On Thursday afternoon Jason Walker gave a talk in the clay studio of Maple Ridge ACT Centre, where the Fraser Valley Potters’ Guild show is on just now. His presentation was another event arranged to complement the Clay Symposium which is happening tomorrow at Shadbolt Centre. Jason will be demonstrating and giving a talk there as well.
There was a good turn-out yesterday, with several familiar clay folks interested in seeing how Jason works. He gave a presentation to TriCity Potters some years ago, as he was preparing for his big show at Bellevue Art Gallery, near Seattle. This link will take you to photos of his gorgeous work!
Yesterday the room was not dark enough for his images to show well so I have not included any here. Instead you can see his little demos of making a hand-built beaker and painting with Chinese over-glazes. He was well-prepared and managed to cover details of his process in the one hour available after the slide show.
Little bisque-fired cut-outs are used to transfer a design to a slab form, with pressure from inside it. Clever!
He uses overglaze materials from China where he has worked for several months at a time.
The details of his mixing ingredients escaped me as I don’t plan to start over-glazing but for sure he is a detail person. He brought in a poured porcelain slip-moulded fish form to demonstrate his over-glazing technique. And he had a Chinese porcelain tile which he had already painted with underglazes and fired. On that he showed how he would add more details with overglaze enamels. His early experience in sign-painting and many years of drawing and painting, as well as his ceramics degrees now lend themselves to a practiced excellence in his work.
He tells us that at least one of his large ceramic installations will be showing in Portland for next weekend’s NCECA Conference. (I’ve decided not to attend this year even though it’s nearby and I will be regretting that decision when I hear all about the adventures of Shadbolt staff and others who do go).
There are so many clay artists to watch and listen to tomorrow, I am glad to have spent some time with Jason already. Thank you and good luck for your future shows and teaching and thanks for sharing your concern for our world, Jason.
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