A special exhibit on both Saturday and Sunday in the Arts Centre Gallery will showcase examples of work from each of the studios participating in this year's tour. Pick up your free map here - right at the top of the ferry hill! (Maps will also be available at the ferry booth in Buckley Bay, the Denman Island General Store, Abraxas Books and the DI Craft Shop)
-Denman Pottery Studio Tour - May 16th & 17th -
The incredible versatility of clay
lends itself to boundless creativity for Denman's potters and
sculptors, as the 28th annual Pottery Studio Tour will
soon reveal. Between 10 am and 5 pm on both Saturday and Sunday, May
16th and 17th, nine venues will be showcasing
exciting new works every bit as varied and unique as the talented
artists responsible for them!
Turning clay into beautiful
hand-crafted objects is always a labour of love, but the muse can
work in mysterious ways. Sharing her own creative process in Flowing
Art Studio recently, Dante Ambriel described wedging clay for a
new bowl shape and “seeing” a form emerge. She felt there was a
figure held in the clay and that all she had to do was facilitate it
to set it free. Once the figure stood in front of her “like a being
on its own”, it seemed to need garments, and those garments needed
embellishing. “Sometimes, it seemed to demand colour, gilding, and
many firings before finally emerging in a finished state,” Dante
explains. The past year has been full of amazing discoveries in
ceramics for this artist, and the process she described is continuing
to bring new and evolving figures into surprising and unexpected
forms.
Human and human-like figures are
known to emerge from the prima matera in Bentley LeBaron's hands as
well. A new young Pan sits cross legged with flute in hand, ready to
play under the towering fir trees that surround LeBaron Studio.
Forest nymphs beckon, and a new bevvy of goddesses holds court in the
company of mythical animals. Bentley LeBaron dwells in that mythical
place between the worlds where dragons rule supreme and shiny black
ravens taunt long-whiskered cats! Recent works in progress have
included a magnificent polar bear, and elegant handbuilt pots.
Grouped together in their unfired state, the red clay vessel forms
are evocative of smooth cavern walls in the American southwest. They
have been burnished by hand to result in a shiny, finished surface
intended to be enhanced only through smoke-firing.
Shirely Phillips is also drawn to
the use of this ancient technique to create mottled, random patterns
ranging from silver grey to velvet black on the surface of some of
her own unglazed creations. These include slab-constructed vases in
various shapes, and a striking new triptych of carved wall plaques.
Other one-of-a-kind treasures awaiting discovery in Lilac Sun
Pottery are beautiful green bamboo as well as cabbage leaf
platters, and delightfully tiny plates in shades of copper, sage and
turquoise blue. The latter are accompanied by dainty spoons, also
ornately decorated with lace-like designs. Shirley's love of patterns
pressed into or applied to the clay surface ranges from decorative
pieces as large as wall torsos to versatile functional ware as
practical as her gorgeous wood-fired cups heavily textured with
viscous clay slip.
Along with Shirley, Marjo Van
Tooren looks forward each spring to taking part in the communal
wood-firing on Gordon Hutchens' land. A very exciting part of the
Pottery Tour is discovering the incredible range of both functional
and sculptural pieces that have recently emerged from this week-long
firing process! Keeping the anagama (or climbing-hill-dragon)
kiln fed around the clock involves many cords of firewood, and hard
work by participants. But the engagement is one that fosters a
wonderful sense of camaraderie among the numerous creative spirits
involved. For Marjo, having fun has always been an important part of
her creative process. This spring she has been playing with tiles and
a series of small hand-built items she refers to as 'feelies'... like
small vases that fit into the palm of one's hand. Newly 'pinched'
bowls (or cups) as well as small plates and a wide assortment of
individually hand-crafted buttons and beads will also be available in
Down to Earth Pottery, freshly extracted from the dragon's
lair.
Gordon Hutchens Pottery
studio will of course be brimming with fantastic creations, many
blessed by the magic of swirling flames, smoke and wood ash. Shapely
vases, swollen like the ripe seed pods of an exotic fruit boast
golden hues coaxed from the anagama firing.
Other wood-fired forms, some the size of large globes, have an almost
whole earth-like appearance. Decorated with
broad-sweeping strokes of thick clay slip called engobe, the
contrast between this application and landscape-like glaze patterns
on these pieces emulates stormy seas crashing up against rugged
shorelines. Gordon employs a range of firing techniques in different
kilns to create the multiple effects he has mastered. His crystaline
glazes – applied to a vast array of bowls, plates, cups, vases and
more – are simply stunning. Equally outstanding is his use of
Denman lustre- a rich blue-black, almost deep purple glaze with a
pearl matt finish created with materials dug from the artist's own
land.
The
showroom at Beardsley Pottery is also highly acclaimed
for the sheer variety of forms and decorative techniques that can be
found there. New pieces by Scott Beardsley on display over this
year's tour weekend will include large platters and lidded casseroles
embellished with carved and/or bas relief figures circling the rims.
Chocolate brown vases overlaid with a beautiful turquoise and taupe
colored crawl glaze are also recent additions. Garnet
Beardsley's steady hand paints the most delicately detailed
underglaze drawings. Her rolling mountain and forest vistas adorn
lidded pots, mugs, vases and casseroles alongside playful depictions
of cartoon character kitchen garlic and her trade-mark chickadees.
On the opposite side of the
island, Hanne Christensen's Pottery Studio produces functional
wares that bring collectors back year after year to add to their sets
and/or pick up new single item gift ideas. Hanne's forest green, and
purple multi-colored glazes are favorites along with her famous pussy
willow pattern. Hanging planters, colanders, garlic pots, soap
dispensers, dishes and European-style teapots, and now an incredibly
novel yarn dispenser are among the many practical and reasonably
priced functional household items this potter creates on her silent
kick wheel looking out over Lambert Channel.
The natural beauty of Denman was
also largely responsible for Tom Dennis Pottery setting up
shop on the island's north end so many decades ago. The meandering
drive down Tom's country road to the peaceful Lake Farm, is a
reminder for visitors from near and far to slow down and really
appreciate the rural ambience of our special island. Visitors are
always rewarded by Tom's great selection of ample mugs in shades that
range from deep burgundy to aquamarine and moss green, his impressive
selection of stately vases, serving platters, and unique 'square'
plates with curved sides. Large mixing bowls in earthen tones, and
small dessert dishes decorated with an exciting new purplish blue
glaze are also among the new finds this year you won't want to miss.
-Many thanks to the following local businesses for their generous sponsorship! -
Denman Hardware Emporium, Etienne Design, Buckley Bay Beachcomber,
Peter Walford Dentistry, Denman Island General Store, Grant Morrison Trucking,
Sure Copy, Van Isle Veterinary Hospital, Sylvie Schroeder/Coast Realty Group,
H2O Environmental, RE/MAX The Islands, Don Luckett/Coast Realty Group,
Baynes Sound Insurance Brokers Ltd.
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