This month’s guild meeting includes a slide presentation on “Traditional Pottery Making and Firing in Kenya, Somalia and Sri Lanka by guild co-president Laurie Childers.

In the 1980s Laurie worked as a consultant on improved wood and charcoal cookstove projects in Africa and Asia. She worked with traditional potters helping them make ceramic pieces to the right dimensions, prevent cracking during production, and prolong durability. Laurie learned the potters’ methods of making and firing pottery. In her presentation she will show images of the ancient pottery processes still in use in the mid-1980s, give a short overview of the purpose of cookstove development, and show follow-up images from more recent years.