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 6, 2026 | monday morning eye candy
www.instagram.com/evelyna86/
by Carole Epp | Jun 23, 2026 | call for entry
The call for submissions is now open! You can submit to the Juried Functional Teapot Show IV!
Submit form is a Google form. This means you will need a Google account (Gmail) to fill it out (this is free and really quick to set up if you don’t have one). Worst case scenario, if you can’t do this then send an email. Also feel free email with any questions about it the show : [email protected]
Cost to submit is $35 for non students, $20 for university students, or $10 for high school students. We are setting aside some spots in the show specially for each of these student categories. The student submissions will also be considered in the main jurying process too. This is to encourage younger makers to get on making teapots!
All the details of the submission are on the Google form but I’ll just say that you can submit up to 5 images of your one chosen teapot. And a short (under 15 second) video of the teapot pouring. This can just be recorded on a phone. Doesn’t have to be fancy, we just want to see how the teapots pour.
The most important criteria for the jurying is functionality. Then aesthetics. Function is foremost though!
Deadline for submissions is October 1st. Jurors to be announced soon!
The teapot in this photograph was made by Lucy Be who had a teapot in Juried Functional Teapot Show III. Lucy won the Studio Potter Award for Excellence for this teapot!
via: www.instagram.com/p/DZ4XAPcP48B
by Carole Epp | Jun 15, 2026 | call for entry
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.
by Carole Epp | Jun 15, 2026 | residency opportunity
Our 2027 Potter in Residence Open Call is now live.
This is a year-long opportunity for a maker working in clay to spend time with us at County Hall Pottery, develop their practice, and become part of the life of the studio.
We welcome applications from artists, designers, potters, ceramicists, craftspeople, functional makers, fine artists, and other practitioners working through clay.
The residency offers dedicated studio space, seven-day studio access, use of our facilities, free use of kilns, recycled clay and standard studio materials, professional support, paid teaching opportunities, and a solo exhibition in December 2027.
It is both a supported studio residency and a fixed-term role. The resident will contribute 20 hours per week to the studio, gallery, teaching programme, exhibitions, events, and wider County Hall Pottery community.
Applications are open from 1 June until midnight on 30 July 2026.
How to Apply?
1. Read the full open call and application guidance via the link.
2. Please submit your application (pdf) in here
