by Carole Epp | Feb 17, 2011 | Uncategorized
01. Stacked Rotary Servers, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 19 x 11 x 7,” 2009.
Clay Leonard was raised in Midwestern United States. Growing up in a small farming community, interaction amongst community members and family gatherings were made priorities, and continue to serve as inspiration to his ceramic artworks. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan and in 2009 earned his Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from Bowling Green State University and was nominated for an outstanding thesis award for the exhibition.
02. Server with Nesting Plates, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 18 x 15 x 5,” 2010.
His current body of work is his contribution to reintroducing the lost art of communication around the dinner table. Through his ceramic vessels, he investigates the important ritual of sharing a meal. His functional ceramic vessels focuses on the role ceramics has in stimulating communication and interaction in a communal setting.
03. Nesting Bowl Set, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 10 x 10 x 5,” 2010.
Clay’s ceramic work has been featured in various international and national exhibitions, and included in multiple publications, as well as being featured in the May 2009 issue of Ceramics Monthly, as an Emerging Artist. He currently is serving as a Visiting Artist at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.
04. Triangle Bowls #1, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 6 x 6 x 4,” 2010.
05. Circle Server, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 20 x 20 x 4,” 2009.
@font-face { font-family: “Arial”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
@font-face { font-family: “Arial”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } ARTIST STATEMENT Some of my favorite childhood memories were formed around the dinner table with family and friends, eating and engaging in conversation. My work continues this dwindling tradition, and serves as a reminder of the importance of these experiences. Through my ceramic vessels, I investigate the important ritual of sharing a meal. This work is my contribution to reintroducing the lost art of communication around the dinner table.
Although I draw formal inspiration from mass-produced objects, I strive to reclaim the directness of human interaction with the material. I celebrate what my unique touch offers that is lost with a machine. Through subtle manipulation and gesture, I instill my work with personality, energy, and softness. The process of inventing and constructing these forms with my hands offers a reconnection to past traditions including the notion of honoring the humility of craftsman. In a face paced culture where communications is overwhelmed by current technology, my work and research offers an incentive to rediscover personal conversation and get back to the table.
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by Carole Epp | Feb 16, 2011 | Uncategorized
*** Special Note: Shannon Merritt is the Featured Artist at the Gallery of BC Ceramics from February 15th to March 15th make sure you stop by to see her work in person!
(gallery information here: http://www.bcpotters.com/Gallery/index.html )
Artist Biography
Shannon Merritt grew up in southern Ontario, tidy and shy. She received a B.A. in Native Studies from Trent University and moved to Yellowknife, NT where she spent winter nights tickling the aurora borealis, and summer days portaging her canoe through the forests of biting flies.
Shannon is a graduate of the Kootenay School of Arts in Nelson, BC where she lives, waking each day to the view of Elephant Mountain. She considers herself a writer disguised as a potter.
Artist Statement
I’m a potter and I’ve a fondness for words. I spent the better part of two days taking apart a typewriter so that I could press the keys into the flesh of the clay, recording my thoughts and observations onto pots. I’ve collected a number of things that are used as stamps. These miscellaneous cast-offs are more valuable than trimming tools and include antique letterpress blocks, pieces of retired machinery, and a caribou tooth from my adventures in the North. Together, the words and symbols become a story of my rhythm of making. Lessons, kindnesses, tattletales and laughs are highlighted using coloured slip beneath a clear glaze.
I am making modern day folk pots to create an intimacy in the way we consume the foods of our time. These hand built or wheel thrown and altered pots speak of precious functionality: bowls that are meant to be sipped from, and mugs with inverted handles, so that the user can cradle the cup, warming the hands. The proof of alteration has been left to remind the user of the individual attention the pot received.
These techniques come from a millennium of making, and applying them to contemporary functional porcelain pots is an exciting way of story-telling. It’s incredibly personal this shared journaling. And what I’m finding is that the pots I write stir something in the people who use them. It’s almost as if we’ve witnessed something together, like we share a great secret.
