Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Orkney Series


Taking inspiration from my last travels to Scotland I created some new vessels in time for my summer shows. I think this is the beginning of a whole new body of work and I am excited about where it will lead me.
Inspired by the cairns, chambers and monuments discovered around Scotland I have tried to capture the spirit of these ancient dwellings brought to our attention through archaeological digs and in some cases, violent storms which uncovered Neolithic remains.
Brian Reiser was the wonderful photographer for these pieces and I would like to thank him for helping to produce such a stunning portfolio for my recent Orkney Vessels.
"The Entity"
Paperclay.

Whisky Galore


With all my sculptural ceramics in flow and focusing on NON function, I am finding a nice change of pace making my wee whisky cups yet again.......and they seem to have a new audience.
These wee cups have many different scenes of Scotland on them with the occasional slogan thrown in to captivate......."the angels share"......."scotch mist"........"wee dram".......
Sorry, I just cant help myself and whats great is that they work a treat!
Try for yourself!
Slainte!
(if your Canadian its pronounced slawn-cha)

Best in show: Aaron Milrad award


The summer has passed by so quickly although with so much rain and thunderstorms I feel that it may never have happened!! My main craft exhibitions in July were wonderful and the dramatic downpours during the shows made them memorable in many ways.
The most memorable thing that happened is that during the T.O.A.E show I was awarded Best in show for Ceramics by juror Gord Thompson. I won the Aaron Milrad purchase award and I have the pleasure of his company for lunch this coming week. Aaron Milrad has an extensive ceramic collection which I hope to learn more about from the man himself. This week he also chooses one of my vessels to add to his collection which is incredibly exciting. But which one I wonder?
I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at the TOAE. It couldn't have been a better show, even though the council were on strike during that weekend.