Parrallel Play: Workshops with Jenny Mendes and Annie McDonald

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

Instagram Live with NCECA and Shikha Joshi, moderated by Antra Sinha.

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!

call for artists: Sixth edition of the Officine Saffi Award

Gordon Baldwin’s exhibition “Little hard clouds becoming vessels”

Applications are now open for the sixth edition of the Officine Saffi Award, the international prize dedicated to the promotion of contemporary ceramics in the work of artists, designers, and craftspeople committed to this medium.
Participation is free of charge and offers the opportunity to be selected for the Main Prize of €10,000, seven Residency Prizes developed in collaboration with leading international institutions, a Young Artists acquisition Prize as well as the chance to exhibit one’s work in the finalists’ exhibition.

For its 6th edition, Officine Saffi Award invites the submission of works inspired by the theme Forms of Belonging. The theme explores the human need for belonging, questioning how—within an increasingly aggressive social and political context—the material world can become a space of recognition, generate a sense of proximity, and make us feel part of a shared human community. Due to its intimate, everyday, and relational nature, ceramics emerge as a privileged language for this investigation: a silent presence that inhabits the time of our lives.

call for artists: Contemporary Clay

Open Call for Artists Working in Clay for an Upcoming Exhibition.

🔗 To apply, visit this link and complete the submission form. (Please note: no DM or email submissions.)

This exhibition will present contemporary ceramic works created within the last two years, celebrating the breadth, innovation, and vitality of clay practices today. Bringing together artists across generations, geographies, and identities, the exhibition aims to highlight the evolving language of contemporary clay and the expanding possibilities of the medium.

We welcome submissions from artists whose practices engage clay through sculpture, vessel-based forms, conceptual approaches, abstraction, or experimental processes.

The exhibition seeks to reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary ceramic practice while foregrounding artists who continue to challenge and redefine the material.

🗓️ Exhibition Dates: November–December 2026
Submission Deadline: July 6, 2026

*Exhibition title to be announced*

Selected artists will be notified in late July 2026. Additional details regarding installation, shipping, and exhibition dates will be provided upon acceptance.