After some juggling of dates we finally found a day when a group of Raiders could get together for another enjoyable day of working in my studio. Pierre Coupey drove out here from West Vancouver and the other five, Eric, Mina, Philippe, Michelle and Marlene came from Vancouver.
Several of my guests are asking for larger platters and plates these days so I did spend a couple of afternoons rolling slabs, slumping them in to my moulds and cutting the edges with my son Stephen’s perfect slab cutter. Also in use is a large round thrift store plate and an old electric frying pan. Now Philippe is hoping Renee will bring back a longer flatter platter she owns so that he can replicate a favourite form from a while ago.
The six artists quickly settled in to the familiar productive, conversational pattern and Alan captured them working. Lunch contributions wound up as a balanced, tasty meal with way more food than any of us actually needed to keep on painting for the afternoon. Potlucks have a way of working out, even when we only have a vague idea of who will bring what. I love it!
Outstanding was foodie Philippe Raphanel’s casserole. It was his BC/Mexican/Brazilian version of Shepherd’s Pie with potato replaced by whipped manioc spread over home-corned beef and topped with yummy cheese. The manioc was a revelation to most of us. Michelle brought perfectly cooked asparagus served with a dressing of Turkish dried tomatoes and feta cheese.
Eric contributed his usual delicious loaf of bread and cold cuts (from his local Buy Low.. the TriCity-dwelling manager and assistant manager have both been involved in delivering Eric’s plates to me, bless them!). Pierre brought pasta salad and good paté from Whole Foods and I added some cheeses. But then we needed to find room for a slice of Mina’s home-baked GF ginger pear cake, served with boozy whipped cream. Oh the suffering!
By late afternoon 17 plates, platters and pots had been painted, with a couple more left in my cupboard for Raiders to finish another day. To find strength for the drive home we had a cup of tea and another slice of cake, this time a delicious Whole Foods chocolate one, brought by Marlene.
In the last photo you’ll see everybody’s work, including two platters by Marlene, commercially made pots painted by Michelle, as well as her geometric platter, lower right, the underside of Mina’s platter and Eric’s new experiments with drawing on bisque with a ceramic pencil. He’s very excited to see the results of that, having reverted to his earlier drawing practice in his studio at home.
I think yesterday’s production will fill a bisque firing right away. Eliza Wang came by this morning to collect her bisqued pots for the upcoming soda firing and left a couple more so they can fit in with the plates. Ysabella Choung came by at the same time and Eliza gave her some advice on surface preparation for soda. Congratulations Eliza for having your plate selected as a prize-winner at NCECA recently!
