Clay
is a magical medium, and Denman's potters clearly find immense
satisfaction in its creative potential! Ten unique studio displays
will showcase latest works on the annual spring tour May 19th
and 20th from 10 am to 5 pm daily. Now in its 31st
year, the popular weekend-long event is well known as a cultural
highlight in the region featuring some of BC's most celebrated
ceramics artisans. This year the tour is pleased to welcome Vasilia
Clayworks and Ember Pottery to its impressive roster.
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| Vasilia Wees inspects mugs ready for glazing |
The tall trees of Denman Island
are certainly a world apart from the skyscrapers of New York City,
and that seems to suit Vasilia Wees just fine. Ever since a family
visit introduced her to the world of clay through potter Bentley
LeBaron years ago, the now mother of two was determined to find a way to live here and learn the skills of the trade. Today, with a former
career in investment banking now far behind her, Wees and her partner
are delighted to be raising their family on Denman while mom
apprentices with the veteran sculptor. Besides a degree in business,
she has another in textile science from the Fashion Institute of
Technology in New York City. Wees is clearly gifted with dexterity
and an eye for design well-suited for her newest medium of choice.
The apprenticeship with LeBaron involves learning how to construct
forms that are a part of the master potter's own repertoire, but the
younger artist is “having a blast” both practising technique and
re-envisioning some of the work with her own ideas in mind. Alongside
the life-sized beaver, big-eared pigs and impressive ice bears I met
on a recent studio visit, Wees showed me her delightful children's
cups. There isn't a lot of pottery out there for little ones, so
these playful vessels with puppy dog ears and noses added on one side
and tails on the other are sure to be one of many hits on the tour.
Vasilia Clayworks will be on
display at LeBaron Pottery, which is really a labyrinth of indoor and
outdoor gallery spaces. Visitors to the enclave will also be greeted
by the senior artist's pantheon of gods and goddesses, comical cats,
wily ravens, Picassoesque owls and guardian dragons. Among the newer
additions to LeBaron's clay menagerie this year is a pack of dogs
ranging from small to well over lap-sized in stature, and from sweet
to savage in temperament (some of these aptly described 'kooky'
canines have open jaws bearing menacingly sharp teeth!) You'll want
plenty of time to wander and wonder your way through these mythical
realms.
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| Ember Hutchens with wood-fired vase |
En route to Ember Pottery, you're sure to encounter a remarkably life-like sculpture of a tawny fawn nestled in the grass, fading spots and tall ears providing little camouflage. New on the tour, Ember Hutchens is another mom juggling the demands of child rearing with an aptitude for the ceramic arts that is truly impressive. In just three short years this mostly self-taught potter has become recognized as a rising local talent. She also has experience with fibre arts – her colourful sea stars, for example, along with turtles, seals and other stuffed fabric marine creatures have enjoyed great popularity. “I come from a family of makers,” she says, “my grandmother was a seamstress, my mom is a jeweller, and my dad a welder who did pottery when I was a kid. I'm actually attracted to a wide variety of media.” Hutchens has even incorporated some metal into a few of her ceramic pieces, and she is as equally enamoured with wheel work as she is with sculpture. One recent passion is Nerikomi – the fascinating Japanese technique of stacking different colours of clay and then slicing it to create contrasting lines and shapes in a slab that can be manipulated into any manner of forms. A hand-built bowl can still be turned on the wheel to be completed with a traditional 'foot', Hutchens explains. Tiny plates with Nerikomi flowers, or small vases with black and white chevrons may be found on display alongside a host of other unique wares at Ember Pottery. Expect many of this artist's newest works to also be embellished with the effects of 'atmospheric' firing.
Atmosphere, in regards to firing
ceramics, has to do with the type and quality of the air in the kiln
during the firing process. Introducing certain chemicals and minerals
to the environment, like salt or wood ash for example, can create
colour and surface designs without actually involving any glaze
application on the pieces beforehand. This is exactly what happens in
the anagama (also
known as a climbing-hill-dragon kiln) on Gordon Hutchens' land, not
far from his daughter-in-law's studio. Ember Hutchens and several
other artists on this year's tour will soon be participating with the
senior potter in a communal ritual that includes round-the-clock
feeding of the wood-devouring dragon (twenty years old this year!)
for several days. Swirling smoke and wood ash kiss the pots carefully
packed inside. Surprise results will range from the subtle to the
sublime.
