Blogger won’t let me reply today.

So this is my response to a comment left on my post regarding to an upcoming opportunity. Hi Isabelle, Thank you for reading my blog. I am never sure if anyone out there is actually reading this thing, or if I am just talking to myself :) As to your question about how ceramics is doing over here in Canada, I can only comment on Western Canada and then only as it relates to Calgary, Alberta. Canada is big… Also, my opinion is narrowly focused on functional pottery. I have found that there is definitely a perception that functional pottery is not an art in and of itself. It is considered a craft, and as such does not qualify as ART. This then means that potters are not fully fledged artists, but are categorized as artisans. This makes it hard, not impossible, but still difficult to get represented by galleries. I guess if you can’t hang it on the wall, it’s not ART. Don’t get me wrong, there are really well known and well represented potters out here. But it does seem to always be the usual suspects that get the attention. However, that being said, if a region has a long history of clay, then the public and the galleries have a better understanding and more respect for it as an art form all on it’s own. This is probably most true in the Eastern United States where the tradition of pottery has been around for much, much longer. Alberta does have a clay history, but it is no where near as long as places like North Carolina etc. Alberta is only officially 109 years old, so we are mere babes in comparison. Hope that sheds some light on the ceramic art situation over here. I am by no means an expert on this, so this is only my very humble opinion based on a very limited perspective… Thanks again, Ashley