The words are a reaching out; a minute’s worth of conversation between us.
by Carole Epp | Feb 15, 2011 | Uncategorized
I am studio potter and teacher living on Vancouver Island. After many years without a place to call my own, I opened my studio and gallery, Dirty Girl Clayworks in 2004. My pots offer a contemporary, playful perspective on creating artful pottery that one can use to celebrate the everyday moments as well as unique occasions.
My work is informed by historical slipware. I use bright, fun colours, images, and text which reflect my belief that playfulness is an integral part of life. I have a love of words, both oral and printed. I find that the slip wants to be written on and into, carved and layered.
Text and simple, silhouette style stencils are the basis of my surface decoration. With this simple base I use printmaking techniques and inspiration from graphic novels, photography, poetry, politics, graffiti, and children’s books to tell stories on clay.
www.etsy.com/shop/dirtygirlclayworks
by Carole Epp | Feb 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
Introduction to Pottery
From the dawn of mankind, clay has recorded our creativity. The earliest humans skillfully formed beautiful items from clay to satisfy their artistic souls. Come explore and learn both the ancient and modern clay skills of hand building and wheel throwing. Beginners and those with some clay experience can gain confidence by creating artistic and functional pottery pieces that are glazed and fired. Clay and tools may be purchased at the first class for a small additional fee. Enjoy the thrill of bringing clay to life with your own hands! Instructors for these courses are visiting artists who are participating in the Medalta International Artist in Residence Program in partnership with Friends of Medalta.
– Session A : $149, Monday Feb 7 to Apr 4, 6:30 to 9:30 pm
– Session B: $149, Tuesday Feb 8 to Apr 5, 6:30 to 9:30 pm
Intermediate Pottery
Have you taken one or two pottery classes before and feel that you are ready for something a little different? This class is for you. We will be learning some new techniques and improving on existing ones. Both handbuilding and the pottery wheel will be explored. You will have more time to work at your own pace and pursue your own projects in an encouraging and creative atmosphere.
– Session A: $149, Wed, Feb 9 to Apr 6, 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Pots for the Garden
It is never too early to start thinking of spring. What if this year you actually made some of the accessories for your garden? Various projects will be pursued such as plant pots, sculpted gargoyles, plant markers, and decorative tiles. Using bright red earthen ware clay this class explores all the fundamentals of working with clay, but will also be of interest to students with some experience.
– Session A: $149, Thur, Feb 10 to Apr 7, 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Sculpture
Have you always wanted to sculpt something out of clay? Now is your chance. This class will cover some basic aspects of clay sculpture. Various sculptural techniques will be explored in a fun and supportive atmosphere. The figure, still life and experimental sculpting styles will be introduced. You do not need any previous experience with clay to enroll in this class.
– Session A: $149, Sat Feb 12 to Apr 9, 10 am to 1 pm
via Alberta Craft Council
by Carole Epp | Feb 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
Kelly is a fourth year student in Vancouver at the Emily Carr University focusing in ceramics.
Here’s a bit about her work:
I strive to maintain balance between design, craft and art when creating. Working by hand, on the wheel and with molds, is a political choice I make which values strong craftsmanship in our modern world. I am drawn to the domestic interior space and create objects for use in daily life which connect with people over a long period of time.
Drawn to minimal form and subtle surface, I am interested in the way light, shadow, line and proportion interact. I am passionate about making contemporary work that relates to our culture today and it is my hope to continue building my knowledge of the ceramic medium through education, personal work and teaching.
01. Stacked Rotary Servers, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 19 x 11 x 7,” 2009.
02. Server with Nesting Plates, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 18 x 15 x 5,” 2010.
03. Nesting Bowl Set, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 10 x 10 x 5,” 2010.
04. Triangle Bowls #1, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 6 x 6 x 4,” 2010.
05. Circle Server, hand-built porcelain, cone 6, 20 x 20 x 4,” 2009.
