A very VERY good day…

by | Oct 12, 2012 | Uncategorized

Well it’s not often in my life that I get the rockstar treatment by being flown across the country for an awards ceremony, so I savored every moment. The Canadian Clay and Glass sure does put on an amazing show. I was beyond honored to be shortlisted for the Winifred Shantz Award, and to top it off an extra special treat was to have the keynote speaker be none other than Jack Sures, a Canadian Ceramic treasure, and one of my very first ceramics professors. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he is a huge part of the reason I am doing what I’m doing today. It was fantastic to have sometime to enjoy his retrospective exhibition at the gallery, a must see if it tours anywhere near your hometown.

This little piece of mine was up in the gallery when I got there! (yeah!)

And here I am with the incredibly talented Eliza Au who took home the top prize.
Many Congrats Eliza! 

 
All in all not too shabby a day. I meet some lovely people, soaked in some wonderfully encouraging words about my work and had a full 24 hrs of quiet away from the family which was enough quiet to fill my mind with newly inspired ideas for some new pieces…

A huge thanks to everyone at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery for all their dedicated hard work and support of Canadian Ceramics. Beautiful gallery, amazing staff, wonderful experience. And thanks to everyone who sent me such lovely words of encouragement over the last few weeks. Your support and kind words mean the world to me. Cheers!

xoxoxox

by | Oct 9, 2012 | Uncategorized

Well it was Thanksgiving this past weekend here in Canada and I spend a lovely weekend with family out at the in-laws cabin, enjoying the wonders of nature, the closeness of family, the many blessing of my life, and the simple joy of figuring out how to shift gears on the dirt bike : )

I also in my refection I thought of this blog and how thankful I am to everyone that has supported it year after year. This truly is a very rewarding and fun part of my creative life. I’m thankful for all the friends near and far that I have made through this blog, all the opportunities it has giving me and the community that has been brought together as a result.

I wish you all the best and thank each and every one of you, sincerely from the bottom of my heart.

xoxoxo

Carole 

technical tuesday: Natural Glazes: Collecting and Making

by | Oct 9, 2012 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday

via Amazon:
“Making your own glazes is a fascinating and rewarding process, even more
so when making them from collected ingredients. With little equipment
and following a few basic principles, it is possible to harvest glaze
ingredients from your local environment, such as clay, subsoil, plants
and seashells, to achieve beautiful results in the kiln. Whether you
wish to make an entire glaze using collected materials, or just want to
use them as additions to existing base recipes, Miranda Forrest explains
how to source and prepare natural ingredients, from degraded rocks to
seaweed, as well as giving step-by-step instructions for mixing a glaze,
testing samples, and finally applying glazes and firing your work.
Contributions from contemporary ceramicists who use natural glaze
ingredients give a detailed insight into their working methods and
intriguing results. Encouraging experimentation and a creative approach,
Natural Glazes is a vital resource for anyone wishing to work in a more
natural, sustainable way to develop their unique glaze effects.”

“Miranda Forrest is a working ceramicist and graduate of the BA Honours
degree at the Glasgow School of Art. Based on the beautiful and remote
Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, she develops her glazes
from locally collected ingredients and the surrounding environment
inspires her work.”

Buy a copy here.