Canadian Clay Symposium 2013 re-cap

The Canadian Clay Symposium happens every 3 years at the Shadbolt Center for the Arts in Burnaby, BC, which is conveniently close to where I live.  The Symposium isn't huge- there are usually around 8 or 9 presenters, with the venue only holding about 350 people.  With the event selling out this year it felt like a good crowd of people, although I think in reality, most of the people coming to the conference hail from somewhere in BC (which makes me wonder why it's name includes all of Canada). This was my 3rd Symposium attendance so I was used to the fast pace of trying to see as much as possible in a day kind of feeling. 

This year I got the volunteer job of photographer for the day and spent most of my time trying to capture the best of the presentations and workshops.  I didn't really sit in for a whole entire workshop as I wanted to be sure I was able to take enough photos of all the workshops, so I won't be posting on each participant as I have in the past.  I was really glad to have something to do, as I'm not as interested in how other people make their work, while I am much more interested in how they make their living today and why they make the work that they do.  I think for many of the presenters, their work in clay has spanned 20-50 years, which is pretty incredible!  Each of the ceramic artists that were presenting had work that stood out as being their own, with really specific ways of making work, so it was lovely to see them at work.

For a 1 day conference, this event is pretty good bang for your buck.  The presenter line-up was quite good, although they ended up having to change in 3 of the original presenters.  I would have really enjoyed seeing Linda Arbuckle at work...that being said, the sub-ins did a really amazing job of bringing a wealth of knowledge and entertainment to the mix.  There was a dinner after the event this year that was hosted by the BC Potter's Guild that gave me the opportunity to chat with Robbie Lobell and Lorna Meaden, which was really great.  Sometimes these types of conferences are more about connecting with people in your field and this was one of those years for me.

Image out-takes in order (all the really good photos will go to the organizers so they can promote the event)!
Takeshi Yasuda
Robbie Lobell
Mariko Paterson
Judy Weeden
Bob Kingsmill
Lorna Meaden
and Takeshi Yasuda's tools

Last time I went to the Symposium I wrote about a few of the presenters that really caught my eye including my ceramic professor Joan Bruneau, the remarkable Alwyn O'Brien, and Gailan Ngan who graduated at the same time as me.