Bird Inspiration
Inspiration is all around us. Wherever I look there are birds - birds that visit my bird-feeder or are on local lakes and birds that other potters have made. We all make them differently but there's something about the elegant shapes of birds that needs to be interpreted in a three-dimensional way. Sure I may well make a drawing of an elegant Pileated Woodpecker that checked out our suet feeder the other day but it's also fun to see how I can make a functional jugbird instantly recognizable as a particular bird. The colours or arrangements of signature bars or dots give the clues.
I wonder how I would design a Mallard Duck or whether the Varied Thrush would be too similar to others I've made?
Tomorrow I will post the real and the ceramic birds I saw in Puerto Vallarta in January. Such fun!
But for now I will just add a splended bird sculpture that appears on the back page of my latest Ceramic Review magazine from England. An upcoming show at the Ruthin Craft Centre Gallery will feature the work of artist and designer Norman Makinson 1921-2010. He was an art school instructor and produced ceramic sculpture for 50 years. I wish I had met him. Gloriously, unashamedly Folk Art this rooster (he'd certainly have called it a cockerel) is mid-century modern and outrageous.
For more information on this show and about Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire go to http://www.ruthincraftcentre.org.uk/
It looks like somewhere I must visit one day.
BC in a Box Goes to Alberta
Members of the BC Potters Guild are invited to submit work to a juried show this Fall:
BC in a Box Goes to Alberta!
In exchange with the Alberta Potters Association, the Potters Guild of British Columbia is pleased to present a juried travelling show for members.
Theme: BC in a Box 3 - “The Edge of Here”
The attached docx gives more information: BC in a Box Goes to Alberta
PechaKucha night in Coquitlam
Today it has been an uncharacteristically cold day for Vancouver. I read in Brendan Tang's note on facebook that it's far colder in Medicine Hat but he posted photos of the artists there working away. The studio must be nicely heated. But I felt connected to that community as I potted today because I was using the Plainsman clay mixture I prepared while there. It's H550 and H570 50/50. I thought of the people I worked with, Joanne Zabudsky, Brenda Sullivan, Claude Morin and Teresa Gagne. We shared ideas on clays, slips and liner glazes for the salt kiln. I've been back in my note book from that intense month to check on what was successful and which to use again. Brenda was not making her usual functional ware but pushed beyond her comfort level and had a marvellous time experimenting with sculptural forms based on natural objects. Joanne tried all manner of slips and glazes to have a vast selection of samples for future work. Several other residents happily joined in with preparing salt burritos even though that particular type of firing was not their main interest - Sukjin, Leigh, Luanne. I miss them.
I'm throwing with stoneware because I have the possibility of having some pieces of mine fired in salt in March. I could just refire some work that isn't 'done' - that often produces lovely juicy results. But I do want to reinforce what I learnt last year, try my blue, red and yellow slips again and spray with titanium dioxide. Oh I do wish I had access to a salt kiln all the time. Aaron has told me that I can book the Medicine Hat kiln when they aren't too busy with residencies ie not June and July, but the logistics of doing that are challenging.
These thoughts have been running through my mind today as I pulled handles, mixed the two kinds of clay and inserted spouts onto Jugbird bodies.
Meanwhile I'd like to mention the 2nd Coquitlam PechaKucha night, hosted by our local Arts Council, Artsconnect, scheduled for this Sunday evening at the Evergreen Cultural Centre. The first, last November, was a great chance to have a concentrated look at the pursuits of artistic people in this community and hobnob with their admirers. I wonder if they'd like to hear about the Medalta Artist-in-Residence Programme at a future PechaKucha? Each presentation has to be condensed into 20 slides with 20 seconds for talk with each one. It makes for a varied but fascinating evening.
My two galleries on Granville Island
When I was on Granville Island last Thursday I popped into the Gallery of BC Ceramics. Apparently I just missed Keith and Celia Rice-Jones who had been doing some touch-up work on the gallery walls. My work is in a new spot, a nice long shelf. I like to take a photo so that I have an idea of what might be suitable to take in next time.
Dan Severance, a TriCity Potter who works mainly at the Port Moody Arts Centre, has a really colourful group of practical but fun ware displayed. I was particularly impressed with a slab-built plate. His teapot and two mugs were shown in the TriCity Potters' show last September. (see my blog: 'TriCity Potters show opens' Sept 13th 2010) Dan's first pottery lessons may have been from me back in the nineties!
After I'd given the Circle Craft staff the large green bird for a customer going to Taiwan I checked out my display there too. They have two small shelves for me just now and I noted that the salt pieces are mainly still there. There is only one earthenware bird out at the moment so that means I must get more colourful birds in to them. The salty pieces went quite quickly at first - useful sized jugbirds, but it may be that I love the Medalta pieces too much and have put too high prices on them because I don't actually want them to go! How unprofessional.
