by Carole Epp | Jul 6, 2026 | workshops
Parallel Play is a 1.5-day workshop in Toronto’s east end built around the joy of pure experimentation. Through terra sigillata, slips, engobes, symbolic imagery, narrative mark-making, and low-fire glazes, you’ll shake up your surface language and rediscover what makes making fun.
Jenny Mendes is a full-time studio artist and educator from Chesterland, Ohio, whose practice has been shaped by residencies across Europe and Asia — we are so excited to welcome her to Toronto! Annie McDonald has been running a low-fire ceramics practice in Brighton, Ontario since 2003, and as a former art teacher, FUSION mentorship alumni, and recipient of our Best in Clay award, she brings warmth, expertise, and a whole lot of heart.
As longtime friends and collaborators, Jenny and Annie bring something to the learning environment that goes beyond a typical workshop. It’s a genuine creative exchange, and you’re invited in.
📅 August 8–9
📍 MUD The Clay Studio, Toronto
www.clayandglass.on.ca/workshops-parallel-play
by Carole Epp | Jul 4, 2026 | Uncategorized
Join us next Friday, July 10, 2026, at NOON/ET right here on Instagram for a live conversation with Shikha Joshi, moderated by Antra Sinha.
Shikha Joshi: “My creative process results from the interplay between form and function. I like to create pots with strong shapes with the guiding principle of good functionality. I am drawn to the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi. Loosely translated, it means beauty in imperfection. I strive to create pieces that echo the earthy landscape reflecting the austere beauty of the natural world.
Experimenting with the chemistry of ceramic material in an electric kiln is the bedrock of my practice. My process consists of layering multiple glazes, incorporating a variety of soils and crushed rock, collected in my travels, directly on the surface of my pots. The results evoke the same natural elements that inform and inspire my work. Reimagining possibilities from electric firing continues to guide my journey and evolution as a potter.”
Shikha Joshi is a studio potter based in Round Rock, Texas. Born and raised in New Delhi, India, she began ceramics through community classes and workshops in the United States. Her work has been featured at galleries, Companion, Charlie Cummings Gallery, and ClayAKAR, and is included in permanent collection of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Joshi has been published in Ceramics Monthly, Surface Design for Ceramics, and 500 Platters. She has taught workshops nationally and internationally and serves on the board of The Studio Potter and on the advisory board of the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
Join us on Instagram Live on July 10!
by Carole Epp | Jul 4, 2026 | workshops
Surface Matters is an invitation to linger at the edge of material—where clay stops being form and becomes language. Here, surface is not finish but beginning: a place where fire, hand, air, and time leave their traces. Glaze blooms, breaks, and crawls; textures gather like memory; colour settles like weather across skin.
Across these conversations, artists explore surface as terrain—layered, unstable, alive. Each mark holds evidence of process, place, and intuition, revealing how matter can speak when pushed, coaxed, or allowed to unravel. In this gathering, surface is everything: the record of making, and the space where meaning quietly emerges.
In 2021, AX conducted a survey of potters, ceramists, and other industry professionals in the Atlantic provinces. The results were clear: a need for a tighter, stronger ceramics community. In response, AX is offering the only ceramics conference in Atlantic Canada.
Join us October 1–4, 2026, for the third biennial AX Atlantic Ceramics Conference: Surface Matters. Over four days, the conversation unfolds through the work and ideas of Alex Bevan-Baker, Joan Bruneau, Chris Colwell, Matthew Cripps, Darren Emenau, Jamie Germaine, Maria Guevara, Linda Homenick, and Tim Isaac—each offering a distinct approach to clay, process, and surface.
Your registration includes a welcome kit and access to a full program of talks, discussions, presentations, playful exchanges, networking opportunities, a live music concert featuring Montreal-based Pastel Blank, and a studio tour with Linda Homenick. Light breakfast and lunch are provided on Saturday and Sunday, offering space to gather, pause, and continue the conversations beyond the stage.
Optional experiences extend the weekend further: a raku firing workshop with Tim Isaac, and a bus tour through the studios of ceramic artists across Saint John, the Kennebecasis Valley, and the Kingston Peninsula—both available at an additional cost.
At its heart, the weekend is about community in motion—artists meeting artists, ideas crossing tables, and connections forming in real time.
Register now at axartscentre.ca
by Carole Epp | Jul 4, 2026 | residency opportunity
NEW Summer Ceramic Residency ✨
What better way to vacay than with clay on the coast? 🌊
Spend your summer at Ilwaco Artworks, where salty air, slow days, and clay come together just steps from the ocean.
1 week • 2 weeks • 1 month residencies available
ilwacoartworks.org
