A few weeks ago I noticed that some of Canada’s well-known potters were being challenged to post seven photos of their work for seven days, on facebook. They were asked to nominate another clay artist to join the effort each day. It wound up being a really interesting way to see a little history of each person and admire pieces we may not have seen before. There really is no way for us widely separated Canadian potters to see each other’s work.

Barbara Tipton, of Calgary and Sundre, Alberta, has now made her home here in Port Moody and is an active member of our TriCity Potters. She invited me to participate in the seven-day challenge, (thank you for that, Barb, although at first I was nervous about doing it!) so I had the fun job of choosing which pieces to show. Some had been properly photographed but some pre-date our nice little photo booth. I have kept some of my special pieces.. perhaps they’ll be in a ‘retrospective’ one day! Now I think it would be good to show you the seven I chose to feature, along with the little text I added to each one. I did invite another artist to join the game each day and some did, or used Instagram, but I respect the right of those who didn’t, to ignore the idea.

To introduce my work I chose my first ‘Pope’s Hat’ plate. It was made in a History of Ceramics seminar with MOA Ceramics professor and curator Carol Mayer. She assigned each of us a defining period of Ceramics history and I was given Italian Renaissance Maiolica to research. I’d been introduced to earthenware and maiolica in an ECCAD Summer course with Dale Pereira in 1991. Carol asked us each to produce a piece of our own, in the style of, or inspired by our area of study. My plate is reminiscent of ‘istoriato’ ware which were wildly ornate plates, in the shape of a Cardinal’s hat, painted with a story. Often the main character appears in the sunken middle and all around the wide rim are related drawings. My ‘istoriato’ shows me, in the class, painting the plate, and all around are pieces I’d made at Emily Carr that year. You’ll see my student number there!

On the next day I decided to show one of my unusual jugs/pitchers/gugglets/pipkins made in Tam Irving’s class, after an inspiring summer workshop with Jeff Oestreich. It is wheel-thrown stoneware, with a thrown handle and extruded rim, glazed in shino and fired to reduction cone 10.

By 2003 I had introduced my jugbirds in a solo show, ‘Ornithikos’, at the Gallery of BC Ceramics. This earthenware Rooster was the signature piece. Photographer Ken Mayer took some excellent photos of the pieces for me. Said Rooster now lives in White Rock.

On the fourth day I returned to stoneware and mentioned my marvellous opportunity to be an artist-in-residence at Medalta, Medicine Hat, in 2010. Having tasted salt firing at a workshop in England (Douglas Phillips of Queen Camel in Somerset in 1984) and again at Shadbolt Centre with Jane Hamlyn I opted to concentrate on salt firing only for my month in Alberta. This vase, constructed with five separate wheel-thrown components, was fired in Medalta’s fine salt kiln.

Then I chose to return to my earthenware, and featured a somewhat less than functional Loon jug. It’s been a few years since I made any of them, but I do enjoy painting these pieces with my coloured slips. My black slip is really intense.

On the sixth day there was a salt-fired Rhyton. I made the complete range of classical Greek vessels for ‘The Attic Project’ with Eric Metcalfe several years ago (Eric had a patron commission my fabrication of these and over a couple of years he painted them all with his signature leopard spot design). Recently, while we enjoyed our regular ‘Raiders’ plate-painting days Eric kept mentioning that we’d never tackled the humorous Greek drinking vessel, the Rhyton. I made two or three in earthenware and Eric applied his wild, colourful designs on them. Intrigued with the form, I threw some in stoneware and they were fired in the Shadbolt soda kiln. This one was actually fired in Jackie Frioud’s salt kiln in Lund last July, during a workshop. I think the finish is the best so far.. and it has now joined a prestigious collection in Vancouver.

Finally I chose to feature a silly Papuan Hornbill jugbird. It was made for a Victoria Art Gallery to be included in a show of Papua/New Guinea aboriginal carved birds.

I hope you will have enjoyed a little journey through some of my creations.

In the current lock-down situation I have finally found the energy to work in my studio and have almost enough ware to justify firing my kiln this next week and I’m excited to see the results of new colour combinations and ideas after the firings. Watch this space!