My most recent cone 05 glaze firing was rather small, but it’s always good to see how the clear glaze alters the colours my visitors have chosen. Each artist has put so much thought into the design and taken great pains with each plate. Here are pieces by Eric Metcalfe, Monique Fouquet, Renée Van Halm, Paul Mathieu and me. Most were painted on our most recent Raid, February 14th.
Curator Gregory Elgstrand joined us for a while that morning and learned more about the friendly painting days that are Raids. His small curated show of Raiders’ plates will open later this month, here in Port Moody.
Monique’s three coupes show how she’s always considering new ideas, and checking layering effects. Is that a tar puddle? I think it’s amazing.
Sorry I didn’t do a better job of avoiding glare on the subtly layered dark piece on the right.
Renée once again selected three little triangular dishes for her day’s work. I think she’s assembling a set of condiment dishes. It’s lovely to watch the two friends quietly chatting and carefully painting, side-by-side for the day.
Renée always pushes her colours and shapes into unexpected areas of a plate, just a little off-centre, to keep you looking. Keep ’em coming Renée!
Karen Henry drove Eric and Paul out here just for the afternoon, but brought along two plates that Eric had painted in December. They are unexpectedly picturing jolly colourful clown-like figures. Eric has never painted people on plates before! This is a man who says very little these days, but is comfortable with pencil in hand, doing what he has done best since boyhood. Cartoons were his first passion.
The paler third plate of a woman was painted here that day. Eric insisted that it remain monochromatic and considered. She had a face but it was drawn with a regular pencil and not a ceramic one so the lines burnt out. I’m sorry I didn’t catch that. But her body is also a face.
Karen didn’t tackle painting that day. She has enough on her plate.
Paul was persuaded to pick up ‘just a little one’, and then spent much time and concentration painstakingly carving black away from underlying colours, all the while engaging us with his conversation. Yes, we did discuss the Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown!
I painted this rimmed lunch-size plate with my coloured slips, porcelain slip, paper resist and brush-strokes of black slip. I was testing to make sure slips really do fit Plainsman Snow earthenware. It’s our choice now since the end of Georgie’s Wonder White. Slips and glaze do fit, much as they do on my favourite D’Arcy Redart clay.
I began a new series of work in earthenware, while we endure days and days of awful Winter weather.. rain, wind and even snow some days, but a few days of flu have put me behind. Clocks spring forward this weekend and days are longer so Spring, flowers and optimism will surely return!
