Still snowing...

Sunny, snowy, sunny, snowy, windy, cold. This weather is horrible.

where did spring go?

It's -13 outside right now. It started snowing on Friday afternoon, and it didn't stop until Saturday afternoon. It started again Saturday night, and snowed until approximately noon today. Needless to say, not nice outside.
I had a CCAA sale committee meeting today. We met to decide what we are going to do, and how we are going to do it. So, it looks like we will have a non juried show that starts on Sept 5th, with the opening gala on Thursday Sept 4th. This is contingent upon our getting the gallery space that is currently vacant in Art Central
I went to the studio this afternoon after the meeting, and worked on some new altered forms. I am anxious to see how they turn out. I am concerned that there might be cracking or separation at the seams were I pinch and cut the excess clay away.

Latest News

Snow!!! AAAARGH

It isn't yet, but they say that tomorrow we could get 10-15 cm's of the white stuff, and it is going to stick around too. Oh well, it's Calgary, and as we all know, the weather here is weird. You could be golfing on New Years Day, and have a blizzard in July.

Now that I have that off my chest...

I started working at Ceramics Canada a few weeks ago on Saturdays to help them out while one of their staff goes on maternity leave. It's kinda like writing a physics test when you haven't even cracked a text book or gone to a lecture. I mean, I know stuff, but not that much (I only know what I read, I don't have formal ceramics training). People have all kinds of strange questions, requests, etc. Like last week, someone wanted to build a blast furnace, and wanted to know what kind of clay he should use to insulate the walls. Good greif, I don't know...:). At least he had plans, and wasn't asking me how to actually build it.

I am sure I will learn a lot working there though

Currently, I am working towards a couple of sales. One is for the Fairview Studios Sale on May 10, the next one is in the middle of July at Centennial gallery, and then the Calgary Clay Arts Association (newly formed) is trying to put a sale together for the first part of September at Art Central to coincide with the Calgary Art Walk. Art Central has an empty gallery space where Dashwood Gallery used to be, and the management of the space is offering the space up to individuals and groups that want to show somewhere for a short period of time. It is rent free, they just take 10% of all sales.

This will be a juried show (I think, will know more after CCAA meeting on 20^th), so I need to start thinking about what I want to enter. It will probably be limited to 1-2 pieces per entrant.

That's all I can think of right now, and yay, it is almost time to go home (I am writing this at work – my bad)

Here are the latest pots. The glazed 3 part canister is the prototype, and the unglazd one is the 2nd one I have made. There was to be a 3rd 2 tiered box, but alas, it failed in the bisque. The lid, AND the bottom cracked. The celadon jar is just what it is, but has some interresting curlycues on top, and actually inspired the 3 part box set beside it.

Spring Pottery Sale

Here it is, the details for the upcoming Fairview Studios Pottery Sale!

Altered Pots (and other stuff_

It Snowed like crazy today, 8-10 inches in just a few hours fell this morning, and it was the heavy, wet and stickey kind. Then it got sunny, melted a lot of the snow, and then it snowed again. Right now it is clear, and mild, tomorrow it should be 10 degrees (celcius), and by Sunday it should be 21 degrees. This town sure has some crazy weather.

I will be taking some pictures tomorrow. My boxes were all in the kiln for a bisque firing over this last weekend, so I was unable to take any.
Taught a class this Monday, and my demo was tall cylinders. I have not thrown anything without altering it in some way in a while, so it was good to do it again, but I can see why I need the variety inherant in messing around with the freshly thrown pot, even if it is just squaring it off.
The Calgary Clay Arts Association is getting off to a pretty good start. We are planning a sale in September, and the e-mails are just flying.
The Airdrie Food Bank is having an empty bowls event in June, and in order to help supply some bowls, Galleria is hosting a "Clay-lympics" event. Various potters, the public, and hopefully some celebs will be on site to create some one of a kind bowls.

just stuff

Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything, but I have been busy working, making pots, having shows, and attending meetings.
I am a member of the newly formed Calgary Clay Arts Association, and we have been working on getting registered, and thinking of things to do for our first event etc.
I also attended my first AGM for Centennial Gallery. This is the only true cooperative gallery in Calgary, and has been in operation for 34 years. It is located in Palliser Square, right next to the Calgary Tower. The major topic of conversation tonight was the fact that the gallery will have to vacate its space as of Aug 31st this year, as the building will be undergoing very major renovations that are expected to last over a period of 1o years. There is a new tower being built, and then each of the other towers will be renovated to bring everything up to date. The managemet has asked that we remain as a tennant, but move to a new location closer to the Calgary Tower entrance. Sooo. I have just started showing my work there, and I am faced with another gallery move (The Galleria just finished moving into their new space in March). I am starting to think it is me...:P
I am currently working on some new, and for me, quite a diversion from my regular style of work. I will take some pics and post shortly. They are multi layer boxes, ranging anywhere from 2-5 sections in height. The body is thrown seprately, and a thrown base is added to each of the sections. The lids are constructed from a slab that has been draped into the opening, turned over, cut to fit, and then has additions of clay around the edge of the lid to add more substance and interrest. So far I have only glazed one of them, and there are some refinements in the glazing technique that I have to do, but just minior ones. The glaze is adding a thickness such that the lid does not quite fit right. I know this does not make much sense, so I will post some pictures shortly.

“We have a really good shoe...”

Sunday the 13^th will be the official opening of the Artists and Friends – Emerging Talent show at Centennial Gallery. I delivered and set up my work on Sunday, met one of the other participants (she is doing some really nice hand build work). I will be taking pictures of the event, and will post them Sunday night (unless I am too lazy).

