Sunshine Coast Art Crawl – Gillian McMillan — Rara Avis

Jack Ploesser

Gillian McMillan — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 22:22:58 +0000

Last Wednesday’s presenter for the monthly TriCity Potters’ meeting at PoMoArts was Roberts Creek potter Jack Ploesser.

We met him during our two days of touring the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl last October.

https://www.gillianmcmillan.com/blog/2022/11/01/scac-jack-ploesser-the-niebergall

His natural-gas fired cone 10 reduction pieces are exuberant, very colourful, and mainly functional. Jack was pleased to be invited to talk to us and had prepared lots of thrown forms to demonstrate how he assembles them.

As Jack explains in his biography, he is mainly self-taught but says that he is much influenced by Minnesota potter Jeff Oestreich. He was the ceramics technician alongside instructors Donna McLaren and Sam Kwan at Capilano College, before he and his wife purchased property in Roberts Creek, on the Sunshine Coast, and he built his gas kiln.

To keep body and soul together Jack has a day job as a school bus driver. In fact he took the ferry to the Lower Mainland after work and arrived at PoMoArts just in time to begin speaking at 7pm!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044707797187

We had a good turn-out for this evening’s talk and we really enjoyed Jack’s enthusiasm for pottery and particularly his extensive knowledge of the cone 10R glazes he has perfected.

He started the evening with slides of many of his pots over the years. We were then entertained by explanations of his process and tales of his coastal life.

All too soon our time ran out before Jack had had time to show us all the techniques he had planned. But there was a return ferry to catch so members helped him to pack up and head home.

Thank you Jack for a really enjoyable evening. We’ll recommend your studio to next year’s visitors to Sunshine Coast Art Crawl, and ‘Fresh’ Gallery in Sechelt.

Twenty-two members of TriCity Potters have now delivered their selected pieces to PoMoArts Gallery Manager Janice Cotter. Our show CERAMICS IN FLUX opens this Thursday, 6-8pm. You will see an amazing variety of clay techniques displayed. See you there!

Sunshine Coast Art Crawl: Laurie Rolland

Gillian McMillan — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 04:32:53 +0000

After leaving Roberts Creek we headed North-West towards Sechelt, hoping to fit some more studios into our day. Just before Davis Bay we turned up Whitaker Road and found potter Laurie Rolland’s studio.

I’ve been aware of Laurie’s work for many years, admiring ‘vessels’ and other sculptural forms in local shows at the Gallery of BC Ceramics and even here in Port Moody at the Blackberry Gallery. Her work can be found in prestigious collections in Ontario, the Canadian Embassy in London, England, in the States, Australia, Korea and China. Click on the link to read more of her biography.

http://www.laurierolland.com

For my account of our visit to Laurie’s showroom I’ll mainly let you see photos. Each piece asks to be studied and interpreted personally. She says, ‘A deep reverence for the natural world, combined with an interest in ancient earth-based religions informs this work, for the boat is the feminine symbol of passage and salvation the world over.’

Laurie’s pieces are all hand-built, with just a few being obviously functional. Her work is for collectors. Do notice the bold colours on the walls of her display rooms. They really enhance the work.

I followed Laurie into her study where she had arranged a wrapping station. Again, I loved the colour on the walls, and the fascinating artworks and anthropological items for inspiration displayed there.

When Laurie and I joined the others in the showroom we found Owen and Laurie’s partner deep in conversation about the canoes he builds. Both apparently spend much time on the local waters. I think the conversation could have continued for a long time. But it was time to move on.

Laurie’s visitors are invited to see her display in the lower level of her charming house. We noticed the carefully tended garden which stretched up a slope behind and I imagine her studio is in a building way up there. I expect she can see the waters of Davis Bay when she’s working.

We emerged at 4.30pm and even though the Crawl ends at 5pm we agreed that we’d had a full day and that it would be a good idea for Linda and me to head back down to the ferry. So the next studios we’d circled on the brochure, in Sechelt and further north, will have to wait until another year.

We dropped Owen and Sue off at their homes in Gibsons and Linda and I didn’t have a long wait for the 6.55pm ferry back to Horseshoe Bay, and a return to our regular lives. A trip to remember!

Thank you very much, Owen, for suggesting TriCity Potters make this excursion, and for inviting us to stay at your family’s cabin overlooking the Salish Sea. Thanks also to you and to Sue for being our knowledgeable local guides. Your suggestions and local experience were a great help.

My souvenirs from the trip, above, are a little wheel-thrown salt-glazed jug by Elaine Futterman, a large mug for my tea by Jack Ploesser, a shorter, wonky coffee mug with a perfect handle by Ray Niebergall and a little green dish by Laurie Rolland for my daily slices of pear.

SCAC: Jack Ploesser & the Niebergalls

Gillian McMillan — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 19:28:28 +0000

Our Sunshine Coast Art Crawl continued with a short drive down into the village of Roberts Creek. There we parked beside Gumboot Restaurant and took a stroll down to the ocean. I wanted Linda to see the community Mandala. Local people re-paint it every year.

After a very good lunch, sitting outside at the Gumboot Restaurant (the Gumboot café had no sandwiches!) we resumed our Crawl.

Just nearby we found Jack Ploesser’s ‘Fire & Ash’ Pottery studio. Jack and his wife had used most of their home to display his wildly colourful, reduction-fired cone 10 pots.

Elaine and Mike, who we’d met earlier that morning, arrived as we did. They and Jack had lots to talk about. We four TriCity Potters spent quite a bit of time admiring some fabulous pots, and found ourselves unable to leave without a jolly mug or two.

https://sunshinecoastartscouncil.com/jack-ploesser/

Our next stop was the nearby studio of the Niebergall family. Bev and Ray established their extensive pottery ‘Mustard Seed Creations‘ some years ago and now their son, Timothy is showing his ceramics with them. His ‘Spirited Ceramics‘ focusses on functional but beautiful ceramics such as sinks and tiles.

https://coastculture.com/member-profile/mustard-seed-clay-creations-spirited-ceramics/

Like Jack Ploesser does, the Niebergalls fire all their work in a gas-fired kiln, Reduction cone 10, so there are lots of similar copper reds. Ray and Bev both throw functional ware, mugs being a popular item they’d set on tables outside for the Crawl. We admired a variety of other pieces in their gallery area. These friendly folk were happy to have us look all around their work spaces, including a yurt which is set up for teaching. Below is their kiln on tracks.. so much easier for loading, and two of Ray’s carved show pieces.

The afternoon was creeping on so we climbed back in to Linda’s Honda and headed up to Sechelt. Our last stop was at Laurie Rolland’s Davis Bay studio. That’ll be the final blog on our Sunshine Coast Art Crawl.