12—Lancaster Farming, Saturday. January 17,1970
Making Ceramics Is A Hobby
With Mrs. Raymond Hess
By Mrs. Charles M Sparran sll P (Il( l uld cla y> in P lastlc bot *
Lancaster Farming Staff Writer tles She P° urs 11 into a mold and
it is left in twenty to thirty min-
Mrs. Raymond S hcss or Clear utes or until the object has taken
Springs Road, near Landisville form, or in other words until it
is a very fascinating and talented is the right consistency. The
person who has a most exciting mold is then turned upside down
hobby. Since 1955 she has de- and the remaining liquid clay
voted most of her spare time to poured out. At this stage the
making ceramics. At that time molded object is called green
she had a studio in Lititz where ware. She puts the greenware on
she gave lessons and sold many the shelf to dry slowly for about
beautiful pieces Fortunate in- a week If there’s to be flowers
deed are the people who are her on it she then paints them on
close friends or who can claim with ceramic paint. The piece is
her as a relative because she then put in the kiln and fired If
gives away practically all her it s a ceramic piece it is fired at
products. She will not sell any 1800 degrees for three to four
as too many people request her hours If it’s a porcelain piece it
to make pieces and she says “It is fired at 2300 degrees for six
puts too much piessure on me
to get things done by a certain
time.” However, she loves to
make them as much as ever.
It certainly is no exaggeration
of facts to say that Mrs. Hess has
hundreds of ceramic pieces She
has one room where she paints
the pieces It has shelves around
'most of the wall space where she
has mostly finished pieces In an
alcove just outside this room she
has two electric kilns One heats
to 1800 degrees for baking cer
amic pieces and the other to
2300 degrees for porcelain piec
es. Then in the basement she has
a large room with shelves all
around the -walls Practically all
the pieces stored on those shelv
es are greenware She also keeps
her numerous molds on some of
the shelves. She buys some of
her molds here in the county
from Weavers at Akron, some
from California and some from
New Jersey In their basement
recreation room she has a large
glass show case of finished pro
ducts and throughout her spac
ious home are many and beauti
ful pieces.
To give you a little idea of
how a piece of pottery or china
ware is made Mrs. Hess buys
1 '
Mrs. Raymond S. Hess holding a fig
urine of a boy and his lamb which is par-
FOR THE
FARM
WIFE
AND
FAMILY
Mrs. Hess holds a horse figurine. All
the ceramics on these shelves are in the
tive She has some lovely antique
tially finished. Ceramics on shelves are dishes, which have been handed
completed. L. F. Photo down in her husbands’s family,
Mrs. Hess proudly holds a rose flower- tainer which holds the greens will be the
ed serving plate. She also made the china base of a table light when completed,
compote and tea pot. The flowered con- - L. F. Photo
to eight hours. The kilns she us
es are almost as large as a wash-
ing machine The walls inside Some types of pottery Is shap
have thick firebnck and it de- p 'i by hand rather than molded,
pends on the size of the objects Some pieces are fired and paint
how many f?n be baked at one ed to give a different effect. Mrs
time. After the piece has been Hess is very clever at doing free
fired a glaze (liquid glass) is put hand painting and writing on
on it, then it is fired again. If pieces such as plates for wedd
gold is used on the piece it is mg gifts that have the invitation
fued a third time and if lustre is printed on them She makes all
greenware stage and ready to be fired in
the kiln. L. F. Photo
applied a fourth firing is requir
ed
kinds of china and pottery pieces
such as bowls, tea pots, vases,
candlesticks, dishes, comia cop
las, statues, ornaments, figurines
jewelry, Christmas trees wired
with twinkle lights, electric ta
ble and television lights, etc
Mrs Hess (Alverta; aoes beau
tiful work on tole (painting of
flowers, fruit etc on metal trays
and the likel She used to paint
a lot of mottos m oil paint Right
now she says “I am crocheting
an afghan, knitting a sweater and
doing needlepoint on a bag ”
She has embroidered several ta
blecloths She used to make
candles etc and sometimes gilts
them very effectually Now when
these hobbies get her down, she
can relax playing her electric
organ. She says she just plays
for her own amusement She
and her husband also do consid
erable travelling
This might sound as though all
she does is for fun But on the
contrary, Mrs. Hess is the per
fect housekeeper and does all
her own housework. With all
her beautiful arrangements she
can make her home most attrac-
displayed m a china closet in
their recreation room Mrs Hess
is a good cook and a very charm
ing hostess. She does typing for
her husband also.
Alverta was born and raised
in Akron, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Wayne Brubaker. Mr.
Brubaker helped organize the
Miller-Hess Shoe Factory around
1900 She graduated from Akron
■High School and went to Lan
caster Business College where
she took bookkeeping, shorthand
and typing Before marriage she
worked in the Miller-Hess office.
Her husband, for many years,
was a salesman in a feed busi
ness. He now sells Rest-o-matie
units for mattresses Ther head
quarters is in the central part of
the state and they sell ther me
chanism to large mattress firms.
The Hesses lived in Lititz 34
years then moved 8 years ago to
their newly built home which is
built on their 17 acre farm. They
raise corn, hogs, goats and steers,
although they do not do the farm
work themselves..
Mr and Mrs Hess have one
daughter, Lorraine, who gradu
ated from- Lititz High School
where she took a commercial
coui’se She is married to John
Neff and they hve nearby. They
have two children Darlene will
graduate from Hempfield High
School this spring. She wants to
continue her education and ma
joi in mathematics. Gary is 16.
Mr Neff is a real-estate agent
for Garden Spot and has just
gotten his bioker’s license Lor
raine works at Georgia-Pacific
Corporation at Industrial Park
on Hempland Road. They make
decoiated caitons for food pro
ducts Mrs Hess’s ceramic talent
and hobby has rubbed off on her
husband, daughter and grand
daughter Each of them has
made a number of things.
The Hesses belong to East
Chestnut Street Mennomte
Church in Lancaster Mrs Hess
formerly taught a class in the
Sunday School Mis Hess be
longed to Farm Women Society
# 1 until about six years ago
when she transferred her mem
beiship to Society #5 and has
been coi responding secretary
for the past five years She was
a delegate this week to the state
convention of Farm Women at
Harrisburg
Mis Hess gives us some of
her favorite recipes The first
one is quite simple to make but
non the less very delicious
GROUND BEEF SUPREME
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom
soup, undiluted
1 can tomato soup, undiluted
% teaspoon Worcestershire
(Continued on Page ?4|