I am looking forward to this event. It will be my first gallery show. I do sell out of Galleria, but they do not do shows, and are currently relocating, so as of Jan 31^st, I will not have a venue until March 1. I am hoping that Centennial will generate some new interrest in my work. I might even become a gallery member...not sure yet though. It is a cooperative, and so would require a commitment to work there on my part.

As for Galleria, I am excited about the move. They had to leave their current location due to the dramatic increase in their rent, but found a space in another trendy area of town (Inglewood). They are currently in Kensington, which is also a shopping destination hotspot, but good parking is hard to find, and it is too hard to get in and out of. The popularity of Inglewood is on the rise, whereas Kensinton has, in my opinion, peaked, and is now kind of flat.

Anyway, lots of change in the next little while, and hopefully it will all be for the good.

Casseroles

I Promised to post some pictures of my casseroles for Rebecca. So....here they are

Altered Teapots

pictures, yes, I did say I would post some didn't I. Anyway, here they are. The cruet set I was talking about didn't get a "before" picture, as it got glazed and ended up loaded in the kiln before I could take a picture. I will take one when it comes out of the kiln this week. All of these teapots were constructed by throwing the walls seperate from the bottom, and then attaching the 2 after I have shaped the body.

Those sure are nice jugs ;)

The glaze is out, and another went in today (I hope). I was going to take pics this last weekend, but the items I really wanted to take shots of were still waiting to be fired. I did however get my wine jugs out. I took them to the restaurant yesterday, and they are going to decide on a colour. I hope they go for the tea dust with iron rutile accents. It's easy to glaze, and looks fantastic, especially when beside a candle holder, as it picks up the reflections of the flame. Feels nice in the hand too.

It is a typical Italian restaurant, with faux brick fireplace, faux venetian plaster on the walls, terracotta tiles on the floor etc etc...

Anyway, just have to get the owner to approve the colour and price, and away we go.

I am currently working on a set of for eating bowls and a large serving bowl for my parents. They want to give it as a gift to a client. The 4 “eating bowls” would replace a dinner plate and would be used for things like really big salads, stews, pasta etc. I am not sure if they are the right size, but I like them. All the bowls have a flared rim and then some slipwork on the flared part. As this is strictly intended to be functional, I didn't get to crazy with the slip, so it will not have any deep crevices for food to get stuck in. They are all currently drying, all are trimmed and awaiting the bisque, which should be soon.

Patience is a Virtue?

The Kiln is cooling. I hate this part. Waiting.....and waiting.....and waiting......
The anticipation becomes almost unbearable. Then there is the bittersweet unloading. nothing comes out like you imagine they will. Sometimes the glaze runs too much and sticks to the kiln shelf, other times there is an extreme warping, or the glaze crawls. But then, there are the ones that far exceed our expectations. Like were two glazes run together to create something completely new and unexpected.
Will update on the results when they are in.

Thought I might put up some pics of my work. Nothing that isn't already in my facebook album though. I will take some new pics this weekend.

This, That, and the Other

Haven't written anything for a while, been a bit busy.
The sale went reasonably well. I sold a few things, and covered my costs. The studio got a lot of interest for classes. I demonstrated at the booth both days, and that always draws a crowd.
I am currently waiting for a glaze firing, as I have some sample wine jugs that need to be delivered to a customer for approval of colours and design etc.
Other than that, I have been trying to get out of a creative slump. I seem to be making the same things over and over again. Teapots, casceroles, large bowls oh my!. So...I mixed it up, and threw some round slabs, and some walls (ie: bottomless pots), and played around with attaching the wall to the slab in various ways. Some were rectangular, others oval, and then the oval ones got pinched in the middle to so that a cream and sugar, or a pair of cruets could fit snuggly in each space. I will post pictures to try and clarify this. Some were given handles on the ends, and one more got arched handles spanning the distance beteen the sides. I then took it a little further and "rolled" the ends gently upwards to ad a little lift to the pot and then added textured coil feet. Now that I think about it, I can see, in 2 days of trying to loosen up a little, I can see the progression from stiff to loose. The first 3 altered pieces were rectangular, with very crisp edges where the wall meets the base, and the sides were straight up and down, with little embelishment, if any. The last dish started out as an oval, and ended up to be quite fanciful. There is still tension in the piece, but when paired with the loosness of some of the elements, it is balanced quite well (in my humble opinion anyway).
We had another guild meeting a few weeks a go, and 4 of us met just this last Monday to hammer out our charter (bylaws, mission statement, etc). Everything seems to be going well. Now we just need to register the group, start collecting fees, and begin doing those things that guilds do.

Sale looming around the corner.....

I am such a procrastinator. I am participating in a craft sale on the 28-29th of the month, and true to form, I still have not decided what to take, how much to charge, or what I will demonstrate.
The craft sale is at the Calgary Stampede Roundup centre, and is the "Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive" show. Looks like I will be pricing things at midnight on the night before we set up.

It's snowing! argh

I was recently approached by a local restaurant in town. They want me to make a set of wine jugs for them (2 doz 1 litre, and 2 doz 1/2 litre). Comes at a good time for me, as the gallery I sell out of has had to begin searching for a new place due to rent increases. I just need to finish off a couple of sample jugs for them, get them to sign off on the pricing, get a deposit, and then buckle down and make them. It is funny with me, once I have to make something, the less I am interested in doing it. I throw according to my mood, not what I need to throw.
To be honest, this is the first true production commission I have had. People ask me to make one off pieces for them, but I rarely do anything en mass like this.