Posted 9 October '05: Members have been notified by mail that the 2005 Annual General Meeting of the CAA of NSW Inc will be held on Friday, 14 October. It will be held at the premises of Carmos Creative Supplies, 1 Medway Street, Bexley, and will begin at 7.30pm.
NOTE: All members are asked to please make every effort to attend and exercise your right to vote. The AGM can only be held if a quorum of 9 members is in attendance.
If you can't attend, please send in your voting proxy form to the Secretary, PO Box 2138, Normanhurst NSW Ê2076, or by fax to 9481 0074, to arrive before Thursday evening, 13 October.  Members can also send in nomination forms for the 2005/2006 Management Committee or bring them to the meeting. All positions on the Committee are open for election.

Posted 22 August '05: Through the generosity of Reed Exhibitions, our Association again had a free display booth at the 5 day Stitches & Craft Show which finished yesterday at the Rosehill Gardens Event Centre. Thanks to a larger area; permission to run Hands-on Workshops; and the people who volunteered goods and services for the booth, this Show was even more beneficial to the Association than the February one.  Click here to read the report.

Posted 24 June '05:  The CAA has a free stand at the 5 day Craft and Quilt Fair currently under way at the Exhibition Centre (Halls 1 to 3) at Darling Harbour. Once again volunteers from several studios are helping at the stand each day and are answering questions from the public and giving out copies of the latest (June) Membership List. Also, some studios have donated a free first ceramic lesson and these are being offered to visitors who seem particularly keen to 'have a go' at our great hobby. If you are at the show - please drop in at Stand J (on the border of Halls 2 and 3) - say hello, and maybe collect some Member Lists and some 2005 Show fliers to use in your studio

Posted 23 June '05:  The Treasurer has sent out letters reminding all CAA members that annual fees become due on 1 July, if you wish to remain a member. Please Note: If a membership is not renewed before 15 July, there will not be time for the member to be included in the new Members Listing being produced for distribution to visitors at the CAA's Annual Show beginning on 6th August. Be sure to re-read Appendix 3 in the new set of Rules sent out to all members in April, in which all the new categories of Membership are listed. You may want to change. You may want to encourage others to join too - now that there are cheaper categories available for individuals and couples who are not businesses.

Posted 30 May '05:  The Association became officially Incorporated in NSW on 27 May 2005 - and has a certificate to prove it!!  We can now gradually migrate all our documentation to refer to the "Ceramic Art Association of NSW Inc" and our web site address will become "www.caansw.asn.au".  The old address will continue to also work for another 9 months or so.

Posted 27 May '05:  The Latest CAA News Letter was mailed earlier this week to all members.  If you do not receive your copy in the next day or so please contact Ros, the editor

Posted 9 April '05:  The Extraordinary General Meeting yesterday was well attended, by recent CAA standards (50% more members than the quorum needed of 10!) and the vote in favour of the Special Resolution was unanimous from both those who attended and from those who submitted proxies.  A total of 54 members voted and the Committee was very impressed with this show of interest in the future of our Association.  The Committee will now proceed to apply for Incorporation under the NSW Associations Incorporation Act 1984 and when this is granted, they will apply to deregister from the Corporations Act 2001.
There was a lot of useful discussion amongst the members before and after the brief General Meeting. This was followed by a regular Committee meeting to which all the members present were invited to stay and observe – in case any wanted to be committee members in the future!  In fact two people present did indicate willingness, so they were co-opted onto the present committee until the next AGM, when new elections will occur. This will be a big help in the lead up to our next Show.
As a result of ideas voiced around the table, Janelle McDonald and Zita Percival were also co-opted to form a small sub-committee to report back next month on the feasibility of some studios and the CAA combining to fund a significant advert for Hobby Ceramics in a major national magazine. This was just one of several ideas floated to increase the exposure of our Hobby to new people. There will also be a lot of advertising this year to attract newcomers to visit our 24th Annual Ceramic Show (6 & 7 August).
Furthermore, the Association has again been given a booth at the Craft & Quilt Fair at Darling Harbour (22–26 June) and will be involved in the next Stitches & Craft Show at Rosehill (17–21 August). These are both excellent venues to display our Craft to a wide audience and to distribute copies of our list of member Studios.  Each of these events will need volunteers to look after the display etc, so if you are able to offer a whole day, or a half-day, in any of these periods please contact our secretary Mavis on 9481 8497 or via e-mail.  As well as helping the Association you will have free entry to the event, of course.
A big vote of thanks must go to the folk at the host studio last night, Carmos Creative Supplies, who kept us well supplied all evening with snacks, cool drinks and coffee.

