A workshop with Harry Nicholson at the 2006 Conference

Phillip Clayton-Gore

There are expeditions into jungles or into snowy wastelands. Sometimes explorers find little of interest, or lose their lives in seeking something unattainable. This enjoyable and worthwhile workshop was an adventure in search of colour which fully achieved its objectives.

The basic requirement was clear flux and liquid white, and a willingness to work with the copper and fire scale to create a surprisingly wide range of hues and effects. Harry provided us with clear and informative instructions, which followed a series of projects based on flux, white, and an 80/20 combination of the two. We were actively encouraged to "work dirty" using grease marks (or even marks with wax and face cream) to affect the enamel. Sgraffito, as in the examples that Harry had on show at the Conference, and layers of enamel of varying thickness were proposed as options. Fire scale was transformed into all manner of oranges, reds and browns with a coat of the idiosyncratic flux T232 (now happily restored to its former transformative self). There was a liberating sense of being joyfully creative with extremely limited resources.