facing the past

These are just some of the photographs that had belonged to Dean's grandmother of her friends and family through the 1920's in the Prairies of Canada.  Some familiar and unfamiliar faces of the past re-appear for us now as enlarged prints since Dean's mom scanned her mother's photo album into digital format.  We've noticed details within the photos that weren't clear before- little mysteries about who the faces are and what they are doing have made us more curious about our past heritage. 

In Process

It seems like my week goes by so fast these days and I am scrambling to keep up by thursday.  I've been meaning to glaze these new wheel-thrown vase forms in a new soft 'satin Matt' glaze that I mixed up in various shades of grey.  Hopefully that can happen today or tomorrow.  Won't they look lovely? Out of the 10 or so vases that I threw last week, I was happy with these three as a grouping.  Must make some more!
I must link today to the Luxirare blog- perhaps you've already found this AMAZING blog- for which I'm blown away by the Cuisine portion of the blog- the Pie Pops are stunning and look amazing, the Parfaits were jaw-dropping when she starts making juice 'caviar'... anyhow- photographer meets scientist meets packaging designer meets chef and I am absolutely blown away!

Chasing Pirates

We weren't actually 'Chasing Pirates' more than singing the song as we scoped out this old ship from Russia, complete with teenage Russian Cadets, that is parked in the harbour during the Olympics.  It was quite a sight to see and the boys were so excited to run down the dock to check things out. 
There's been lots to see and do here in Vancouver.  Unfortunately, having 2 boys with colds that are still busy with school and swimming doesn't really lend itself too well with seeing all the free concerts and being part of the masses of people downtown sharing the excitement of the day's medals.  Oh well, Jay and Kat came over for dinner and wine and we watched 2 hockey games and men's figure skating in their good company.  It made for a great evening!

Poppytalk International Art Market opens today!

I've got a bit of new work (and more to come this month) over at the Poppytalk Handmade Market that opens today! My new 'racing' stripe mugs and espresso cup and saucer have just been posted on Etsy over the weekend and I'm really excited to be introducing this new 'line' into my regular work.  I started this series in December as a custom set (2 Mugs, 2 latte mugs & 2 Espresso cups/saucers) for my photographer from his wife.  I made a couple of extra Mugs and espresso sets for Dean and have had rave reviews from men on these mugs.   I know there are men out there that use my Poppy mugs, but won't necessarily admit that to all their buddies;) 
After a quick peek over at the market, this is what caught my eye:

Teal and Gold's lovely wood-burning and S & P Mills

 

Good Morning Midnight's Wool knits  

  

Lines By Davis : Geometric Pillow -love that scarf too!

 

Paper Cuts and Hand-drawn Maps By Studio K

There's so much more to see over there so go and check it out!
Poppytalk Handmade Market

Happy Valentines Day

Just a little pre-Valentines post with the loves of my life photographed by the talented Sherri Koop this past summer.  Dean and I met 17 years ago and he's been the guy for me ever since.  He still makes me smile and laugh nearly every day.  I know that it's a rare treat to be married to your 'soul mate' and I'm extremely grateful to be in that place.
Happy Valentines Day to those of you who read my blog. Thanks for the comments over the past month- it means a lot to know when something strikes a chord with you as it does with me.  May your  weekend be filled with the encouragement of those who love you! And hopefully a sweet Valentine will come your way too!

Clearly Seen

 

There's an opening for an art show tonight that my good friend and painters Fiona Ackerman, and  Zoe Pawlak are putting on at On The Rise Artist Collective titled 'Clearly Seen'.  It's a show combining both abstract paintings from both artists and a couple of figurative ones by Zoe.  It looks like it's going to be a really exciting show, with both artists collaborating on a painting- live on the side walk outside the gallery over the week!  They will be having a silent auction for this painting with proceeds going to Haiti relief efforts! I'm hoping I can make it- the opening is from 5pm-9pm at 2231 S. Granville St. in Vancouver.

An Exciting Day!

 

We were very fortunate to be able to catch Karen Magnussen, former Canadian Olympic Figure Skater and silver medalist in the 1972 Olympics, carrying the torch through our neighbourhood today!  She continues to coach and train figure skaters locally and it was really wonderful to see her carrying the torch!  I'm starting to catch Olympic fever especially after Jan's post over on Poppytalk!

Along with the Torch excitement we've had, I also have received great news about some of the shows I've been applying for this year!  This spring I'm starting with the Blim Markets at Heritage Hall in March, April and May (hopefully I can keep up with this schedule).  The Markets will be on the 4 Sunday of the month from 11-4pm but I'll keep you posted.  I'm still waiting to hear back regarding my summer market schedule, but I'm really thrilled to be doing the One Of A Kind Show in Vancouver December 9-12 at the new Convention Centre!  I'm also a proud recipient of their New Artist Scholarship- so exciting!

A taste of Spring

The Olympics begin on Friday and we've had an incredibly warm winter.  So warm that many of my early spring flowers and trees are starting to bloom.  These were taken just today while we had sunny skies and enjoyed playing at the park with our neighbour friends without jackets on. 
Tomorrow I get to watch the torch relay with the boys.  Should be exciting!

In the mail

I just got my 'Uppercase Issue 4' in the mail today.  It's beautifully done once again, and I especially love the fold out 'calender of perpetual calender'. I'm looking forward to an inspiring afternoon looking through all the pages more closely!
On the home front, we are battling another flu bug and Dean leaves tomorrow for a  5 day trip to Dallas for a course he's taking.  It's going to be a long week, and possibly not much will get done.  My molds are drying out and I have a few new things in my studio-mate Grace's Bisque kiln that I hope to test glazes on later in the week.  Fingers crossed.