Posted 7 April '05:  The Extraordinary General Meeting called by the Committee is TOMORROW Friday, 8th April at the Carmos Studio in Bexley. ÊRefreshments will be served.
The Special Resolution to be voted on has been circulated to all members. You are needed at the meeting to VOTE, or if you can't be there in person, please send in your Proxy vote.  If you haven't done that already - PLEASE fax your proxy vote TODAY to the Secretary on 9481 0074.  The Committee needs ALL members to be involved in this one!

Posted 14 March '05: The 2005 Ceramic Art Show will be held on 6th and 7th August in the Main Hall of the Blacktown PCYC, in Second Avenue, Blacktown, near the RSL.  read more.

Posted 4 March '05: The latest CAA News Update was mailed last Friday and should be in the hands of most members by now.  PLEASE make a note of its mention of the Extraordinary General Meeting called by the Committee for Friday, 8th April. The special resolution to be voted on is of crucial importance to the future viability of our association. You are needed at the meeting to VOTE, or at least send in your Proxy vote. The Committee needs ALL members to be involved in this one!  Full details will be in the mail to all members in the next few days.

Posted 21 Feb '05: Through the generosity of the management, CAA had a free stand at the 5 day Stitches & Craft Show which finished this afternoon at Rosehill Gardens. Thanks to all those who volunteered to staff the stand, we were able to give out information about the work of the Association and its members. Read the report

Posted 15 Feb '05: The CAA has a stand at the Stitches & Craft Show which is now on from Wednesday 16th to Sunday 20th February at the usual venue, the Rosehill Gardens Event Centre, Unwin Road, Rosehill NSW. This year our location (stand 99) is on the ground floor near the Creative Decorator Show area. Volunteers from the CAA Committee will be giving demonstrations of ceramic art techniques each day at 2.45pm for 30 minutes. Please check the official web site for more details of all aspects of this Stitches & Craft Show and be sure to visit Stand 99 and say hello. You can also collect an updated List of our Members and buy raffle tickets for some great ceramic prizes.

Posted 30 Jan '05: The CAA will again have a stand at the next Stitches & Craft Show which runs from 16 to 20 February at the usual venue, the Rosehill Gardens Event Centre, Unwin Road, Rosehill NSW. This year our location (stand 99) is on the ground floor near the Creative Decorator Show area. The CAA has been asked to give demonstrations of some ceramic art techniques and these will be held each day at 2.45pm for 30 minutes. Please check the official web site for more details of all aspects of this Stitches & Craft Show and then make plans to be there. Our committee would welcome more volunteers from our members to help operate the CAA stand - answering questions, giving out Membership Lists, and generally help raise the profile of our hobby. At least two people are needed for each Show day which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please contact Kerrie Girard on (02) 9872 8899 if you can offer to be one of those volunteers.

Posted 17 Dec '04: The AGM was held on Friday, 10 December 2004, thanks to all those who turned up! A Committee for the next twelve months was elected and dates for the Show 2005 were set for what is hoped a better time of year - namely 6 and 7 August 2005. Several ideas for improving the Show were discussed briefly after the AGM and will be explored more fully at the first Committee meeting in 2005 - to be held at the premises of Carmos Creative Supplies, Bexley. A critical matter is to find a more suitable venue than Tara School. A good sized hall is needed for 4 days. It must be reasonably priced, have on site catering, have easy access (preferably no stairs), be in a very visible location, and be more central to our studios. It should have good car parking facilities and good access via public transport. Anyone know of such a place? If so, please let a committee member know ASAP!!!!

Posted 29 Nov '04: ALERT!! Urgent Message to all Members!! Please note that the Association's Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Friday last (26 November 2004) had to be deferred because a quorum of members was not present!! The AGM meeting will now be held on Friday, 10 December 2004, at Fired Up Arts, 55 Tintern Avenue, Telopea, starting at 7.30pm. All members will also be advised of this by letter this week.

It is a legal requirement of all Public Companies that we hold an AGM within five months of our end of financial year, which in our case was the 30 June. At the meeting the Association's audited accounts must be accepted by members and the next year's officers and Committee have to be elected.

