year such as
The Festival of Small Halls.
As
for potential potters who may be interested, we can Skype / face time
an initial introduction then possibly host someone if they’d like to
come out to get a better look around. We are looking to fill this
position ASAP, and would greatly appreciate it if you could distribute
the info for this opportunity as wide as possible to the clay
community.
Thank
you all in advance, and please let me know if you can or cannot help us
out by passing this opportunity along, or if there’s someone else you
feel I should be talking to about this opportunity.
My best,
Darryl Lentz
(902) 855-2529 or 1-888-PEI-CLAY (734-2529)
FAX (902) 855-2526
