Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

 

Judy Weeden

 

Bird at my window

 

Judy Weeden describes her approach to pottery :

” More than 37 years ago, I left an academic career in biology to immerse my hands and head in the making of pots, first in Fairbanks, Alaska and now on Saltspring Island, B.C. My first teachers and mentors were steeped in the Bauhaus tradition, but most of my understanding of clay as an artist’s medium has come from the mistakes, failures, hopes and successes the willful clay throws our way. Early in my potting career my work was wheel-thrown functional ware. Presently I am incorporating a broad range of forming methods such as slab assembly, slump and hump molding, throwing and altering, slip-casting, whatever it takes to achieve the forms I want. My pieces are still based on a vessel format and for the most part are meant for household use. Surface decoration with geometric and figurative patterns is achieved by slip-carving or impressing the malleable clay. Some forms require only a simple glaze. ”

Heron 2

 

” No two pots are ever alike. My primary goal is to create work that synthesizes beauty and harmony both in a functional and a decorative context. The pots have become a canvas for expressing my own relationship with the powerful natural world around me and my experiences in it. This canvas includes not only the life I see outside my studio window, but my own inner landscape with its needs for linearity and order, compassion for beauty and light, and a dedication to creating my share of these in the world. I hope my work speaks for itself with independence and fearless honesty. ”

 

Technique

” My major decorative strategy is slip-carving or slip inlay at the leather hard stage. The work is then bisque fired to harden it for the remaining steps in the process.

Following the bisque, pieces are covered with terra sigillata made from red firing clay or a felspathic glaze.

Recently, I have begun using underglazes in painting nature motifs on the pots. I like to restrict these colourful paintings to “windows” on the surface of the pots which requires making the pot with that in mind. Underglazing happens in the bisqued surface. ”

All stoneware pieces are fired to cone 10 in a propane kiln.

 

 

 

Asymmetrical lidded vessel

 

 

 

My Window – Judy Weeden

 

 

 

 

Owl Urn – Judy Weeden

 

Judy Weeden studio

 

 

Running the gauntlet-  slab vase

Salt Spring Island Potter Judy Weeden

 

 

 

Teapot family broody hen

 

 

The Human Form – slab vase

 

Merimage teapot

 

 

Casserole – slab built

 

Crane 2

 

 

 

Evolution – covered jar

Judy Weeden website

 

 

 

 

Shane Norrie

Shane Norrie is a resident of Ingersoll, Ontario and has been pursuing a career as a ceramic artists and painter for over a decade. In 2003 he left behind a career in advertising in Toronto to become a full-time artist. As a ceramicist he has experimented with a range of styles, including Raku and produces distinctive organic, earthy tones and textures. His forms and surfaces successfully combine both traditional and contemporary aspects. “Although I experiment with many different types of clay, glazes, and firing methods, my interest is in surface effects and textures.  I enjoy glazes that are transformed by the kilns and firing processes.  I love to be surprised when I unload the kiln.  I think my curiosity keeps my work fresh and interesting.”

To add to his many credits, the Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute created a scholarship in the artist’s name.  The Shane Norrie Art Scholarship honours a graduating student who has chosen to pursue creative post-secondary studies in a visual art-related program. “Art was extremely important to me throughout high school, and I was honoured with a scholarship when I graduated. I thought it was appropriate to offer someone the same encouragement that I received”.

As a painter he favours traditional landscapes in both watercolours and acrylic.

 

 

Wheel thrown lichen bowl – Shane Norrie

 

Acorn Bottle – Shane Norrie

 

Shane Norrie landscape painting

 

 

 

Shane Norrie – shadow crackle vessel

 

Multi fired wall plate

 

 

 

 

Shane Norrie landscape painting

 

 

Shane Norrie sculpture

 

 

 

Wheel thrown and carved wall piece

 

 

Bronze acorn bottles

 

 

 

Shane Norrie

 

 

 

SHANE NORRIE – Paterson bottles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Long necked acorn bottles – Shane Norrie

 

 

 

Lidded Vessel

Below are some examples of Shane’s recent ceramics which are thinly-thrown, textured pieces,  reminiscent of the ocean and its surroundings. Foamy tide pools, seashells and dry river beds are the inspiration for this new body of work.

Green Lidded Vessel

Pierced Lichen Bowl

Lichen Bowl Medium

Pierced Lichen Bowl with Red

Shane Norrie website

 

 

Steve Irvine

 

” Pottery has always been more to me than just a way to earn a living. Clay is an instrument of understanding — a way to look for meaning, truth and harmony in my life. Working in the arts also gives me the opportunity to bring a small degree of joy and beauty into other people’s lives, which helps me to find my place in the world.

I am mostly self taught, but I also spent three years as a ceramics major at Sheridan College School of Crafts and Design, in Mississauga, Ontario. In 1974, my wife Joan and I moved into an old country church on the Bruce Peninsula and I set up my pottery studio. I sell mostly on a wholesale basis to shops and galleries in Southern Ontario and I’m also a member of the Owen Sound Artists’ Co-op, which is a retail arts outlet run co-operatively by about 40 artists in the region. ”

Small bottle with copper blue glaze

 Wheel thrown tea bowl of stoneware clay

Raku fired tea bowl

Gold leaf stud jar

Steve Irvine large hand built vase -copper blue glaze lightly spayed on the surface

Wheel thrown vase with a temmoku glaze as a base, plus brush strokes over top in iron, rutile and titanium.

Porcelain vase –  copper barium type blue glaze, with gold leaf at the neck

Gold leaf and black glaze pattern jar

A Steve Irvine teapot – fired to Cone10 reduction, copper barium glaze.

Steve Irvine handbuilt stoneware wood-fired jar ( high temperature  )

Pinhole fully functional ceramic camera.

Steve Irvine

2005 Teapot – Black iron glaze, with a green trailed glaze pattern over the top.

Steve Irvine website

 

 

 

 

T & S  Harlander Canadian art pottery