New Mugs

In the summer I bought a new mug from Tony Clennell that's a generous round shape with a robust handle.  I love using it for tea.  It's beautiful to look at and my hand cradles it perfectly.  Another mug I bought from fellow potter, Yukari Hazama Iverson at the Marlin Orchards sale Thanksgiving week-end is a very similar, although a more refined shape.  I love it too!  So, I made a batch of mugs with that hand cradling shape in mind and tried to make the handles more generous than I normally do.  I hope others enjoy the shape as much as I do.

These are the two mugs that inspired the new shapes.  Yukari's on the left and Tony's on the right.

Next time I'll aim for a more elevated foot and I feel I need to introduce more decorative elements into all of my pieces.

Carving Moulds

I've been trying my hand at carving some hump moulds for bowls.  As Steve Irvine informed us at his workshop, they take alot of time!  I find it less tedious and crazy making if I just spend an hour or two at a time working on them, so I've been keeping them under plastic and refining them as I have time.  I'm looking forward to asking my dentist if he can spare some old tools for me when I visit in a couple of days, now that I'm getting to the finishing stages.  The images above are reminiscent of the 40's era glass light fixture we have hanging over our dining room table!

The dining room light fixture--whose pattern I took notice of after I'd been carving for a few days!

Above are a few of the stamps and roulette type stamps I've been making.  I like using the wood stamps I got last year, and am excited to make my own out of clay.  All these moulds and stamps will be bisque fired and then be used to imprint patterns on wet clay.

Steve Irvine Workshop

The Ottawa Guild of Potters brought Steve Irvine from his home in Wiarton, ON to Ottawa for a week-end workshop in January.  Steve's careful attention to detail is evident in the way he forms his pots and in his approach to photography--both important aspects in his life.  He's a solitary artist, working alone in his studio and choosing to sell primarily through stores and galleries within a couple hours' radius of his home studio.  Very interesting to hear him explain his marketing strategy and his relatively modest pricing.  And to hear about the beginnings of the Owen Sound artists' co-operative that he helped found and of which he is still a member.  His quiet, patient, humble demeanour seemed to be transferred to his pots and his photographs.  Lovely work.

Steve demonstrated some of the techniques he uses in forming pots and in creating decorated, textured surfaces. Most intriguing to me were the intricately carved & bisqued hump moulds he used to make bowls and the many rolling tools, also carved and bisqued.

bisqued & carved hump mould

finished teapot and bowl made with hump mould above 

a selection of stamps and rolling tools used to add texture

He made several forms that were then altered, and several were made of assembled pieces, including an animated teapot complete with two eyeballs and four legs.  Lots of food for thought from this workshop.  I look forward to trying out some new ideas that have been percolating since the workshop.

vase form made in 3 pieces

"Sanaa" on Saturday

It's almost time for our annual open house sale.  This year we gave it a name, "Sanaa", which is Swahili for "art"--all kinds of art.  Janet, Peter and I have been exhibiting together for many years.   It's always fun to get together to see what sort of inspiration they've been drawing on for recent works.   We hope others enjoy seeing our various creations together in a cosy setting, as much as we do!

A bit of local publicity!

click on photo to enlarge

Our local neighbourhood newspaper did this nice article on Handmade Here.  I'll forgive them for getting the spelling of my name wrong!  Two gals are missing from the photo; the three of us are featured because we happen to live in the neighbourhood that the newspaper covers.  Nice group of women & a fun show!  As you can read, we plan to reconvene in the spring.

Fisher Park Christmas Craft Show tomorrow!

Well, I'm all set up for what should be a busy day tomorrow at the Fisher Park Community Center Christmas Craft Show, held at Fisher Park/Summit School in their two gymnasiums.  Over 100 vendors, a great selection of food, art & craft, along with quite a few entrepreneurial kids selling things they've made to support worthy causes.  It's a fun community event!

Handmade Here is here!

I'm looking forward to spending Saturday with this talented group of ladies.  Kim, the silver jeweller, is once again hosting us in her lovely home.  Three of us live in the neighbourhood, with the other two close by.  So these unique gifts truly are handmade here!