I was astonished to have Jonathon Bancroft-Snell phone me early last Thursday morning. He said the three boxes had arrived.. in less than a week.. and that he planned to include opening them in that day’s videotape. He does this every Thursday so that his customers can see what is new each week.
Ten minutes later I was ready with my coffee for a happy hour. Jonathon had several artists to feature that day, including some of his regulars who had been invited to send a group of little vases. We saw delicate intricate porcelain vases with individual sculpted stands by Mindy Andrews, a dozen rabbits, each cavorting with a little vase (I didn’t catch the artist’s name), some brutalist vessels by Bruce Cochrane and some small, very affordable lidded stash jars by Ann Benedict. Then by about minute 22 he tackled my boxes, and with some complaining about my thorough packing (but then admitting that he does the same when shipping his artists’ work) he spent the rest of the time revealing each of my pots. For me it was a rare privilege, not experienced since Art School, to have someone exclaim with excitement, as he does, but also explain to viewers what he is holding and how it was made. If I can get the video, taken with equal enthusiasm and knowledge by Brian Barnum Cooke, included in this brief blog you might enjoy seeing what I sent to this fine Canadian gallery. This is the last minute of the video. I screen-grabbed a snap of Jonathon holding my large soda jugbird.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CF01jVkDEz_/?igshid=16n1pz4z2m5wp
It turns out that WordPress isn’t keen on my trying to include an hour-long video. You can go to the gallery’s website and click on some of their videos on this link:
https://www.youtube.com/user/JonathonClaySpots?feature=watch
When it was over Brian sent me snapshots of how they had arranged my work into three distinct groups; the salt and soda pieces, my jugbirds and the Loon teapot and some plates with accompanying yunomi. The images are small but give you an idea of how they look.
My favourite piece, from a Shadbolt Centre soda firing at the end of 2018, a grooved lidded jar, has already been snapped up and I think that the Cardinal has flown away too.
As soon as the work for JBS Gallery’s ‘Introduction to Gillian McMillan, October 9th’ was left at our local postal outlet I turned my attention to throwing some stoneware pieces. I hadn’t made any of those this year, for some reason concentrating on earthenware, but the re-scheduled soda firing with TriCity Potters was looming and I needed to fill my allotted one and a half cubic feet and-a-little-more space. Eleven pieces later I did a bisque firing, justified by including work by Barbara Tipton and two by Mariana Wong. I got them liner glazed and wadded and, along with a few from the end of last year, I delivered them to the soda kiln.
There are careful safety protocols in place, with outdoor stations for those who needed to use Shadbolt slips, glazes and wadding. I simply placed my pots on shelves near the kiln, along with work by June MacDonald which she’d wadded in my studio recently. I spotted some amazing pieces by our talented TriCity Potters member Eliza Wang already placed out there from a morning session of preparing. For sure I’ll post photos of some of those next week.
Alan and I then took the hour-long one-way-for-now walk around nearby Deer Lake because the sun was shining and the leaves are changing colour so quickly.
The technicians will have loaded the kiln today as usual. I shall miss socializing with other potters during the soda-inserting session on Wednesday but we have to be careful to remain distanced these days. Our only get-together time will be at the opening the following Tuesday, the day after Thanksgiving. I’m told that it will not be the usual group of potters passing each piece down the line, learning about soda methods, but we should be able to see all the pots on tables after the unloading.
Meanwhile it’s back to earthenware and some plates…
Happy Thanksgiving Canada. Even if we are in very small groups for the holiday we do have much to be thankful for.
