another studio tour survived!

well mothers day always marks the annual Saanich West Studio Tour, and so was spent eating tea and greeting visitors in the grey & cold weather that descended. it was made all the better by sharing space with a good friend, Madelin Emery, & a new friend Paige Coull. and we got a descent turn out too!

Another great thing about the studio tour is that it motivates me to fill up the gallery instead of just shipping things out... always feels good to walk into a full gallery! here's a sneak peek into the new work i've been doing too. you may notice some polka dots, some stripes, and some multi-coloured stencil layers here & there...














filling up the mug rack, the bowl shelves....












fresh tumblers











getting dotty










and dottier












my herd of wild horses....

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Paige Coull does great , hip, work with lots of decals, mishma, stamps, and other fun add-ons and small alterations.














and funky jewellery too!


Madelin and i have known each other over ten years now. we met sharing studio space at Xchanges Artsists Collective... she does raku.











some fabulous juicy red raku











a fleet of polar bears - Madelin makes bears as a fundraiser for bear research.












cheack out that awesome crackle!

something new

here's a few new pieces. both have things i am happy with and not so happy with. some good learning came from them.

i've been wanting a nice water pitcher for our family table for some time. mulled it over, but didn't, in hindsight, think enough about form. really like the way the decoration cam out in this. i also did another one with swallows which is in the Spottery show in Vancouver...
but the spout is a bit too much for me, and the top not quite narrowed enough. it functions fine, but we do have to pour slowly...















and this large plate (about 14-15" diameter) i worked for quite awhile on, layering the slips and stencils. and in the end, some fine hairline cracks in the slip along one side! ack! guessing slip is too thick. so am layering stencils differently on the new ones (one base colours, negative stencils added in other colours...). will see how they turn out. really like the look of the plate, gosh darnit! and was surprised by the change in colour - that final layer is my sky blue over the green. usually the layered colours don't effect each other, but this really did.












last little note - next week is the Saanich West Studio Tour - lots of great potters & art! and beginning of my "regular" open hours for the rest of the year! come check it out, there will be cookies...