Having one's work on consignment always leaves one wondering about how it is promoted and why some work stays in the store room. It is a privilege to be in such a high-profile location and I know that production work pays the rent and the staff. Mine takes longer to sell but I know that lowering the prices is the wrong thing to do.
Even though they only ask for 6 or 8 jugbirds at a time, I do like the fact that the Airport Crafthouse buys the work wholesale and do pay me promptly.
Sad news by email is that Handworks Gallery in Oliver, BC is to close at the end of March. Esther Brown asked for my work when she opened the Craft Gallery a few years ago and I was happy to be represented in the Interior. I suppose summer visitors don't make up for really quiet months over the winter. Esther will be returning any unsold stock soon, she tells me so that can help my Studio Tour display in April. But I'm sorry to see Handworks close.
Work in the latest firing
Last Thursday I opened my kiln and lifted warm pots out. Two pots were wanted asap so I drove into Vancouver. Eric Metcalfe was pleased with the vase. It is painted when bone dry with black and 'light red' underglaze over a 'Marigold' slip coating. After bisquing I dipped it in my usual Deb's Clear cone 04 glaze. I hope that the recipient for whom Eric painted this vase will enjoy it. Until it is given I will omit his name.
The other piece that was made with a deadline was a large green bird, sometimes I've called them 'Watering Canard' but he's not really duck-like. A customer at Circle Craft wanted this particular creature to take with her to Taiwan on Saturday. She'd shown up at the store with its picture - taken I think from my website. Luckily I had made a note of the amounts of clay used for the 3 thrown parts so I think this is very much like the original.
I made the same bird with stoneware clay
when I was at Medalta. The difference in surface is rather fun.
Other work in that kiln were 4 jugbirds, 7 bowls to donate to the Gogos Fundraiser and 4 bird-feeders. Pics to follow. One Pileated Woodpecker was only out of the kiln one day before it was purchased for a Wedding yesterday. I hardly got to know him! 
TriCity Potters’ meeting last night
Last night's meeting of TriCity Potters was a happy evening. There was a good turnout, some new members, lots of conversation, good cookies and coffee. Over 70 bowls were brought and donated to Coquitlam Gogos. Many more, including my paltry 7 will be added to that total. Hannah Diamond was delighted with the number, quality and size of the bowls. Several of us bought tickets at $35 each to attend the evening event on March 8th so we'll bring home a bowl as well! The bowl filled with soup, some yummy bread, a napkin, live music and the opportunity to bid on silent auction items all come with the ticket. This local initiative, like so many other Empty Bowl parties, will benefit a charity. In this case all money raised will be sent by Coquitlam Gogos to the Stephen Lewis Foundation in support of African grandmothers raising their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren.
After we'd taken coffee and had a good chance to catch up on each other's clay adventures we were given a very well organized power point presentation by 5 members who had travelled together to China last October. Grace Siu had initiated the tour and she was joined by Kay Bonathan, Eliza Wang, Carlene Akester and Hannah Chan. Details on their travels will be available on the TCP website shortly.
http://www.tricitypotters.ca/hot3.html
Eliza's daughter Audrey had assembled the photos and Kay was the primary spokesperson. Their travels were most interesting but I was intrigued with two-week Residency in JingdeZhen. I really would have liked to join them. Certainly the fact that three of them are able to communicate in Mandarin was incredibly helpful. They stayed in the Residency accomodation and ate there. They chose workshops (just for the 5 of them) on underglaze and overglaze painting, mould-making, brush-making, pouring slip into said moulds, porcelain flower-making and porcelain carving. They each had a studio space and learnt lots but partly because of the short time and also the limit on luggage weight within China they weren't able to bring much work home with them. Visits to huge kilns, seeing enormous (3-storey high!) porcelain vases, choosing Ming shards at a market, eating really cheap but excellent local food and then travelling to beautiful parks and historic towns nearby made the whole experience something unforgettable.
Thank you Kay, Eliza, Grace, Hannah and Carlene for sharing your great adventure. And thanks to all the members who have so generously made and donated excellent bowls for a good cause.
TriCity Potters meeting tonight
To continue the tale of pots made when there's a deadline! The pots were all dry by Sunday so I started the bisque. Monday saw the kiln cooling and my poor cousin braved pouring rain to visit in Port Moody. She lives in Ontario - I'd really like to get there again - and also reconnect with my good buddy from Medalta, Brenda Sullivan. Anybody there need a workshop or slide talk?
On Tuesday I was able to empty the kiln, wax and glaze all the pots, reload and leave the kiln warming very slowly to dry them all out - while I drove in to Vancouver in the late afternoon. Pouring rain again. Cousin Dennise is staying at Granville Island Hotel so the plan was to take her to Gallery of BC Ceramics and Circle Craft.
