Heat is on for expert sunflower potters
THE heat of summer 2018 has taken on a whole new meaning for expert potters Caroline Tattersall and Stephen Graham.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the East Cheshire Hospice, their Poynton pottery has been on full blast for most of the summer making hundreds of yellow porcelain sunflowers.
With temperatures in their kiln oven getting up to 1,250 degrees, the heat has been on for both potters to deliver an amazing Sunflower Spectacular for Macclesfield and surrounding areas over the weekend of Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8.
And the crafting of each flower has been a labour of love as Caroline explained: “Working with clay is a fantastic way to wind down and relax.
“It’s a material that you can immerse yourself in and forget about everything else.
“The flowers were originally sculpted in plaster and then moulds made of these that are then cast in porcelain.
“Each flower is then fettled – seams trimmed and sponged – and then fired to 1,000C,” she said.
“From here they are dipped in the yellow glaze and the centres are painted black and the glaze has to be wiped off the back of each flower.
“These then go back in the kiln to an even higher heat.
“At this stage only 25 fit in the kiln at a time so it’s a relatively slow process. With firings it can take just over a week for each flower to go through the entire process,” she said.
The original order of 500 sunflowers has now been increased to 1,000 due to popular demand by hospice supporters and all will be included in the two-day displays at council planters throughout Macclesfield and Prestbury, plus Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Poynton, Knutsford, Handforth, Congleton and Buxton.
Caroline and Stephen have seen a marked increase in interest in the pottery classes they run as more and more people take up crafts. She said: “I think it’s because so much is possible with one material. I love the sense of community that it has created and this sunflower project is just an extension of this. Hopefully it will continue into the future as people display the flowers in their gardens for many years to come.”
The sunflowers cost £30 with proceeds funding hospice care for patients their families and carers.
To order a sunflower visit www.eastcheshire hospice.org.uk/30years.
EAST Cheshire Hospice fundraiser Beth Candy did not expect quite so many personal challenges when she signed up for one of the hospice’s most adventurous events.
Beth, 21, is part of a 12-strong hospice team who are in the midst of training preparations for a four-day trek across the Grand Canyon in October.
And they’ve just learned that part of their training should include practising how to have a full shower in just one minute 30 seconds.
“Apparently that’s how long the bagful of water lasts for each person so there’s not much time for a daily cleaning routine,” said Beth.
“It’s quite a challenge for me as I like a long chill-out in the shower every morning.”
Meanwhile the more usual physical preparations continue with members of the team ramping up their training regimes to ensure optimum fitness for the trek described as ‘a oncein-a-lifetime event.’
The Grand Canyon hike, which takes place away from the busy tourist routes in the more remote Havasupai reservation, is the hospice’s first overseas fundraising adventure and Beth will be part of a group that will trek over long distance trails and learn how to survive in the wild.
“We all signed up for this in the winter and now with the trip only weeks away, we think we all need to get training hard,” she said.
“At our last meeting together we had pies and prosecco but that’s the last I’ll see of them until after the trip!”