Clay & Glass
INTENT
Work should demonstrate a visual balance between technique, composition, and design resulting from careful planning. Work should show the technical range of the maker resulting in the creation of unique functional or sculptural objects. Functional work should be reasoned and carefully thought through in form and function. Decoration should work clearly to reflect intended use (i.e., safe for food surfaces, textures appropriate to use). Finally, the intent to produce excellent work should result in pieces that communicate the unique voice of the maker.
DESIGN
Careful designing must clearly reflect the intended use of the piece. Design affects both the finished appearance of the work as well as its structure. A successful design will exhibit the following properties:
Appropriate proportions within the forms with visually pleasing proportion, be structurally sound and well balanced
Suitable choice of materials and process for fabricating pieces showing a high level of skill
Unique visual appearance reflecting maker
PRODUCTION QUALITY AND TECHNIQUE
Work must reflect excellent craftsmanship, either as a “one-of-a-kind” or a production work. Pieces should show a unique/personal identity of design. Functional work must function well and will be tested in jurying. Fabrication should exhibit high levels of skill in the following:
Construction Techniques
Seams and joints should be clean with neat and precise fabrication
Appendages, such as handles, spouts, knobs, should be cleanly and well attached, comfortable and safe to use and visually consistent with piece
Rims and edges should be smooth and soft to the touch
Warping, cracks, or other obvious defects are unacceptable
Lids should fit well
Pouring vessels should pour well
Finishing
Each piece should be well finished on all sides
Bottoms of each piece must be smooth and soft to the touch
Glazing/finishes must be consistent with the intended use
All areas are unblemished by flux, scratches, edge chips, or kiln wash
The finished work should be clean, completely free of dirt, or any other residue. Glass must be tempered when necessary, Clay should be fired to vitrification.
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
Work should clearly reflect the personalized influence of the individual maker. While giving a sense of the historical context from which a traditional adaptation has come, the pieces should clearly reflect a personal interpretation and style.
MATERIAL USED
The use of specific materials should be justified by the intent, design, and structure of the object, with the highest quality of appropriate materials being used in all cases. The maker should always use materials which ensure the longevity of the finished piece. Clays must be fired to the temperature appropriate to the intended use of the piece, and with the appropriate glaze fit
FABRICATED CONTENT
Commercially fabricated elements (jewellery finding, handles, packaging, appendages, etc.) must be of fine quality, and if appropriate, fulfill the requirements of other media. Wired lamps must be made with CSA approved materials. For the purposes of the definition, sheet glass, metal foils and glass paints are considered raw materials. Other glass or metal items, such as bevels, cast jewels, lenses, marbles and metal appliqués, hinges jewellery findings, and clock hands, are considered commercially fabricated elements and are subject to being judged subordinate to the overall design.
SPECIFIC EXCLUSIONS
For Clay/pottery, use of molds is permitted only when that mold is designed and fabricated by the applying craftsperson. For glass, use of molds is permitted only when use results in unique final products designed and fabricated by the applying craftsperson
Transfers (decals) may be used if designed and fabricated by the applying craftsperson. Unfinished items or kits for consumer finishing are not considered acceptable
Transfers should relate to the complete piece in both function and design (i.e., not merely a “stuck-on decoration”)
Transfers should be properly applied (i.e., no breaks, folds, bubbles, pinholes or lifting of transfer)
Transfer material (glaze, stain, ink, etc.), must be compatible with the primary materials of the piece and fired to assure proper fusion to the piece.
Items, such as cast metal figurines allowing glass inserts, cast glass sandblasting blanks, and kits used to produce kaleidoscopes or marble scopes are not acceptable as their fabricated content far outweighs any contribution to the final design that can be made by the craftsperson. The use of pre-cut sandblasting or etching resist mats is acceptable only if their use is subordinate to the resulting finished product. The use of commercially available pattern mats is not acceptable. The use of molds for glass casting is permitted only when these molds are designed and fabricated by the maker.
Unfinished items or kits for consumer finishing are not considered acceptable
Clay & Glass - Additional Considerations
Stained Glass
DESIGN
Careful designing controls both the finished appearance of the work as well as its structure. The most skillful soldering cannot hide a poor fit between difficult to cut shapes of glass, nor can it reinforce the weakness caused by a hinge line that runs across a piece of work. A successful design will exhibit the following properties:
structural integrity
visually pleasing proportion
either a uniform quality of material choice, or an obviously considered interplay of disparate materials
neat and precise fabrication
PRODUCTION QUALITY AND TECHNIQUE
The maker should always endeavour to produce work that exhibits the highest quality of skill by ensuring that:
beads of the solder lines are uniform
joints of either solder beads or came connections are neat and strong
glass areas are unblemished by flux or patina burns, scratches, edge chips, or in fired glass areas, blistered paint, or kiln wash
the finished work should be clean, the glass completely free of smudges, dirt or any other residue; and the metals free of scratches or corrosion and exhibiting a slight polished lustre.
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
In stained glass, much of the design onus rests upon the cutting pattern or cartoon. Simple construction of commercially available cartoons is not acceptable. While giving a sense of the historical context from which a traditional adaptation has come, the pieces should clearly reflect a personal interpretation of a historical inspiration.
SPECIFIC EXCLUSIONS
The use of non-fired transparent enamels or resin-based line extrusion systems (i.e. squeeze lead in tubes) is not acceptable.
LABELLING
A tag or card should be included with each item, containing contact information as well as any special cleaning instructions or use warnings.Any item containing lead which requires frequent handling, prolonged contact with the skin, or which could be used to store or serve foodstuffs should carry a warning tag about the dangers of heavy metal poisoning.