After throwing four earthenware plates with my usual red D'arcy clay and getting them trimmed I was happy to clean out my wheel and start work with grey stoneware. I did have fun painting the plates with my coloured slips because there were no restrictions on what I did to decorate them. It's been quite a while since I applied bands of colour and brushstrokes…
Debra Sloan was the speaker for TriCity Potters' January meeting. Because she is a sculptor we had several artists attending who work only in clay sculpture. Susan Gorris had suggested we invite Debra, specifically to tell us all about the two 3-month residencies she has attended in Hungary. Susan and her friend made it a really Hungarian evening by making special treats to eat with…
I fired my kiln with only a partial load this week because I can't keep the airport Crafthouse shop waiting any longer. This afternoon Alan took photos of the latest work to emerge. There are two pieces by Eric Metcalfe using a new bold combination of turquoise, red and black on Naples yellow. They're quite striking! He'll be donating…
On Saturday Al and I went in to Vancouver to attend Renée Van Halm's opening at Equinox Gallery http://www.equinoxgallery.com/exhibitions/. This was our first visit to the gallery's new enormous space in a converted warehouse off Great Northern Way. The area has been divided into two large, very high-ceilinged exhibition spaces. On this afternoon there were two openings, Renée Van Halm: French Curves in the East…
Renée tells me that she took a pottery class many years ago. Certainly she is comfortable working on a curved surface and right away understood how to achieve opaque consistent surfaces. She comes to work for the day prepared with paper collages, carefully cuts out a paper template outlining the plate's shape and places it over her collage. She then draws the composition onto the…