WHITBY FREE PRESS, Thursday, September 23rd, 1971, Page 13 RDAD WIDENING UNCOVERS CLAY PIT! -by lim Quail T h e downtown Whi tby m e r chants have made a di scovery! Now that most of the dust has settled after the recent road repairs the merchants are finding out they've got a new neighbour. The neighbour is Mrs. Diane Bromley and the new business is cal- led, "The Clay Pit". An unusual name perhaps, but Diane didn't want to call it aceramics studio as so many others have done. She said, "t just thought that was a catchy name for it. " Clay Pit teaches how Many people have stopped in to buy ceramics but the "Clay Pit" does not sel 1 ceramics. The real function is to teach people how to make ceramics. D i an e explain e d , IWe don't do any moulding here, what we are actually doing is finishing precasted pieces. " Ceramics started as a hobby three and a half years ago for Diane, and she 1 i k e d i t somuch she decided to start teaching the art. Diane has at- tended seminars in ceramics and wilI have a permanent teaching certificate in November. As Diane learned more about her hobby she wanted to do more and she said, "'1 got so interested that I dec- ided to get my own kiln. " Some of her friendsbecame interested and started c o m i n g over to the house to use the kitn, and soon there were over sixty people interested so Diane decided to open up a studio and'start teaching. Starting with a slip A ceramic piece starts with liquid clay which is called "slip". This is paured into a mould and allowed to harden. Moulding is done in Toronto by another firm and Diane then buys the "green" pi ece f rom them. She ex- pI aine d, "We start with them after thev're out of the mould. " the 'green' state In their "green" state, the pieces are very soft and fragile and breakage is a problem. At the studio the students then proceed to paint the piece. In the first class session, the students pick apieceandremoveali the mould marks with a clean-up tool. Then the piece i s washed with a silk sponge to make it smooth. After the piece is smoothed it is bisque fired in the kiln. The term "bisque"means to remove all the wat- er, which is just what happens in the 2300 degree kiln. "There a r e h un dreds of finishes you can chòose", said Diane and, "In the next class the student comes back and chooses the finish of his or her choice. I f the student chooses a cera- mic finish rather than astain, thepiece is then gi aze fired. Food or drink pieces are fired the hottest and they receive a special glaze. Diane said, "Most of the pieces done by the stu- dents are alazed. " Dianenotedthat ceramics are v'ery popul ar in the Un i ted States and, "There are hundreds of teachers com- pared to Canada." In the kiln Thekilnprocess is the longest part of the craft, and i t takes 13 hours in the kiln. Apiece is fired for between four and five hours and then cooled slowly for eight hours to prevent cracking. Diane chose Whitby for her studio because, "I live in Whitby so why not open in Whitby. "She chose downtown because, "I thought it would be nice to be downtown and give everybody a chance to see what we're doing. " Di ane e x p r e ssed concern for the down town especially since the road work has started and said, "They've got to do something for these people in downtown Whitby. " "You couiclroll a cannon down here some af ternoons. " CERAMIC CLASSES (afternoons & evenings) Are now in progress Come in and see what beautiful artistic work you can easily & enjoyably learn to do! THE CLAY PIT 576-2077 135 Brock St. S. Whitby S h e also s a i d, "If they didn't have meters maybe peopl e would come down- town. I beer stein favourite stein The f a vo u r i te pieces chosen for ceramics are beer steins. Diane.ex- plained, "AIl the ladies make them and give them to thei r husbands and then ask them for more money. I"l'At teast that's Photo shows outside steins in 'green' stage. Centre two are finished product what they tell me. I' At this time of the year, many students are looking ahead and are making their Christmas gifts. The easiest pieces to make are can- dy dishes and coffee mugs and the mpst difficult are figurines where the feat- ures need painting. A student can even make a small lighted Christmas tree. As f o r t h e future Diane hopes to turn her studio into a year-round ven- ture where she could also teach chiu- dren and said, "I would like to make it aful-time teaching business for me. " The Clay Pit is open Monday and Wednesday nights from 7:30 till 10:00 p. m. Diane said that Monday night is almostfull but that, "I would open an- o t h e r n ight if!1 get enough peopte. " The studio is also open from 1:15 tilt 3:15 Tuesday afternoon. The cost of the course is $10 for 10 consecutive weeks, or $1.50per class plus cost of the materials. Diane ex- plained, "Most of the 'students take the ten-week-course because it is the best deal. " She also said, "The students find they can make the pieces cheaper then they can buy them. " Diane has been open for business for two weeks and in *that time many people have discovered the pleasures of making their own ceramic pieces. Why don't you drop down and get your hands dirty and have some fun? ma«