Designer Gallery on House & Home

House & Home online has recently created a 'Designers to Watch' Gallery that includes yours truly (me!) along with other amazing and talented artists and designers with links to their sites and work! 

It's Tuesday!

April is flying by and I finally got a hold of those photos I took over the Easter weekend that we had lost on my sister's computer!  I had really wanted to share some of them on my blog, so I'll be posting a few in the coming days. 

A little link love for starters... Maria from Hold has an interview on Scout Magazine and she was kind enough to do a little mention of my blog at the end of her interview! You can check out Maria's felted bowls on her Etsy shop- I featured her work on my blog when she first set it up!  I'm looking forward to meeting Maria in person at the Blim Community Market this Sunday (11-4 at Heritage Hall).  Always great to put a face to a name!

On a business note, I finally filed my taxes for 2009.  As a 'small business owner' filing taxes can be a challenge. I think the most frustrating part of the book-keeping end of things is figuring out which expenses go under which category on the actual tax form and sorting out what my 'cost of goods sold' really is.  I'm not really a numbers kind of gal and to try to sort out roughly the cost of the material and the cost of selling an item... well let's just say I get a little dizzy thinking about those things.  Every year when I do all the math I get a bit depressed.  I know that it's best for me to pay as little tax as possible, however it is hard not to let the after-expenses take-home amount get to me. I've been reminded though that at least the number wasn't in the minus. Hmmm.

With that positive frame of mind, I will say that my Canadian House & Home feature has been a great way to re-connect with people I haven't been in touch with in YEARS!  It's amazing how every few days I get an email or even a letter or phone call from an old friend who saw me in the magazine and wanted to say hi again!  It's brought me back to remembering why I do what I do and how my original concept of connection in art and life has come full circle.  I think originally I felt as though I was the one reaching out to connect the two, now it's the other way around.  I'm very thank full to still be on this journey of making work. It's a labour of love, that's for sure! 

My copy of House & Home finally arrived...

just as it is due to be on news stands across Canada! 
Just some little tidbits for those that are interested:
I am making my way through orders and inquiries as they come in- thanks for your patience in this regard.  There is a wait-list for the tile frames (mini ceramic paintings) so please email me if you would like to be notified as I have more in stock.  I am making more of the Dutch Folk Art Vases (as I got too attached to the ones I made in my mini-series) and they should be ready over the next 3 weeks.  Also, I am the sole maker of my ceramics and it takes me time to make the work so thanks in advanced for being patient if your order takes a week for me to ship out.

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!

House & Home Feature!

I'm very excited to be featured in Canadian House & Home's April 2010 issue in their 'Style Files' section!  I've had a great response of my work from subscribers who have received the magazine before it's even on the news stands! Having just gotten back from Vancouver Island (sorry- no niece or nephew yet), I haven't had the chance to see the feature, but will be sure to share it soon! These photographs (really small resolution- hopefully I'll get larger files) were taken by the very talented photographer, Janis Nicolay back mid-December.