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.   

Clay Symposium Round-up

I had hoped to do a bit more comprehensive blog on the other 6 presenters that I haven't really had time or space to even mention, but I'm going to try to finish off my own personal experience at the Clay Symposium by wrapping it up today.  It's pretty hard to take in 9 workshops in 1 day and everyone was certainly trying to make the most of their time.  So here are my last impressions of this year's Symposium...
Kathy Venter's workshop was right in the middle of the common space and so I would walk by to catch her progress on these life-sized figures several times throughout the day.  If you know anything about working in clay, making a life-sized free-standing figure of a woman in clay and firing it is no easy feat.  There are no joins here- it's no puzzle that you can pull apart the head, torso and legs and then put it back together. She was fired completely as one piece and getting her not to crack or blow up for that matter is truly remarkable!  I didn't catch much about the why's of Kathy's surface choice- perhaps it's a nod to Abstract Expressionism that she splatters coloured slip onto her figures after she's so meticulously sculpted theme realistically.  I guess that was the draw-back to a 'walk by' approach of a workshop on my part- I didn't really sit down to ask those burning questions like I should have. 

Now there were in fact some male ceramic artists presenting at the Symposium: Les Manning, Don Hutchinson, Peter Powning, Robert Barron and Jack Troy.  There were a number of really great workshops that I missed out on.  Some tag-team throwing.  A great discussion on the Aesthetics of Ceramics by Les Manning and others.  Huge 'manly' pots getting thrown- you know the 40-50 lbs of clay getting centered all at once kind.  The kind of pots that would basically throw my wrists and back into the early stages of Arthritis.  I would have loved to have taken this all in. 
However, what I did get to listen to was the keynote speaker, Jack Troy's talk on Aesthetics at the end of the Symposium.  If you ever, ever have the chance to hear this man speak- drop everything and do it!  Here is someone who's ability to weave story-telling, poetry, some 50 (really rough number here on my part) years of clay experience into a captivating and awe-inspiring talk on what it means to work in clay.  He asked such poignant questions- such as  'What was your first memorable aesthetic moment?  When did you first notice the beauty of a shape, design, pattern for the sake of it's beauty?  What was it about that moment that changed you?'  His poetry was amazing- probably more so because he was speaking to the converted here- a wack of us clay-o-philes who are crazy enough to be covered in clay day in and day out.  But seriously, his talk was really a highlight and hopefully there will be a u-tube video that someone puts up so it can inspire more than just those of us that were fortunate enough to be there!
There's my wrap-up.  Hopefully there are others who are blogging about their experience of the Symposium.  Thanks for hanging in there with me this week and taking the time to read and comment on my posts!  Have a beautiful weekend!

Clay Symposium Part 3: Gailan Ngan Workshop

Even though my time at the Canadian Clay Symposium was a little limited, due to my volunteering time, and all these amazing workshops going on simultaneously, I did manage to pop into Gailan Ngan's workshop and artist talk for some brief moments. Gailan and I go back to our Emily Carr days where we shared a studio space together at the school in our 4th year, graduated together and we've managed to keep in touch since, so I've seen Gailan at work before.  Basically raised to be a potter, Gailan's dad, Wayne Ngan is one of Canada's most respected and well-known Potters.  Gailan and her sister were brought up on Hornby Island to breath and live out the pottery lifestyle of their dad.  Gailan started her own little cornershop pottery studio out of what used to be a convenient store in the Strathcona part of East Vancouver back in 1997.  Since then, she's carved out a niche for her pottery, to the point where her work is part of some of the same collections as her dad's. 
Gailan's work is lovely.  Simple.  Modern. Pure.  They feel good to hold and touch.  There is a weight and a feel to the work that is hard to describe.  Solid and smooth, like a stone.  I love her use of colour and glazes.  The bowls above remind me of Rothko paintings. And her table settings look sculptural when displayed, but would look so lovely to be eaten off. 

You can find more of Gailan's work on her website here.

Clay Symposium Part 1- Alwyn O'Brien Workshop

Well the 2010 Clay Symposium may not exactly be NCECA, but it's the next best thing for local British Columbia clay buffs who may not have the cash to get all the way to Philly for a weekend of 'clay shop talk'.  There's a lot to cram into one day when there are numerous workshops going on simultaneously by 9 visiting clay artists.  Despite it's small size, the presenters this year were a really amazing bunch of Ceramic artists- both emerging and established, wheel-throwers, hand-builders, and sculptors- really, there was something for everyone to get inspired by.  Hopefully I can touch on a few of them this week- some will be more in-depth than others as I was volunteering and couldn't make it to all the workshops I had hoped to see.
I was most inspired by emerging artist Alwyn O'Brien, originally from Salt Spring Island, who is just finishing off her Master's Degree at the University of Washington.  Seeing the layers of imagery that she builds up on slabs of clay before forming them into a vessel is like watching a painter at work.  For her small work, she will often just silkscreen using under-glazes that are a little on the thicker side, directly onto the slab.  For her larger work she uses a plaster form that she may have already carved a motif/design right into the slab.  Then she silkscreens onto the plaster.  Painting and pouring underglazes on the top of the silkscreens creates 'backgrounds' of colour, while the foreground becomes the first screens that were laid on.  Scratching delicate lines or using washes of underglaze again builds up a background.  Finally she sprayed/sponged water over the entire slab before putting a rolled piece of porcelain on top and rolled it into the plaster. Leaving it for a few seconds before peeling away, the dramatic moment of the image transferring onto the porcelain was awe-inspiring.  Of course the painter in me is pretty stocked about the possibilities of this type of mono-printing method.  With the absorption of the underglaze into the clay, there isn't the obvious raised lines and brush strokes of actually painting directly onto the clay.  Alwyn then uses these slabs to construct Vessel forms- the photo above is a bisqued example before she even begins to apply glazes.  She still will fire her pieces multiple times with various glazes, decals, and lusters.  Each of her screens and images that she uses comes from her own personal history and interests and it was really wonderful to hear the why's and the how's of her own personal aesthetics in making her work.
Here is more of her work from Prime Gallery in Toronto.

By the way-thanks to everyone who has been gracious in congratulating me on the Canadian House & Home piece! I am still 'patiently' waiting to find a copy, but have been busy packing up orders and responding to emails to bide the time.  And if you are newly visiting my blog- thanks for stopping by and welcome!

The Great Wait

The last days of a pregnancy can feel like forever.  You want this baby that you've been carrying for 9 months to finally be held in your arms.  You want the unknown of the delivery to be over.  You don't want to have to wait any longer.  

My sister is in this 'waiting' period (she's 2 days overdue) right now and my own wait for both my boys (13 days overdue for Johnny, 4 for Sasha) feels fresh in my mind while I think about what she is feeling and going through.  There's the nervousness and a restlessness that everything will turn out alright, the worry that something might go wrong, the excitement about this new little life inside of you, the mystery about how it will all happen and the hope that comes with this life changing yours forever.  It's an amazing time.  We are off for a couple of days to provide a little distraction for her while she is waiting.  Perhaps we won't have to wait with her while we are there and we'll be lucky enough to be around for the birth of my new niece or nephew!

 

And when I get back I'm off to volunteer for the Canadian Clay Symposium that is happening this weekend!  There are some great presenters and workshops this year, so after I help out with registration in the morning, I'll have the afternoon to go to workshops and visit with ceramic instructors and peers from my old Emily Carr days.  I'll have pictures and hopefully some good photos for next week so stay tuned!