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!

Holiday Part 2...

Holiday part 2- Thanks to better weather and in better health, we took off last Wednesday for Vancouver Island to stay with my sister and her husband in Nanaimo. We have had so many good friends from Vancouver move to the Island lately that we spent the first 2 days visiting 3 sets of family friends in their new homes! It really is astounding the amount of land they have- big wide fields, talk of goats, chickens and livestock, these great little barns and tree houses for the kids to play in... well, needless to say, we felt a little jealous!
Back in Nanaimo, we went crab fishing with some good friends that were holidaying from Alberta, and although none of our crabs were actually big enough to keep, the mama seal and her baby that came up to the dock to say 'hi' made it all worth while in the end!

Website Up-dates...

While we were away on holidays this past week, my ceramics gallery on my website was being up-dated for me with the new photos from the last photo session! You will notice that some of the photos were 're-shoots' of work that looks similar, but the quality of photos we got this time around is really great! We took a lot longer working on the gradation of grey in the background and also bouncing light off 2 white cards (instead of just 1 or not at all) for each photo and I think the results this time around really look amazing. The photos are really crisp and the work stands out!
Thanks again Curtis and Chris (my web developper)! Now I've just got to get at it to up-date all the print/retail info and my site will be good to go for a few months again!

Home from Holiday Part 1

Well we are back from a week in Vernon, where we stayed with our good friends Marvin and Jenny and their 2 daughters that are the same ages as our boys. I'd love to tell you all that it was an amazing holiday, but to be completely honest, I was sick in bed for much of the week... Yuck. We arrived last monday and I was already feeling really tired and a bit off, but managed to make it with the family to the local farmer's market and up to SilverStar Mountain (middle image) for a hike. The fresh mountain air and wild-flowers up and down the hill were really something special to see, especially since we usually go up there in the middle of winter. I also managed to enjoy an amazing meal that Marvin made while he had his day off. From that point on I was pretty much flat out in bed for a whole day+ with a fever of a 104, the chills, the aches, an incredibly sore throat and so tired. It wasn't until friday that I finally made it to the doctor to find out that I had Strep Throat and needed to be on antibiotics. Amazingly, my boys had a great time, dispite the cloudy/wet and cold weather that was highly unusual for Vernon's usual hot and dry summer climate.
I will say that my two big highlights were going to the Value Village and finding a score of stuff- both for the boys and for myself (will share more tomorrow!), and I got to see the movie Julie & Julia! I won't spoil it for any of you who haven't gone- but I was smitten!
We are home for a couple of days and then off to Vancouver Island for the weekend... as long as no one else gets sick.

Summer Vacation!

We are off for a couple of weeks on family vacation! Since the fire in Kelowna changed our initial plans, we are heading out to stay with friends, but are bringing the tent and don't quite know where we will end up yet! Nothing like a little adventure to add to our fun. I might have a post or two in the meantime, but otherwise, I'll check back in later. Happy Summer!

Out and about...

Blog-worthy as of late.
A Plate a day: Heather Dahl
Nothing Elegant with a post on things you didn't know you needed until now.

Nesting

This lovely little family made a home in my sister's hanging basket just outside of her kitchen window. It was really neat to see both parents working together to bring these 4 little ones their food (bugs and flies!). When mom and dad were out getting bugs I was able to peek in and snap a photograph of the little birds- a rare treat to see, especially so late in the season!
Speaking of family, I've got one more night and day without my other half. Single parenting isn't my strongest suit. I much prefer to have Dean around to spell me off or to do things together with. I also miss him and am looking forward to his return. Unfortunately, our holiday plans went up in smoke the other night (quite literally). The forest fires that are currently raging near Kelowna are about 4 km away from a condo we had booked. While I'm pretty bummed about our foiled holiday plans, I feel for the residents who have had to evacuate and are sleeping in School Gyms or hotels, wondering if their homes will still be standing when they get back.

Farm & Art Tours

I had a great weekend on Vancouver Island visiting my sister's new home! One of the highlights was going on a mini farm and Art tour around the Nanaimo area. We really only got to 2 places this time around, considering that I had one sick boy to contend with, but here are the goods!

First off was an amazing Letterpress Studio and Art gallery called Strathcona Press, started by Jen Van de Pol and her partner Adrian Robertshaw, who I actually graduated from Emily Carr with- small world! It was great to connect with these two who moved from the Strathcona area in Vancouver last year to this amazing little property with a lovely house, yard, and beautiful studio! They are both full-time artists, working on a variety of projects, but fell in love with the letterpresss process, the presses, typography and printmaking along the way. The little gallery had a variety of vintage photographs with frames, lovely little drawings, letterpress prints and some Vancouver Roasted Coffee with letterpress printed labels. If you are ever on the Island, do stop by during the summer as they are open fri-sun, 3208 Hill Road, in Cedar, BC.
Then it was off to Hazelwood Herb Farm to see their garden and amazing different products that they make on the premises with the herbs they grow. From shampoo to soaps, ointments to dried herbs, this place had it all with a lovely little garden to roam around in too.

Beach

The hottest days of summer are best spent at the ocean where the cool breeze blows and there is so much to explore! Hope you are having a great August long-weekend!