Gordon Hutchens is internationally
known for his virtuosity in countless techniques, and a visit to his
woodland studio is always a highlight on the tour. Over the past year
this master potter has deepened his experimentation with
silk-screening antique Japanese designs onto the surface of shapely
vases, and also his application of engobe (clay slip) onto a whole
range of vessel forms in concert with tactile crawl glazes, and even
crystalline glazes (providing absolutely spectacular contrasts.)
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| Moribana dish by Shirley Phillips of Lilac Sun Pottery |
Shirley Phillips will be
showcasing exciting results from the most recent anagama firing as
well. Her Lilac Sun Pottery studio is a treasure trove of mostly
small to medium-sized hand-built wares that reveal her love of
texture. New works include pomegranate-shaped vases, tiny clay
'homes' (bases) for exotic air plants, and colourful organic-looking
Moribana (Japanese flower dishes.) Phillips has also been
having fun applying sodium silicate to the surface of some of her
taller vase forms. Composed of sodium oxide and silica, this
substance can be employed to create the most amazing crackle
patterns, adding depth and tactility to her one-of-a-kind creations.
Like Phillips, Marjo Van Tooren
creates most of her work independent of the potter's wheel - rolling,
pinching and shaping clay by hand. She too is fond of pressing
patterns in to the clay surface to create novel designs but with a
particular affinity for plant leaves. Ceramic beads of every size,
shape and colour are another speciality, although visitors to Down to
Earth Pottery will also discover everything from tiny bowls decorated
with flower stamps to green dishes graced by tree frogs, abstract
vases and more.
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| porcelain piece by Dante Ambriel |
Flowing Art Studio is the home and
gallery of two very different multi-media artists. Tashi
Draper will
be showcasing large (18 inch) colourful hand-built platters, bowls
and “fragment” side dishes on the tour this year. Draper has
combined her love of the Sumi-e brush (used to replicate an ancient
Japanese painting technique) with sculptural shapes in some of her
new works. Dante Ambriel produces intricately carved and hand-shaped
porcelain vessels in pure white and also brilliant colours. The
luminous nature of this particular clay body adds a transcendent
quality to many of Ambriel's captivating creations.
There is always a fascinating mix
of primarily decorative works and traditional pottery designed for
everyday use on the Denman tour that brings appreciative collectors
back year after year. Looking out over lovely Lambert Channel, Hanne
Christensen's studio is home to a traditional kick wheel powered only
by the potter's body. This artist concentrates exclusively on
creating functional wares for the dinner table, kitchen and bath. Her
trademark pussy willow pattern, cobalt blue glaze and multi-coloured
glaze decorate everything from unique European-style teapots, to
colanders, pitchers, garlic pots and soap dishes.
On the opposite end of the Island,
down a long meandering road through the forest, tour-goers will find
another sweet spot at the Lake Farm where potter Tom Dennis also
enjoys the meditative practise of wheel work. Square-shaped plates,
stately vases, beautiful bowls and platters, comfortable mugs –
you'll find these perfect gift ideas in a wide variety of earthy
colours ranging from golden brown to plum, mauve and burgundy red.
Winding ones way down picturesque
country lanes is part of the Denman spring pottery tour experience,
and visitors are amply rewarded when they arrive at Beardsley Pottery
too. Human and animal figures, insects and birds abound in their
gallery showroom, deftly rendered by brush on the ceramic surface or
in amazing bas relief on curved surfaces. A stunning array of bowls
and plates bathed in satiny shades of blue and green can be found
alongside whole sets of dinnerware, casseroles, pitchers and mugs
decorated with a spotted leopard-like glaze rich in tones of gold,
chocolate and velvet black. And there is so much more - Scott and
Garnet Beardsley produce one of the most extensive collections of
ceramic art to be found anywhere.
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| Beardsley Pottery |
Begin your own self-guided tour
adventure over the May long weekend by picking up a free map at
Abraxas Gifts & Books, the General Store or the ferry booth in
Buckley Bay. This is the perfect time to invite your friends – they
(or you) might even win an awesome door prize courtesy of one of our
generous sponsors!
Many thanks to
the following businesses for their support: Union Bay Credit Union,
Buckley Bay Beachcomber Petro-Can, Denman Island General Store, Sure
Copy, Seeco Automotive, The Tea Guy, Denman Hardware Emporium, Van
Isle Veterinary Hospital, H2O Environmental, Royal LePage, RE/MAX the
Islands, Edible Island, Baynes Sounds Insurance Brokers Ltd., Hornby
Denman Freight, Dr. Peter Walford Dentistry, Roger Smith Construction LTD.