Hence our AGM is now late and we have advised the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) of what has happened. We need at least 10 members to attend as a quorum at an AGM (a change in our Articles of Association some years ago) but at the AGM attempt on 26 November we only had 5 members present, and these were all Committee members!

Please, please, make a special effort to come along for an hour to support your Association on Friday 10th and participate in allowing the AGM to proceed and help by voting to elect people to be the officers and committee in the coming year.

The current President, Vice-President, and Secretary are again willing to stand for election. The current Treasurer will not stand for election, except as a ordinary committee member and there are two other committee member also willing to stand again. The Articles of Association allow us to have a total 7 ordinary committee members, so there is plenty of room if others would like to volunteer! There is a great need for extra help in this way - especially when it comes to organising the Annual Show. Otherwise the duties of committee members are not onerous - meetings are only held on average monthly. But regardless of whether you wish to be on the committee - PLEASE come to the AGM, to facilitate a quorum and to vote for others. Rest assured you will not be pressured into doing anything else if you don't wish to!

A light supper and Christmas break-up celebration will be held afterwards. Hoping to see you there!

kind regards, Mavis Winrow, Hon Secretary of CAA of NSW Ltd.

Posted 25 Nov '04: Members!! Our Association's AGM is this week, Friday, 26 November. It will start at 7.30pm at the premises of Fired Up Arts, 55 Tintern Avenue, Telopea. Please try to be there. We need at least 13 members present to make a quorum this year – otherwise the AGM has to be postponed. All positions on the Committee for the next 12 months are open for re-election.

Posted 13 Oct '04: The Ceramic Art Show 2004 is over but the memories linger on. There were 608 entries in this year's competition categories and the overall standard was high. A report and photos are coming here soon.

Posted 17 Sept '04: The Royal Easter Show will be held from 18 to 31 March 2005 and is now calling for entries to its Arts & Crafts Competition. There are two classes in the Slipcast Ceramics section (class 131 for "Slipcast, plate or platter" and class 132 for "Slipcast, other than plate or platter".) and if you wish to enter a piece you have until 5pm on Monday, 1 November 2004, to submit the entry form. Full details of the Show and Competition can be obtained from the Royal Agricultural Society or from the Easter Show's web site <www.eastershow.com.au>.

Posted 16 Sept '04: The Membership lists on this web site have now been revised to reflect those who want to be members for the financial year 2004/05.

Posted 10 Sept '04: The September CAA News Update publication was mailed out to all members earlier this week. If you are a financial member for 2004/05 and have not received a copy please contact the editor

Posted 22 Aug '04: The CAA Committee and other volunteers used a stall at the Stitches and Craft Show at Rosehill Racecourse over the last five days to display examples of ceramic art and to gave away about 600 Lists of the Studios/Retail outlets who were members of the CAA in 2003/04. They also ran a raffle to help raise funds to operate the Association and its web site.

Also on 22 Aug '04: Membership subscriptions are overdue. If you want to remain a member of the Association in the current 2004/2005 year it's way past time to pay the annual subscription - which was due on 1 July. If it's not paid in the next week or two your name will no longer appear in the membership lists on this web site, or in the printed lists given away at future venues including the Ceramic Art Show in October and such shows as Stitches and Craft.

Posted 19 Aug '04: The Stitches and Craft Show is on at the Rosehill Racecourse and the CAA has a display booth there (237 on level 3) - please visit and say hello to the helpers there and maybe buy a raffle ticket or two - great prizes! You can also get copies of the List of Studios in NSW.

Posted 5 July '04: The next Stitches and Craft Show is to be held from 18 to 22 August at the Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney (see web site for full details). This is always a very popular Show and attracts a large number of people interested in crafts. Our Association has again been offered a stand to promote Hobby Ceramics in NSW. We will have a display of a good range of ceramic pieces, and will be answering queries from the public, and handing out copies of the latest edition of our studio members list.

Posted 18 May '04: Sincere apologies to Decal Specialists (a member on the Distributors & Manufacturers list) for us having an old address & phone number listed. The correct ones have now been included and their Email and web addresses have also been added. Click here to link direct to their web site.

Posted 17 May '04: The April/May News Update was posted out to all members last week so hopefully all have received it by now. Click here to download the colour PDF version (1.3 Mbytes) of the complete News Update (needs Adobe Reader to view it).

Posted 15 March '04: The membership lists have been updated to reflect the most recent information (including e-mail addresses where available) and have been re-organised to better help find the person or company you need. Please give us feedback if we can improve further or if some information is incorrect.

