260 FINGERS: TOP CERAMIC ARTISTS CONVERGE FOR EXHIBITION AND SALE

by | Sep 26, 2016 | Uncategorized

Maureen Marcotte
175
Third Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario
Opening/Vernissage:
Friday, November 11, 6-9pm
Saturday,
November 12 and Sunday, November 13, 10am-5pm
If BBC’s reality TV show The Great Pottery Throwdown, high-profile
art competitions like RBC’s Emerging
Artist Peoples Choice Awards, and numerous prestigious international
ceramics competitions are any indication, clay is now being acknowledged as a valued
contemporary medium that is increasingly popular with artists, audiences and
collectors. Ceramic work has spread its wings and is catching some well-deserved
limelight! The ceramic world has become…well…something akin to sexy!
But this is something that the members of
260 Fingers have known for decades, and celebrating high-calibre ceramic work
is the reason this speacial exhibition and sale was established 12 years ago. This
November 11-13th, the twenty-six ceramic artists and potters of 260
Fingers 2016 will congregate at Ottawa’s Glebe Community Centre for their
annual exhibition and sale of some of the most inspiring and diverse ceramic
work from Ontario and western Quebec. The breadth and caliber of this show is recognized
as unique in the province and features work from functional to sculptural,
wood-fired to electric-fired, from formal, to functional, to highly decorative. 
The event features numerous award-winning
artists with international followings. This past
summer, among the 100 participating artists in the prestigious Biennial of
Ceramics in Taiwan, six were from Canada. Four of these six were our own 260
Fingers artists: Lisa Creskey, Paula Murray, Reid Flock, and Cynthia O’Brien
who travelled to Taiwan for the exhibition. Others have participated in
national and international residencies over the last few years. Still others have
had significant exhibitions locally and internationally. Each of the artists
views 260 Fingers as a welcome opportunity to present their newest and in many
cases, most daring or challenging work.
Each year new guests are invited to
participate to help keep 260 Fingers fresh. 
This year’s guests are Toronto potters Chiho Tokita, Loren Kaplan, Jeannie
Pappas and Heather Smit as well as Quebec artists Don Goddard and Marianne
Chenard.
On Friday, November 11, from 6-9pm, the
gorgeous, domed atrium of the Glebe Community Centre will open its doors to
visitors eager to be among the first to view and purchase this year’s new work.
The vernissage is open to everyone and is truly a festive celebration of
ceramic work complete with music, food, drink and lively conversation.  The show continues Saturday, November 12 and
Sunday, November 13 from 10am – 5pm. Artists will be present all weekend. Tours
of the show are each afternoon at 2pm and offer an opportunity to hear about
each artist’s unique work and processes and to ask any questions you may have
about their work and studio practice.
260 Fingers is a free event. For more
information please email [email protected]
or call Maureen Marcotte at 819-459-3164. 
Website: http://www.260fingers.ca
Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/260Fingers
Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/260Fingers

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/260fingers

technical tuesday: Mariko Paterson of Forage Studios shares some techniques

by | Sep 13, 2016 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, technical tuesday

Mariko Paterson, of Halifax’s Forage Studios (www.foragestudios.com)
has opened up
her virtual toolbox to share some of her ceramic techy ways. The series
of 4
short videos give a quick tutorial on her modified mishima technique (PS
a tip
of the hat to Molly Hatch for inspiring her). A brief description of the
processes can be found as captions for each Instagram Post, but her
viewing
audience has helped flesh things out with their subsequent line of
considerate questions. How she
transfers image on to clay, the tools she uses and the “wipe on, wipe
off”
technique involved in her staining techniques are questions she is often
fielded and is happy to answer. “Sharing is caring,” she replied to a
Facebook post that
otherwise cautioned her to guard her secrets for she, herself, is really
just adapting a time honoured ceramic technique. That said, she
completely understands
that many ceramic artists have honed their craft for years and years and
might
not be so willing to oblige. To Mariko, she is sharing the very basics,
but
when she started off on this process s took her about a year and a half
to “perfect.”
And she says, “practice makes perfect, but style is earned!” So pull up
her Instagram
feed (@foragestudios), and get stylin’!

The video clips can be found
near
the top of Mariko Paterson’s most current Instagram Feed
(@foragestudios) and under the “Bits” section of her www.foragestudios website. Just click on the Star Techy link under that heading.