We were all sad to learn that the Herman Venema studio would be closing after operating in the Fraser Valley for 50 years. Herman has been an inspirational teacher to area potters, offering classes in a large well-equipped studio, with the use of cone 10R glazes and firings in a huge gas kiln. He built an elegant retail gallery on the upper floor of the converted…
After leaving Roberts Creek we headed North-West towards Sechelt, hoping to fit some more studios into our day. Just before Davis Bay we turned up Whitaker Road and found potter Laurie Rolland's studio. I've been aware of Laurie's work for many years, admiring 'vessels' and other sculptural forms in local shows at the Gallery of BC Ceramics and even here in Port Moody at the…
Our Sunshine Coast Art Crawl continued with a short drive down into the village of Roberts Creek. There we parked beside Gumboot Restaurant and took a stroll down to the ocean. I wanted Linda to see the community Mandala. Local people re-paint it every year. After a very good lunch, sitting outside at the Gumboot Restaurant (the Gumboot café had no sandwiches!) we resumed our…
Our second day on the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl started with a pre-arranged visit to Creek Clayworks. On this day we were four. Linda, Owen and I picked up fellow TriCity Potters member Sue Griese from her home in Upper Gibsons and we headed to Roberts Creek. The home, studio, showroom and salt kiln of Elaine Futterman and Mike Allegretti are on beautiful rural acres,…
The next stop on our tour was Forst Pottery Studio in Gibsons. Pat Forst specializes in reduction-fired cone 10 sculptural work. We saw several of her wall-pieces and noticed that she sprays darker oxide stains from one direction to accentuate the forms. http://www.forststudio.com Pat Forst with one of her birds Pat kindly took us outside to see her gas kiln, and I recognized a Bob…