Mid-Summer Checklist

We've had a complete heat-wave hit our normally mild West-Coast climate and it's really taken a hit on my energy level this past week! I think it's normally pretty hard to work during the summer; when the weather is so balmy and beautiful, all I want to do is hang out with the boys at the beach or the river.
I've started keeping seasonal checklists for myself to attempt to keep some balance in my life. I've put a list on the sidebar of this blog (just scroll down) to remind myself to enjoy each season and to make goals that aren't just 'work related'. This week I was able to check a few things off that list- namely going to the Theatre with the boys, and making strawberry jam! I had high hopes for those apricots (photo above), to make some sort of apricot tart or something, but they all just got eaten fresh!
On the studio front I was finally able to list a few of my tile frames (photo #1) on Etsy this week, only to have 8 of the 9 sell within 2 days of listing them. Wow! I had no idea they would be such a hit. Etsy gave me a little love this past week (photo #2) and my ginko leaf mugs got on the front page so that was nice. And my Ginko Teapot made it to Poppytalk's front page with some wonderful reasons to buy hand-made! The 70 reasons to buy hand made has been a great list, not only as incentive for me to further buy hand-made, but also as more reasons to keep making handmade!
I'm off to the Island this weekend to visit with my sister and then it's back here for another week until we are off on vacation. I'm on my own with the boys this week as Dean is leaving tomorrow on his big Roadrage Skateboard tour across the Okanagan with 150 teenage skaters. I'm always extremely thankful when they all get home in one piece!
Have a great BC Day long weekend everyone!

Rebecca's Bench

It's been 2 years since the passing of a friend and fellow Vancouver ceramicist, Rebecca Robbins to cancer. Her ceramics is a glimpse of what a warm and life-giving person she was during her lifetime. I knew Rebecca through Art school, but her impact as a working artist and mom left a strong impression on me when I had my own boys. I really admired her work, and was struck with the amazing connections she had with her family and friends when they spoke so genuinely of her at her memorial. Her husband just sent some of us an up-date on the bench they were raising funds for in honour of her life. The bench is at Trout Lake Park, in between the swimming spot and playground. There are still funds to be raised in hopes that the park bench will be maintained for perpetuity.
http://vancouver.ca/parks/info/gifts/lastinggift.html

I heart BC & Lucky Troll

BC Day, our Provincial August 1st long weekend holiday is coming up and in honour of this beautiful province of ours, I thought I'd highlight another great Vancouver Etsy shop: Lucky Troll! Since Canadians are notoriously provincially-minded, I thought the 'Home is Where the Heart is' Pendants were extremely clever and sweet. Each one is hand cut by jewelry designer Katty, out of silver in the shape of provinces or states, even Islands or continents for custom orders! I love the abstract, yet familiar shape of these pendants and with a cut out heart... well home really is where the heart is! I was really smitten with many other things from the shop and will certainly be back!

Summer in the City

It's been a great month to catch up on city life as there is so much going on and surprisingly, so many free or budget-conscious events around town to take part in. We were able to get out to Cates Park for their Concert in the Park series, especially to see the Hermit play! It was a great show and the boys loved seeing the bands play while they kicked a soccer ball around and played tag! (I forgot my camera for this one so no great pics of the band playing with the ocean in behind them, and the lightning storm that was so spectacular right afterwards.. too bad.)
While there, a few of us got free Theatre Under the Stars tickets to go to see Annie! I haven't been to an out-door music theatre since I was a kid so this was a real treat! We went with our neighbours last night and saw a pretty amazing performance of a 9 year old girl acting and singing the part of 11 year old Annie. The boys were really engaged with the story line- a little worried after about the whole idea of being an orphan and orphanages afterwards. I guess Miss Hanigan left enough of an impression on them;)

SUPER SALE: 25% off on the 25th!

The Gallery of BC Ceramics is having their semi-annual 25% off on the 25th of July this Saturday and I wanted to remind all those Vancouverites out there that this includes my recent work from my solo show! There are some larger pieces that would certainly be significantly lower in price: for instance, these square plates at $58 (a steal to begin with) are now only going to be $43.50 at 25%off! The best part is that I still get my 50%, it's the gallery that takes the discount off! It's a serious sale that you won't want to miss! I'll also be by the gallery for part of the day so come on by and say hi! My solo show closes July 27th!

Thinking ahead...

Fall-winter has been on my brain since May for some reason- possibly registering my youngest son for Kindergarten had something to do with it, or maybe it's that I've had to apply for all my Christmas shows in spring and was able to get word back regarding which ones I got into. Anyways, for all those reasons and more, I've been planning the fall and wanted to share with you some news!
The first thing that's on my radar is that my work is moving East! The Gardiner Museum Shop in Toronto has requested my work and I'm working out an order to send to them in time for mid-September! This is really exciting for me- The Gardiner Museum is a ceramic museum mostly specializing in historic ceramics, but they often have contemporary ceramic shows there as well. Since they showcase ceramics from all across Canada, it feels quite an honour to be included!
I have a few more things in the works that I'm waiting to hear back on, but until then, I'm really excited to be part of the Shiny Fuzzy Muddy Show and Sale for their 10th edition December 12 & 13 at Heritage Hall on Main st.! This is a really great group of artists and designers who have been organizing this invitation-only Christmas show for the past 9 years. I'm super excited to be included and I'll be sure to post more later on in the year.