Posted 13 February '04: The latest CAA News Update (4 pages) has been mailed to all Members of the Association, and it contains news about workshops this year, plus much more. The first Workshop is on Sunday, 4th April. Click here to download (632 Kbytes) the PDF version of the complete News Update (needs Adobe Reader to view it).

Posted 27 January '04: The first meeting of the Association's Committee this year will be held on Friday, 30 January, at the premises of 'Fired Up Arts', 55 Tintern Avenue, Telopea, NSW, starting at 7.30pm. If there is anything you want the Committee to discuss or know about please phone the President on 9622 4081 Secretary on 9481 8497 before that Friday.

Posted 26 January '04: The Association's Ceramic Art Show of 2003 received a handsome four page spread of text and photos in the first 2004 edition of the "Australian Ceramics & Pottery" magazine. The article gives a good idea of what the Show in its new location was like and looks forward to an even better one this year. If you haven't seen a copy of the magazine (82 pages in full colour) it can be obtained in the usual newsagents and art supply shops right now.

Posted 19 December '03: The latest CAA News Update (4 pages) has been mailed to all Members of the Association, and it contains news about workshops for next year, plus much more. Click here to download (308 Kbytes) the PDF version of the complete News Update (needs Adobe Reader to view it).

Posted 22 November '03: Members! The Association's Annual General Meeting was held on Friday, 21 November, and elections were held for this year's Committee and Office Bearers. The results can seen at the updated Committee page.

Posted 22 November: The old CAA phone number has been disconnected. Please e-mail or phone one of the Committee members if you wish to contact the Association.

Posted 22 November: Membership Fees for 2003-2004 are now VERY overdue. Annual Membership expires each year on 30 June (see News item for 9 November below) and to-date 48 members have renewed or just joined. The Committee has decided to advise in writing all other previously registered members who have not renewed for this year that they only have 14 days more grace before their membership must lapse and their entry in the membership lists on this web site and in printed form will have to be removed.

Posted 9 November:
Members ALERT! ALERT !! ALERT !!! Our latest Membership List (October 2003) has 75 Members listed. BUT ... as of this date, only 35 members have paid their CAA Membership fees for the year July 2003 to June 2004, and this number includes 3 new members!

This low number has serious implications.

Firstly, only these 35 paid-up members are eligible to stand for office in the Association or to vote at general meetings of the Association; this includes the AGM on 21 November this year.

Secondly, the number of members is currently too low to maintain the financial viability of the Association for much longer. Until now, the membership fees have enabled the Association's Committee to provide the following services:

• issue regular News Sheets;
• publish a Membership List twice a year;
• operate a web site;
• represent the Hobby Ceramic Industry at Craft Shows, e.g. at Darling Harbour and Stitches and Craft Show (Rosehill);
• initiate the organisation of the Annual Ceramic Art Show in Sydney.
  

Without many more paid-up members, the 2004 Show cannot go ahead and other services may have to be curtailed. So PLEASE ... if you want to be a CAA Member ... send your $45 renewal fee, or $55 new member fee, immediately to The Treasurer, Ceramic Art Association of NSW, 12 London Street, Blacktown, NSW 2148.

Please Note: Only the names of paid-up Members at the end of November will be included in the membership Lists published on the CAA Web Site and in the next printed Membership Listing to be issued in the New Year.

Posted 23 October:
A note for all CAA Members - please be aware that the Association's next AGM will be held on Friday, 21st November, starting at 7.30pm in the premises of Fired Up Arts, 55 Tintern Avenue, Telopea, NSW. If you are a member of the CAA in NSW please make every effort to attend this meeting. (Apologies for a previous message which mentioned 9th Nov. That was totally wrong!)

More details will be in the Association's next News Letter coming out soon. Of course only fully paid-up members for the current 2003/2004 year will be eligible to vote on any motions and on the election of the Committee and Officers for the coming year. So be sure you have paid your dues before that date.

Posted 19 September '03
Membership Fees for our Association became due on 1 July 2003 to cover the 12 month period until 30 June 2004. Some members have already paid - THANKS – your new Membership Certificates will be handed out at the Ceramic Show in October.
All the other members who wish to continue their membership are asked to pay the $45 fee as soon as possible. If the fee is paid before 26th September, these Certificates will also be available at the Show.
The Association does not have credit card facilities - so please send your Renewal Form (which is on the back of the September News Update) with a cheque to the Treasurer as soon as possible.