Last weekend Susan Delatour Lepoidevin presented a hand-building workshop in Maple Ridge, ‘That Special Place: Hand Building Houses. She has made a career from her passion for ancient, idiosyncratic buildings found all around the world. They form the basis for a clay dwelling,lighthouse or castle and she makes each one into a little story. She adds birds, bricks, windows, flowers, people and chimneys and then accents the details with underglazes. Finally some of the pieces are pit-fired after the bisque to introduce a random but very effective antiquity to the stones. Of course she sculpts other things. I have enjoyed a vessel-like piece with figures on the rim, titled ‘Salish Sea’.

A happy group of participants spent two days with her. They were armed with photos and drawings of structures that might inspire their own creations.

I popped in to the very spacious ceramics work room at the end of Saturday’s session and took photos of several of the buildings and their architects. All these structures were finished and then enhanced with underglazes on the Sunday and then carefully taken home.

I am so looking forward to seeing all of them before too long. If I can I’ll post photos of them all, but certainly I am hoping that most artists will allow me to display the finished houses in my garden on July 19th. On that day visitors will be on the ‘Art in the Garden’ tour and we plan to feature Clay Art in mine. I think little houses for garden dwarves will look charming on the grass, under the trees or amongst flowers.

Thank you again, Susan, for coming down from Princeton to give local clay types a really enjoyable couple of days. I’ve already heard that some of them have made more houses, they were so inspired!

Thanks also, to TCP board member and Maple Ridge resident, Brigitta Schneiter, for organizing the workshop and for having Susan to stay in her wonderful log home for three nights.

Maria Palotas, who teaches children and adults in the Maple Ridge ARC pottery studio, volunteered to be the technician for the two days. So thank you too Maria.

There are lots of photos. If you run your cursor over each photo the name of the artist will appear.

When I asked Susan on Facebook if she’d got safely home later on Monday she replied that yes, she had. She’d gone down to Granville Island earlier in the day and bought herself two treats, one of my salty jugbirds from Circle Craft and some lovely coastal daffodils. Here’s the pretty photo she sent me. The tablecloth matches the jug and daffodils! I must say, I’m thrilled!