Room6: Holiday Open House this Friday!

Well I'm pretty much in over my head getting the last of the last, of the very last work out for this year! I did want to give a little heads up about one of my very favourite and first ever shops, Room6.  It's the cutest little shop in Deep Cove that is completely full of the most lovely gifts for all the special people in your life, including you!  I usually drop work off, spend about an hour talking to the very lovely Megan, and then proceed to walk out with a few new things (it's like a trade, ok?).   Room6 was one of the first shops that really took an interest in my work and believed that it was special, and I truly do give Megan a lot of credit for giving me the chance to sell my work in her beautiful shop on and off over the years. 
This friday evening she is hosting her 8th Annual Open House (has it really been 8 years already??), and you will find the most lovely gifts for everyone in your life, including some very, brand-new work by yours truly, created especially for Room6! 
photos from here!

Eastside Culture Crawl 2012 re-cap

A quick little photo re-cap for you of the Eastside Culture Crawl, which I've spent the week recovering from.  It's always great to clean up the studio and get everything looking spiffy for people to see my work. I try to hide some of the distracting 'tools of the trade' for the day because it's a little less cluttered to view the work without buckets of glaze and slip hanging around.  I guess one of these days I'll have a studio open house where I'll actually do a demo and have my wheel or casting table exposed, but for the Crawl, there's so many people in and out of the studio that it's too hard to have it all going on in the same space. 
This year the Crawl felt quieter but perhaps the soggy weather kept everyone home and under covers.  All the same it was so lovely to say hello to many familiar faces and friends.  Truly grateful for this event, all the press I received this year, and the many compliments and encouraging words!

Eastside Culture Crawl 2012!

Lots of pots are being pulled out of the kiln for the Eastside Culture Crawl that's happening this coming weekend, November 16, 17 & 18. I will have lots to choose from my floral lines, as well as a great selection of pots with new patterns and designs!  I'm really excited to get my new studio ready for visitors too- it's going to be a great weekend so please do come  by if you are in Vancouver!

The Eastside Culture Crawl is a 3 day studio tour and show taking place on the Eastside of Vancouver.  There is a large map in the insert of the Georgia Straight so grab one when it comes out on Thursday so you know which studios are open.  The beauty of the Crawl is that you are visiting working artists in the studios where they produce work.  There are over 300 artists opening their studio doors for the Crawl weekend- everything from painters and sculptors to jewelry and hand-bag designers, to ceramics, glass and furniture designers.  The whole event is free to attend! It gets quite crowded with parking on Friday night, so you might want to consider taking transit.  The Mergatroid Building (where my studio is) and 1000 Parker St. are the largest studio buildings in the zone, so if you just have a few hours they are great buildings to check out.  Of course, please do come by and say 'hello'- look for the turquoise door on the ground floor of the Mergatroid Building, 965 Vernon Drive.  Hope to see all the local Vancouver people there- it's such a fun event and worth the extra effort to come out!!

Gwyn Hanssen Pigott at the MOA

I braved the rain on Saturday to get to the Museum of Anthropology for Gwyn Hanssen Pigott's talk that she gave as part of her exhibit called 'pleased to meet you, introductions by gwyn hanssen pigott'. It's a beautiful and inspiring show whereby Gwyn surveyed the entire collection at the MOA and created installations and groupings based on her aesthetics, interests, and ideas from within her own practice.  Her porcelain groupings of bottle forms, bowls, and beakers are stunningly simple are inspired by the still life paintings of Geogio Morandi, as well as Bernard Leach, Lucy Rie, Michael Cardew, and Hans Coper- all potters that she met and was mentored by in her in her early years of setting up a studio practice in England, France, and then in Australia.  Still an incredibly prolific and highly regarded ceramic artist at 77, I feel pretty in awe of her humble and honest approach to making work.  While appearing understated, her work clearly required a lifetime of skill to achieve such subtle line, curve, and luminosity in porcelain.

This subtle and simple approach was noted as she carefully considered each installation and chose how museum objects would converse together in cases interspersed with her work.  With all the historical information such as dates, places, makers, and context only available in the catalogue, each installation became about a conversation of hand-made objects and the careful consideration and choices made by the artist. Tools, jewelry, wooden boat models, clothing, paper-making materials, ukranian painted eggs, a fan, figurines, and of course, pottery were re-contextualized as the concept of 'parade' or 'transparency' or 'colour' brought them together within a new frame or case.  Clearly the possibilities to organize or bring together objects was endless with 38 000 objects to choose from and only 4 days to do it in!   

Probably my favourite installation included the wooden boat models with Ukranian Easter Eggs carefully nested inside.  The fanfare and celebratory grouping seemed to symbolize Pigott's recent residency and experience in India, where she saw masses of people in brightly coloured sari's and outfits on a pilgrimage to a religious festival. This mixing of her experience in different cultures in the place of handmade objects felt as though it was creating new meaning and memories, especially for objects which no longer function as they were once intended for.  

The Clay Studio Shop, Gifted Exhibition

I'm really honored to be part of an exhibition that opens tomorrow through The Clay Studio, called 'Gifted'.  I sent a batch of work to the Clay Studio in September that includes a range of pieces, from teapots to mugs to some very large and lovely bowls.  Some of the work is expected to be included online, but if you happen to be in Philadelphia, please do check out the three galleries above that are hosting the exhibition. It's sure to be an amazing display with the work of over 100 ceramic artists from all over North America.   Here's the write-up:
 

Gifted

Reed Smith, Harrison, Bonovitz Galleries

November 2 - December 30, 2012 

Opening reception, First Friday, November 2nd, 5pm - 9pm

 GIFTED, has over the years, become known as THE exhibition for one to purchase the finest original hand made ceramic objects available nationally. Hand made objects have an incredible ability to speak, interact and relate with their user. The subtle joy in selecting one's favorite mug for morning coffee is a ritual that should be shared by all. Those momentary pauses to appreciate the creative expression of the maker, the form, design, feel and or surface of the object they created, are meaningful and enriching, truly adding to the quality of one's daily life.GIFTED is the perfect opportunity to experience this not only for yourself, but for those you love.