First I stopped in at the Ceramics Dept of Emily Carr to donate two non-bird jugs for the students Ceramics Auction soon. Had a nice chat with Paul Mathieu in his office. I distracted him from preparing his next power point presentation. I must try to get to that auction - as usual he is donating a couple of vases and they go quickly!
With chatting and supper with several relatives who'd congregated we didn't get to the galleries but Dennise knows where to go when she has a break from meetings over the next couple of days. Turned the kiln to 100 degrees per hr at 10pm.
Wednesday morning: The kiln had a 20-minute soak at 1922 F, cone 04 and turned itself off at 2pm. Meanwhile the washing-machine in my studio died the other day so while it is pulled out from its home I decided to paint the floor. You know how that goes. I used up the remainder of the acrylic latex floor paint on a large part of the studio area. Feels great but I didn't take the stoneware out of its bag.
And now, this evening, the TriCity Potters meet at 7pm at Port Moody Senior Secondary School. 5 of our members who attended a Residency at Zhing de Zhen last October will be showing us images of their adventure. Do join us!
“The Children’s Book” A.S.Byatt
I've just finished reading a book which was recommended to me by a fellow Turkey traveller. She belongs to a book club in Victoria and told me that their most recent pick might just suit me very well.
"The Children's Book" by A.S.Byatt. publ. 2009
For so many reasons she was right. The saga takes place in England from 1895 until 1919 and follows the lives of the adults and children in several families. The father of one is a curator at the new Victoria & Albert Museum in Kensington, they have a fairy-tale Arts & Crafts country house and many children for whom his wife writes stories. A young runaway from Stoke-on-Trent is found making drawings of a fabulous ceramic artwork in said museum, he is included in family festivities and is eventually apprenticed to a curmudgeonly master potter in Kent. I was quickly hooked on the plot. There are over 600 pages and I found that there is more detailed description of politics, anarchy, and suffragism than is really necessary to carry the tale along. The author seems to need to include all her research into this eventful time. The details of the Paris Exhibition of 1900 are fascinating nevertheless.
A.S.Byatt taught at the Central School of Art and Design and was a senior lecturer in English at UC, London so she does tell a good story and the facts on historical pots, kilns, glazes and the role of pottery manufacture versus studio practice are just fascinating. I recommend this as a good read as you wait for the next kiln to finish firing. Maybe six firings.
A sunny day in February
I like this kind of day, when there's a good balance to my activities. As usual I have been making work because there's an incentive - I am a procrastinator. Some lovely person wants one of my large 'Watering Can-ards' right away. I thought I had all of February but now Ron Kong at Circle Craft says she'd actually like to take it with her on a flight on Feb 19th. Hmm. I have almost a kiln load this time so I am going to try to get it made and fired by then. I threw the 3 parts on Tuesday, assembled them yesterday and pulled a large handle. Today the handle is on and I'll leave the bird to even out overnight. If I can get it painted tomorrow and get it drying then well, I have a chance to make it.
Meanwhile I had a trailer load of composted horse manure delivered here on Tuesday, and spread all over my flower beds. My long-suffering perennials will be so grateful come the Spring! The tulip bulbs that have managed not to be eaten by squirrels were already showing their optimism and I'm sure can push their shoots through the manure. I have a very few snowdrops up and now a crocus. My Ottawa cousin plans to visit on Monday so of course I want to make her jealous of our climate.
Today felt good because even though we had frost last night today has been cloudless. I completed that big bird, put a handle on another, assembled a bird-feeder (I've decided that as I get so much fun watching birds at mine I will make some for friends who come to my Open Studio in April) and then cleaned the red earthenware clay out of my wheel. It is now ready for me to throw with stoneware for a hoped-for salt firing in March. Then I went outside to take the first dry pieces down to my kiln and stayed out to rake up leaves from under my Arbutus tree. Cuppa tea now and I hope to get back to the studio where 2 jugbirds are ready to be painted. Rain is forecast for tonight and for the next few days but that's just fine!
Ptarmigan Vase
In early January an extraordinary vase was offered for sale at Sotheby's New York auction house with an expected price of up to $120,000. It caught my attention not only because there was a BC connection but also because there is an outrageous ptarmigan sitting on the rim of the vase.
It was made 105 years ago by jewelry designer Paulding Farnham at Tiffany & Co. He had invested in a gold, silver and copper mine, Ptarmigan Mine in BC's Selkirk Mountains. This 65cm tall vase has a gold seal of BC's provincial coat of arms, the compass coordinates of the mine site and fanciful aboriginal-style designs on the rim and at the base. The silver ptarmigan sits on the rim. The vessel itself at first resembles marbled clay but I read that it is actually mokume, a Japanese technique which sandwiches several colours of precious metals.
Now it appears that the piece has been bought by the National Gallery of Canada for $650,000. So one day when I am in Ottawa I hope to see it. I do think it should actually be shown or even kept in BC. For me it is just a fine vase which has a bird sitting on it, giving me yet another excuse to apply birds wherever I please!