I belong to the tribe of people who feel compelled to shape vessels from clay; vessels for daily use or for contemplation. My designs are distilled from ideas and images born through attentiveness to nature. I feel connected to ancient people whose vessels served a function while also praising and describing the world of which they were a part. I continue this tradition and delight in holding and moulding hand-warmed clay till it breathes with life. Today functional pottery blends art with life, fusing the tactile with the visual. Our lives are enriched and deepened by use of vessels which nourish our spirit while holding foods that nourish our bodies. This elevates our daily tasks to acts of affirmation; art and life are integrated. Creating pots from clay and fire is my celebration of life. I have gained my inspiration from observing plants, animals and rocks. These I interpret through ceramic sculpture and pottery forms. A vase becomes complete when holding flowers, foliage or grasses. A small frog climbing an urn is a metaphor for the beauty and fragility of nature. I use many creatures to express playfulness, laughter and joy in my pots. They reveal my feelings about the earth and about all forms of being. We are of the earth and made of the same stuff. The frog is my most beloved creature to form and represents new life, rebirth and metamorphosis. Frog becomes a storyteller; a key player in her own mystical fable. I was born, raised and schooled in Vancouver. My studies of ceramics began with studio potters in Oregon. My training continued at Oregon State University and in Portland’s Museum Art School and Chinese Art Studio. When I moved back to Vancouver Island, I established my first studio in Brentwood Bay, followed by 21 years in Cordova Bay. I now live and work on Salt Spring Island but my connection to the Oregon potters continues with yearly trips to wood-fire my pots in the Digger Mountain Anagama. All are welcome to my Salt Spring
Island studio where I make pots, teach workshops and garden in amongst
the rocks and forests. What a good life. |