Making pretty molds

 

 Mold-making is something I don't normally do to make my ceramics, but it's a skill I'd like to develop.  Every now and again when I've done an intense stint of steady wheel-throwing, trimming and glazing and I get that nagging feeling in my wrists and elbows and a sore back I realize that my body has limitations.  I can't always do it all. And yet, the work doesn't just make itself.  

I got into slip-casting last year when I had a master mold-maker make a mold of a bottle vase form that I'd been wheel-throwing and then altering for a while.  It was an investment to get someone else to make the molds for me, however, the molds that he made were... perfect.  With barely a seam to clean up, and with the prototype being exactly 12% (shrinkage rate) larger than my original, it was a good intro to slip-casting for me. 

I've been wrestling with the idea of making other molds, for instance,  making my mug designs into a mold, but I can't really get over the lack of throwing lines on the inside of my mugs that wouldn't be there in a molded mug.  There is something about holding a mug and seeing the hand of the maker and the process that I get all nostalgic about.  Being that I feel so strongly about the work of mine that would be handled the most staying the most hand-made, I decided to give some slip-casting on a 'mini-series' or a little grouping of vessel forms that are outside of my regular work a try.  

So here's the start of this process- I'm working on a little set of dishes for my kids- and most likely other kids out there once I work out the kinks.  A small plate/bowl/cup, all 1 part molds to keep things simple and stackeable.  The molds above are the handle and bowl, I'm working on the plate and then cup over the weekend.  The molds all have to dry out before I'll be able to tell if they worked, but it feels like a good place to start. 

 

About the process: I used a broken plastic sheet from a flourescent light as the forms around my mold. Basically I used clamps to keep it 'round' a plastic bat or base. You have to seal the seams with clay so the mold won't leak when you pour in the plaster, but the pattern of the plastic make your mold look real pretty!  This idea is great for 1 part molds but L shaped forms are best for 2 or more part molds.

To make 2 or more parts to a mold, you can use "Murphy's Oil Soap" brushed onto the plaster approx 3 times (letting layers dry in-between) so the plaster doesn't stick to itself.  I also cast an 'overhang' top- no technical terms here, but a portion that allows the slip to stay above the lip when I'm pouring it in.  I cut off the excess with that top part on and it allows my lip to be even and nice.

'Poppies Up-date'

Just a quick up-date on the 'Poppies Award'- I was so glad (relieved & thankful) to see my favourite HANDMADE ceramic artists on the podium over at the Poppytalk blog.  Both the jury and people's choices were all really amazing shops highlighting my favourite artists and creators.  Congratulations to all of them:) especially the ceramic shops- Diana Fayt, Ayumie Horie, Up in the Air Somewhere, Ray Dunn and Brooklyn Rehab! Yay for handmade!

**UP-DATE: Faythe Lavine included all her favourite choices on her blog and my shop was in her ceramics category!  It makes me so proud- thanks Faythe!**

Scenes from the studio

A few ideas in the works.  I've made some time this month for some new work and ideas- it doesn't quite feel right to start the year off without some 'experiments'.  Today I hope to try to make a 1 piece plaster mold to get back into mold-making processes.  This video was the inspiration.  I'm also hoping to make a little mold-stamp out of the bottom of this vintage bottle I found- 'Made in Canada' which I only recently actually turned over and 'discovered'.  And a few vase form ideas inspired in part by Lucy Rie and also a 'bulb vase' concept. 

Researching Contemporary Ceramics

You might have noticed a lot of slip-cast ceramic images for various contemporary ceramic artist these days on my blog. I'm working on some designs for a collaborative slip-casting project with my good friend Disa, and in the process of my research I've been finding some really great work out there that I don't necessarily see on my usual design blog jaunts.  One thing I should say here is that I really enjoy doing a lot of research while I'm designing.  First off I think it's really imperative to know that your ideas are really your own, not just something that another artist is already doing.  It also is an important test of whether your work will hold up beside the work that's already out there. 

Anyways, here's the Dutch product/ceramic artist and designer, Ruth Lodder's work- which I think is really lovely.  It's interesting how she caught onto the trend of using 'found objects', in her case various jello molds, glasses, teacups, etc., then stacked them together to create her molds from.  Very clever and really lovely as you get all those references to classic shapes that are easily recognizable without being too simplistic!  The gold luster and patches of colour are also great- I'm always one to want to use colour to make my work my own and in her case, I think its stunning!

knotty knitting

My boys have been asking to learn how to knit ever since I learned how. Here they are, PJ's on, knitting together on the couch before bed.  Johnny's knitting a red neck-warmer, Sasha picked out rainbow yarn for a scarf.  Tonight Johnny mentioned that perhaps he could bring the knitting to school to work on during the lunch hour.  Made me smile from ear to ear. 
I hope he turns out to be as crafty as this dad who's interview on Bloesem Kids was full of great ideas of things that dad's and mom's can do and make with their kids.  (Found the link for Joel Henriques over at Fine Little Day)

Past and Present: Granville Isand 1978

Granville Island, late 70's looks pretty quiet compared to today.  Looking across the inlet there you can see how many highrises went up between then and now.  More to come...
It's February, a short and sweet month.  The Olympics is a mere 12 or so days away.  I'm planning a collaborative ceramics project with my good friend and former Emily Carr Art school-mate.  And Sasha turns the big 6 years old.  It's going to be a good month!