Ontario Crafts Council Biennial Exhibition

I was lucky to have the 2 vessels selected which I entered into the juried show this year at the Ontario Crafts Council exhibition. The jurors for this years exhibition were Jonathan Bankroft-Snell, Jean Johnson and Shaun Moore. The opening starts on Friday 13th at 5.30 and I am looking forward to seeing the other artists who are in the exhibition. The pieces selected were from my new Orkney series which are both paperclay stretched slabs, double walled and altered.
Hope you can all make a visit to see whats happening for fine craft in Ontario.

Toronto Potters Sale

For all those who are in Toronto or not too far away then please come along to the Toronto Potters show and sale at the Japanese cultural centre, 6 Garamond Court.
Thursday 12 - 9, Friday 12 - 9 and I will be there all day Saturday 10 - 6.
This will be the second last show I do in Toronto this year.
hope to see you there.

Fusion Show and sale this weekend

I will be at the Fusion show and sale this weekend. My shifts will be Thursday afternoon and Sunday all day if anyone wants to meet up and see the latest work!

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.

Remnants....

This is the inside of one of my vessels with portholes. What I love about this piece are the spots of light coming through from the sun while the rest of the inside sits in shade. This recent body of work has been in reference to cairns and abandoned dwellings.
I want to convey a sense of time passing and lives once lived, where communities have came and gone leaving their imprint.
When we enter these dwellings there is a sense of quiet isolation where sunlight touches and moves within the space giving a strong connection to the often isolated environment in which it sits.

"Empty Chamber Vessel"

Handbuilt paperclay with doublewall.

New vessels from the kiln

I eagerly awaited the opening of my kiln today. Some very important pieces inside were about to see daylight for the first time since their transformation into Glazed vessels. It is a nerve wracking time when you have shows looming and time is no longer on your hands. The pressure is on and the nerves are fraying at the seams.
My first look into the kiln made me smile. It looked like they survived this transformation successfully.
Here is the first piece I glimpsed.
"Empty chamber" Paperclay vessel with a recessed base. Detail image is of the inside of this piece. Here are another few glimpses of what will be shown at the TOAE this weekend. They were also from my kiln today. I thank the Kiln Goddess for her her input...... you go girl!

These past few weeks have been spent burning the candle at both ends concentrating on my paperclay double and treble walled vessels. At this stage I am still eagerly awaiting the results of my first glaze firing. Today I finally get to open the kiln and have been praying to the Kiln goddess for good results. They are fragile pieces with tensions at many different points... so who knows what the results will be! I am excited and afraid all at the same time. They could be wonderful or they could tear apart during the firing. If all goes well i will be able to take them to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition which opens on Friday (yes, 3 days left) I cant wait to see everyone and catch up on this years events. My events for this year have been trips to Scotland and Spain (thus the inspiration for new work).
I was also asked by the A.G.O to create some new vessels based on their Surreal things exhibition which is on over the summer so if you get a change to go then have a look at the pieces I made.
Will let you know my results soon.

I am finally back!

Well, it may be June but the year is just beginning! I am now back from my very long break in the studio and getting ready for the summer shows. The first one coming up is the TOAE at Nathan Phillips Square on the 10th - 13th of July.

This photograph is of a detail from my "Silent Dwelling" series.................more to come.

Lesley xxx

Watch this space for updates over the following days.