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my two canine studio buddies. Sigi and Gus are standard dachshunds and a great inspiration for clay creations.
Sigi is our resident senior citizen. He still runs the show. Gus is our little work bee and farm dog. He keeps us wonderfully entertained.
It has been a busy few weeks since I came back from the Filberg Festival. I had a great time at the Festival and really want to thank everyone who came to my booth. You all made it a special event for me.
I had the great fortune to be placed right behind the kids’ stage and as a result I had ample access to four days of great entertainment. Sand Nortrup and Mike Battie, the two festival clowns and jugglers, had me mesmerized throughout the festival. What great fun it was!
After many hours in the studio and firings of the kilns, it is hard to believe I am finally getting ready to go up Island tomorrow. Thursday is set-up day and the Festival starts Friday morning at 11 am. There is a great music line-up to go with the many artists and artisans. Hope to see you in Comox.
For more information go to Filberg Festival
The Sooke Fine Arts Show takes off today July 24 and runs through Monday August 2. The show features the work of hundreds of island artists (Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands).
If you are on Vancouver Island the Sooke Fine Arts Show is well worth a visit.
Check out the website for directions and hours
www.sookefinearts.com
Here is one of the reasons why it’s been very quiet in my world of blogging….
Together with six other fellow artisans, I have been involved in creating a group to help promote food and art in the Cowichan Valley. The Cowichan Valley Artisans consist of 13 creative souls, who have dedicated themselves to their craft, be it glass, woodwork, clay or food, and who have now joined forces making a visit to the Valley even more alluring.
We are celebrating the launch of our year-round studio tour with a reception at Benchmark Gallery 28 Station St. in Duncan, June 30th, 5 – 9pm. Brock Windsor, one of our food artisans from Stone Soup Inn in Lake Cowichan, will be preparing some delicious appies for the event. There will be wine to accompany the food and Victor will be offering some tasty teafarm teas to top it all off.
We have created a beautiful brochure with map and website – www.CowichanValleyArtisans.com – to help guide people to our studios.
To debut this new group, all studios and venues will be open July 1st through 4th from 10am to 5pm. The studios remain open throughout the year. Please check each individual studio for their open hours.
See you on the tour.
With our recent studio renovations mostly behind us, I am happy to be offering a round of Spring clay classes.
Starting in May, I will be conducting three different handbuilding sessions.
The two Core Handbuilding classes are on Tuesdays – one in the morning and one in the evening. Thursday evening I offer a Teapot Building class. These spring sessions are the only classes I will be offering this year. I look forward to hearing from you and to claying together this spring. If you have any questions give me a call 250 748 3811
Core / ClayPlay
This six-week course will explore the basic principles of hand-building as well as experiment with various methods of decorating and glazing techniques.
Open to all levels.
Time: May 11 – June 15, 2010 Tuesday 9:30 am -12:00 pm Tuesday 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Course fee: $195 + GST – includes 15 hours of instruction, clay, use of tools, glazes, bisque and glaze firings.
Deposit: $75 at registration. Non-refundable.
Maximum enrollment: 8 per class, pre-registration required.
Teapot Building
This course takes place over 6 Thursdays. You will create your very own tea set using different hand-building techniques. We will explore teapot design and decoration.
Previous experience with hand-building required. Tea served (of course!).
Time: May 13 – June 17, 2010 Thursday 6:00 – 8:30 pm
Course fee: $195 + GST – includes 15 hours of instruction, clay, use of tools, glazes, bisque and glaze firings.
Deposit: $75 at registration, Non Refundable.
Maximum enrollment: 8 per class, pre-registration required.
So I realize the blog has been very quiet as of late. A quiet blog usually means a very busy studio. I have been completing all sorts of clay projects and, on top of it, the gallery and tea area is getting a new floor. I am still able to work in the studio but since everything is upside down and not looking its best, we have decided to close the tea bar and studio until April 8. We promise it will be worth the wait and I really look forward to showcasing all the brand new pieces I have been working on. If you are visiting from a far and really want to come by, please give me a call @ 250 748 3811.
After the grand cup production and the busyness of the Victoria Tea Festival, I managed to come down with a very stubborn cold. While this may be a good excuse to get some rest, I also feel drawn to the studio and the many unfinished projects I have on the go. Thinking of all the many projects and plans I am keen to get started on, I drink lots and lots of tea to get healthy quickly.
It is true – my studio has literally been taken over by tasting cups. A while ago, we offered to create and donate some 800 tasting cups to the Victoria Tea Festival and with the festival coming up this weekend (February 13 + 14) everything we do seems to revolve around cups. In between kneading, wedging, extruding, shaping, trimming, drying, firing and glazing, I try to fit in some teapot time as well. And yes, there will be new and cool teapots available at the tea festival. Come have a look if you are at Crystal Gardens.
By Hand Ceramics
Last week, I went to the opening of the Cultural Olympiad exhibit ‘Art of Craft’ at the Museum of Vancouver. The exhibit, a cultural exchange between Canada and Korea, features craft artists from across Canada as well as Korea.
These are the three parts represented at the museum:
Unity & Diversity: Selected Works – 75 pieces from across Canada recently on display at the 2009 Cheongju International Craft Biennale in the Republic of Korea.
By Hand/BC and Yukon – 51 pieces from Canada’s West Coast with a focus on the artists’ creative processes and studio environments.
Craft from the Republic of Korea – 47 pieces demonstrating the excellence of traditional and contemporary crafts.
Ceramic Teapots by Margit Nellemann
I am honoured to have one of my tea sets in the By Hand/BC and Yukon part of the exhibit. If you find yourself in Vancouver between now and April 11, I highly recommend you have a look at this exhibit.