"Home is where the heart is. People always come back to this country, it is in our blood."
I am at home in the heart of the Canadian Shield. Although I am one of the few potters in the area, I have continued to work with clay for over 20 years. After studying and living across Canada and England, I moved home at an unsettling time in my life. I took a hard look at my values and the financial responsibilities of being an artist and set out to balance a teaching career with making pottery.
I realized early that working in clay is a study, an evolution, a scientific process embedded in creative expression. With all the infinite qualities and possibilities of clay, I wanted to explore them all…
Inspiration comes from our distinct seasons, the incredible geology and wide open colorful skies. At times in design, I feel myself trapped in expressing what I see outside with what was originally intended on the piece. A series set out for ice and Northern Lights suddenly need leaves and berries painted on or reeds and cattails carved expressing the lines on the shores of Amisk Lake. I am amazed at the plant life that appears every year and at those that survive clinging to the small crevices in the rock; much like our ancestors before us without all the amenities of today.
Summers are short but have long warm days. Time spent paddling, swimming, diving off boats and floating lazily on the water influence my art. The watery feel of clay reminds me of the ever moving lake. Millions of years of geology with the power and forces of erosion bring gemstones to the surface. I collect the Garnet Sand and embed it into the clay creating a variety of effects as the chemicals interact with the glazes in the firing process. Each piece unique in itself indicative of the rock in our area.
Winter comes quickly locking us in ice. Now is the time we don snowshoes and skis to head out to a barren land that holds Mother Nature's sculptures. Short cold days and dark nights shine and glisten; we take every opportunity to stop and watch the Northern Lights or just gaze at the stars. In awe, I overlap and trail glazes to mimic the lights and create atmospheric like conditions in the kiln.
Legends of a time before us linger in our thoughts and influence who we are. As I am safe and warm with my work nestled next door in my ancestral home, I wonder what it must have been like to have tamed this land.
Just the Facts:
Clay - a white midfire blend of porcelain and stoneware
Primary Forming Method - throwing on the wheel
Primary Firing - I fire in an oxidation atmosphere however I am altering the heating/cooling and soaking temperatures attempting to mimic reduction and crystalline firings.
Favorite Surface Treatment - I love to carve on leather hard clay spending hours on a piece but then keeping it in my private
collection as I become attached to it.
Favorite Tools - The round and triangular version of Kemper's Trimming Tools
I realized early that working in clay is a study, an evolution, a scientific process embedded in creative expression. With all the infinite qualities and possibilities of clay, I wanted to explore them all…
Inspiration comes from our distinct seasons, the incredible geology and wide open colorful skies. At times in design, I feel myself trapped in expressing what I see outside with what was originally intended on the piece. A series set out for ice and Northern Lights suddenly need leaves and berries painted on or reeds and cattails carved expressing the lines on the shores of Amisk Lake. I am amazed at the plant life that appears every year and at those that survive clinging to the small crevices in the rock; much like our ancestors before us without all the amenities of today.
Summers are short but have long warm days. Time spent paddling, swimming, diving off boats and floating lazily on the water influence my art. The watery feel of clay reminds me of the ever moving lake. Millions of years of geology with the power and forces of erosion bring gemstones to the surface. I collect the Garnet Sand and embed it into the clay creating a variety of effects as the chemicals interact with the glazes in the firing process. Each piece unique in itself indicative of the rock in our area.
Winter comes quickly locking us in ice. Now is the time we don snowshoes and skis to head out to a barren land that holds Mother Nature's sculptures. Short cold days and dark nights shine and glisten; we take every opportunity to stop and watch the Northern Lights or just gaze at the stars. In awe, I overlap and trail glazes to mimic the lights and create atmospheric like conditions in the kiln.
Legends of a time before us linger in our thoughts and influence who we are. As I am safe and warm with my work nestled next door in my ancestral home, I wonder what it must have been like to have tamed this land.
Just the Facts:
Clay - a white midfire blend of porcelain and stoneware
Primary Forming Method - throwing on the wheel
Primary Firing - I fire in an oxidation atmosphere however I am altering the heating/cooling and soaking temperatures attempting to mimic reduction and crystalline firings.
Favorite Surface Treatment - I love to carve on leather hard clay spending hours on a piece but then keeping it in my private
collection as I become attached to it.
Favorite Tools - The round and triangular version of Kemper's Trimming Tools
