"Table Manners" a new west end Ottawa pottery show!

I'm very excited about this new pottery show in Westboro!  I will be one of 24 potters showing & selling new works on April 9 & 10 at the Churchill Seniors' Center, 345 Richmond Road (a few doors west of Churchill Ave., right beside the church).  The potters will have a tearoom on site as well, featuring home baking and fair trade teas and coffee which you can enjoy being served from the potters' own teapots and mugs.

It sounds like a good excuse to come out and enjoy spring in Westboro.  Remember, there is some parking available one block north of Richmond Rd. (accessed off Churchill) on Madison Ave.

Texture and slip-trail

I used to do alot of slip-trailing (a calligraphic-type "trailing" of coloured clay or "slip") and I miss it.  I've been thinking of ways to add decorative interest to platters.  Lots of ideas, including slip trailing, come to mind, so I've been trying some of them--thickening up the edges, adding texture by scratching into the surface, or by imprinting with stamps, spraying several overlapping glazes.....Here are a few results from the first kiln load.  I'm looking forward to developing these techniques.




Here are a few mugs with imprinted border patterns.













Tony Clennell workshop

Tony making a teapot

Last week-end Tony Clennell, professor at Sheridan College in Toronto and owner, with his wife Sheila, of Sour Cherry Pottery in Beamsville, ON, came to Ottawa to present a two day workshop.  It's always a priviledge to see how other potters work, and to hear what inspires them.  Tony had lots to offer us in terms of his own insights, technical expertise and anecdotes, lots of anecdotes. 

Tony is comfortable throwing large, robust pots which are often constructed in several pieces.  He likes surface texture and at the workshop he decorated pots with impressions from wooden stamps.  He is also well known for his handles--  they seem fluid, luscious, spontaneous, and they are numerous.  There are lots of different ways to make handles but his love of the traditional "pulled" handle was evident. 






Applying texture with wooden stamp on casserole dish

Tony's many comments and observations on the state of pottery, and handcrafted items in general, have stayed with me this week.  I have recently felt, like him, that the last decade or more has seen a decline in the appreciation of well-crafted items, for a variety of reasons.  He noted that Sheridan is the only pottery degree granting institution in all of Canada!  So where do our craftspeople learn their craft?  And what kind of standards do they follow?  What sort of clay artists does this background breed?  We don't have a tradition of monitored apprenticeships as do some EU countries, nor do we have the numerous pottery schools, from teaching studios to graduate degree programs, as in the US.  We do have plenty of fine craftspeople; how do they survive and thrive? 

                            
It's good to feel challenged in one's work and it's probably a good thing to have to struggle to do what you want to do--challenge and struggle can be good motivators.  So, too, are acceptance and recognition.  Hopefully there's a balance in there for the dedicated craftsperson.                  



One of those "juicy" handles


The workshop was inspiring.  I have been experimenting with texturing some of the pots I've been making this year, and am happy to add a few wooden stamps to my toolkit.  I had also returned to pulling handles after years of coiling them and I'm enjoying the look and feel of them.  Such workshops are a great opportunity to reflect on one's own work and I look forward to processing some of the ideas Tony's workshop presented in the weeks and months to come.

A new year....a new beginning

Thanks to everyone who made it out to one of the pre-Christmas shows, and especially to those who were able to make it to the open house.  Crowded as it was at times, Janet, Peter and I really enjoyed meeting you in what, hopefully, was an inviting atmosphere.  For those of you who couldn't make it at that busy time of the year and asked if I would consider having an open house in the spring or fall.....yes, I'm definitely considering it.  I'll post upcoming shows, open houses, etc. on this blog as they come up.

For the time being, you can find my pots at the 3 stores listed in the sidebar--none, unfortunately in Ottawa.  However, you can always contact me to make arrangements to come to the studio at any time of the year.

I've started experimenting with some new forms and textures and will post photos when they're ready.  I find these first months of the year lend themselves to reflection--on many levels, personal and professional.  The great thing about working with clay is that the possibilities are only bound by your imagination and determination--not quite endless possibilities, but pretty close.

Open House & Sale this Saturday, Dec. 11

It's almost the end of the year--time to clear out the studio and celebrate the year that was.  Janet, Peter and I are looking forward to welcoming friends, families, customers to my home for our annual Open House.  Come and join us for some home baking while you browse our creations.

I pretty much sold out of the $10 and under items at the Potters' Guild sale, so I spent the next week making more!   The shelves are well stocked once again with votive candle holders, egg separators, egg cups, wee sauce bowls, etc.  (you can see images of these items in an earlier Nov. post)  And I have a good selection of my full range of functional items--mugs, goblets, French butter dishes, garlic pots, bowls of all sizes, teapots, etc. etc. as well as the new landscape platters.

As usual, I will have "seconds" for sale, mostly marked down at least 50%.  These are all functional pots that were not quite up to snuff, but are still deserving of a home. 

Hope to see you Saturday!  If you need the address or more info, please e-mail me.  I'm having trouble uploading the invitation but will keep trying.....

A few more Landscape Platters

Christmas Shows!!

It's been a busy couple of months getting ready for upcoming shows.  I'm really thankful for the mild fall weather as I've been doing much of my spray glazing outdoors.  It gets pretty nippy when your hands are in and out of water throughout the process.  I look forward to setting up an indoor spray booth in the winter and moving the process inside.

The next 3 week-ends I'll be at various shows in Ottawa.  The first is the Ottawa Guild of Potters fall sale, held at the Hellenic Community Centre Nov. 25-28.  For more info. go to their website http://www.ottawaguildofpotters.ca/  I've been part of the guild off & on for about 25 years now, and am always amazed by the variety of ways that potters personalize their work with clay.  There's always something inspirational.

The following week-end, on Sat. Dec. 4 I'll be at my son's school, Fisher Park/Summit at 250 Holland Ave. for their Christmas Craft Show and Sale.  There will be over 100 vendors there from 9:30 - 3:00 with a really wide variety of crafted items and yummy food.  Last year there was a long line up for some pretty spectacular looking home baking, so get there early if you want the best selection!  Free parking, no admission and they even have a BBQ and refreshments available.

Then on Sat. Dec. 11 I'll be hosting our annual Open House, a festive event with invited guests, artist Janet Bell and photographer Peter Farris-Manning.  The 3 of us have exhibited together for quite a few years now.  It's always great to see the new works they have created and I will have lots of pottery available.  I'll post an invitation at a later date with some images and more details.

In the meantime, I thought I'd post a few images of some of the new things I've been working on.  First are some landscape platters in a variety of sizes.

I've tried overlapping glazes on some of the larger serving bowls, getting gradations of colour, similar to the kind of effect a watercolour artist may achieve.  Here are a few:

I have quite a few $10 and under items too, for stocking stuffers, teacher gifts, little hostess gifts.....

Egg cups are new this year.  The eggs are clay as well, made by a Quebec potter; fun, aren't they?