Details

My Ceramics

In the studio I like to do	Handbuilding, Throwing on the Wheel, Sculpting, Slip casting, Everything to do with Ceramics
Pottery Wheel	Brent
Clay body	Porcelain
Clay Brand	Pottery Supply House 910, 516; Tucker’s MCS
Kiln Type	Electric Kiln
Kiln Atmosphere	Oxidation Atmosphere
Temperature	2170
Glaze	Homemade
You can buy my work from	Gardiner Museum Shop, Toronto Clay Design, Toronto Craft Ontario, Toronto Local Colour, Flesherton

About Me

Introduction	I grew up in an artistic family in the Montreal area, where I studied Fine Art. Attracted to clay from an early age, I moved to Toronto to attend Ontario College of Art (now OCADU) to focus on design and materials related particularly to ceramics. I have conducted workshops and classes and currently teach pottery in three Toronto studios. My work is in the collection of Scotiabank and has been purchased by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. I make small-batch porcelain tableware, wall pieces and sculpture in my Toronto studio, where I wrangle Truth and Beauty, random subversive ideas, and creeping detritus.
What I Love about Ceramics	Clay’s ability to be many things; its tactility and variability
How I started with ceramics	my parents were artists. They lived for a time in New Mexico and fell in love with Acoma and Zuni pottery. My mom was involved with a ceramics guild and got me to become a member too. John Abbott College had a vibrant ceramics program within its Fine Arts department Pinching; greatly inspired by Paulus Berenson
What inspires me	All the ceramists in the world, past and present! Forms and systems in nature!
What I'm working on at the moment	Cups, pet urns, jars, platters
My Artist Statement	I continue to grapple with the idea of what is valuable; perceived value, intrinsic value, practical value, emotional value. Practicality versus sentimentality. Memory versus “living in the moment“; The concept of productivity. … A plant’s spores. My fingerprints. Ferns leaving their indelible trace in fossils. Like many of us, I’m very concerned about our environment, and so I try to be mindful always about this in my studio practice. Conserving materials (e.g.,clay and glaze materials that have been mined, refined, and shipped); avoiding washing these into the water table, and recycling as much as possible. (Just because I’m working on an artisan scale and my production doesn’t begin to approach an industrial-scale ceramic enterprise, is no reason to not conserve.) I love using well-designed and crafted ware, and making things that others will want to use (or interact with) and care for, too.