For breakfast

I am loving some of the pottery I bought this year. 
Eating organic yogurt, home-made granola with frozen huckleberries out of April Gate's feather bowl.
Oranges served on Gailan Ngan's citrus carved celadon bowl.
Panettone on Laura McKibbon's goldfish kidney plate.
Home-made truffles on Fredi Rahn's star plate.
And a latte in Gailan's mug.

Maple or Honey Granola Recipe:
4 cups large oat flakes
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup chopped almonds or hazelnuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

2/3 cup Maple Syrup or Honey
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake on a parchment paper lined cookie tray for 20 min, stirring occasionally.
When cool add 1 cup dried fruit (optional).

Home-made Truffles - Martha Stewart's recipe made with Callebaut Semi-sweet chocolate.

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!

studio shop

It's been in the works for a couple of weeks now, a group of designers and makers from our studio building wanting to get together to have an open studio event before summer gets started!  I'll be posting more details here this month, along with some little insights and interviews with some of these great artists and designers (more than just pictured above).  If you are in Vancouver June 26th and 27th, you'll be sure to want to come by the Mergatroid Building to kick start your summer off! 

A visit with Laura McKibbon!

I happen to be a part of a studio building that is full of amazing ceramic artists and Laura McKibbon happens to be one of them! I met Laura a few years ago when she and I both had studios on Granville Island. I was just starting to explore the idea of making living out of ceramics (with the kids being still really young) and Laura's studio was across the alley from mine. I immediately loved her work, found her really approachable and it was great to make a connection. I was up in her studio this afternoon asking her some biz tips, which she was so kind to help me with! Between that and working out a little trade, I thought it might be nice to post about her today.
Laura's work work is sold in shops all over the world- check it out here to find a location near you! Her signature look has been her black silk-screened images on a white or pastel backgrounds, but she has been working on some new beautiful Lamp shades (image on the top) with patterns pressed and/or printed on them. She has recently done some amazing shows- there are links on the front page of her website that you can check out to see more images, especially from the beautiful bathroom project that she and Jasna Sokolovic, (another great ceramic friend I know from Emily Carr days) did together in Toronto at the Gladstone Hotel. Jasna and Laura often collaborate on projects together, which I think is really wonderful!