studio shop: Ceramics Friends

Grace and I, well, we share kilns.  We share frustrations and we share good things when they come our way.  We even share glaze recipes.  Yes, Grace and I share many things, because we are studio neighbours and have become good friends in the process.  Grace (aka eikcam designs) will also be having a little 'studio-warming' during our 'studio shop' since she just moved one studio over this past month, re-did the floors and painted and made everything look quite lovely in time for this coming weekend!  She's got lovely jewelry, very cute little bud vases that you can hang on your wall and cool new wall tiles that I'm quite fond of.  Her studio is right beside mine on the ground floor of the building.

We will call Claire of heyday design, the 'queen of mold-making', since she has truly mastered the art of, not only making amazing and beautiful molds, but also of slip-casting her Canadian vintage jar collection into porcelain oh so very thin and lovely.  To watch Claire work often leaves me a little breathless as she effortlessly and efficiently pulls out such delicate and detailed porcelain with such ease.  Truly, remarkable.
Heyday design can be found at the top of the stairs on the second floor at 975 Vernon Drive during our studio shop. 

Laura McKibbon or cul de sac design has been jet-setting herself and her ceramics around the globe these days.  Just back from Australia and heading to Denmark in September, Laura is most known for her silk-screened images onto slab-molded earthenware dishes.  My favourites include the 'canadiana' imagery of canoes  and canada geese but a close second are her silks-screens of branches, birds and doily designs. 
She will be showcasing her work at our studio shop along with Denise from Bronsino on the second floor ( up the stairs, through the door and down the hall) of our studio building!

Radiant Dark

Lucky you if you're in Toronto this week!  Not only is the Interior Design Show happening starting January 21st, but along with it,  exhibits in buildings around the city of emerging Canadian designers and makers!  A must see would be the Radiant Dark exhibit which will include my dear friend Claire of heyday designs, who's been busily working through December and into January on her porcelain cell phone chandeliers and lights.  I've been fortunate enough to seen the process in all it's various stages and before she left, she sent me the photo of the completed work!  Each cell phone was made into a plaster mold (a feat in itself), slip-cast and then all the electrical was wired by hand and the fixings made by her and her partner.  I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of it installed and wish her all the best this week!

What would I do without you?

There are so many people that make my life really full and wonderful! The past couple of weeks has really proved that for me once again, that I'm not just a solo show, but that my work is inspired and made better by the people around me. Here are just a few of the people I need to thank this week...
First things first, my studio is part of a co-op, so I share 2 kilns with 5 other ceramic artists. Our glaze kiln has been kaput for about a week now and, what can I say, but that we've all been panicking considering THE STUDIO CRAWL IS ONLY 4 DAYS AWAY- Yikes! The week previous, I had enlisted the help of my dear friend Disa, who I went to Art school with, who knows me so well, and who is extremely qualified in the area of ceramics, to come and help me out at the studio for a couple of days. We plowed through glazing 2 kiln-loads of work- some of which got out of the kiln without a hitch, and then some of it, was left waiting for the kiln to be fixed.
Today, the dear Claire from heyday designs in the studio upstairs came by to offer me the use of her kiln while ours was being fixed! Huge! And while all this was happening, Jacqueline, the trooper, was re-wiring and fixing our kiln (a 4 hour job!) so that those who need the kiln this week can actually use it. It's been a team effort- everyone has been attempting to pitch in and help out and what can I say but THANK YOU! Needless to say, thank you gifts are in order. I'm not sure what yet, but this pie from Uprising Breads that Disa and I shared on our lunch break the other day was mighty good tasting...

New ceramics on the Block!

I've really enjoyed getting to know Claire Madill recently, a 'new' ceramic artist that has her studio upstairs from mine. She graduated from Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design in 2007 from the same ceramics program I went through, but with different instruction and skills learned, she's all about slip-casting vintage items and patterns. Her new website just went up and I had to pass it along! I really love these new bottom jars: Edna, Vera & Mary, each size named after her 3 grandmothers! I've been admiring her porcelain jewelry for a while too (photo at the top) and might need to buy some closer to Christmas! She promises that her etsy shop will get stocked and open soon; in the meantime, her work is available at the Gallery of BC Ceramics in Vancouver, and Distill Gallery in Toronto!