A blue and white preview

 From the most subtle blues to the darker blues and just about everything in between, I think I've managed to fall in love with blue in a whole new way.  As is always the case when making new work, I had a few glaze issues that rose up out of the wood-work for me.  It's a good reminder that after 18 years I still haven't managed to master the medium.  The mere act of working in clay keeps me humble.  That said, there was lots that did turn out- beautifully too! 

The best part about this show will be seeing it all come together at the opening.  I can't wait!

Don't forget- the opening is Thursday from 6-9pm! See you then!

Step 1, 2345 and done...

Here's a little glimpse of some of the steps of glazing and a finished platter that turned out oh so pretty for the Kindred show!  I've got the photographer coming tomorrow and then the work will be shipped from Vancouver to Toronto by Wednesday! Fingers crossed- it's all coming up really close! See you soon TO, Heather

Sneak peek...

Hi there!
 It's Heather here with a little up-date and sneak peek at what I unloaded out of the kiln today! Lots of pretty blues in all sorts of patterns! I was playing around with the sizes of patterns and shades of blue this past firing- for the most part I'm really pleased with what I took out of the kiln!  I ended up doing a bit of 'blind' glazing this last time around as I have been working with a new porcelain that is beautiful, white and translucent, however the glazes tend to be quite fuzzy where they meet the white glaze.  In spots it can look really nice, but occasionally I feel like it messes with the patterns a bit, so I'm going to have to watch out for how thick I apply the glazes the next time around. I also was hoping to expand my deep blue glazes, but am still working towards this.  I have quite a few pale and mid-range tones, but only the one deep indigo.  Hopefully this will change by the time I ship off the work!!

In other news, I up-dated my current website today to include a new video that has been in the works for the past little while.  One of my goals this year was to create a video of my hands at work in the studio.  I felt it was a good time to open up about how my work is made and just some of the steps taken to create the work I make.   I have a process that I have spent a few years developing to glaze and it's a method that really informs my work in a strong way.  Please take a moment to watch the video to catch a glimpse of my low-tech, time-intensive method of glazing.  It will make sense then why I'm so inspired by paper-cutting, quilts stripes and graphic, bold patterns reminiscent of textile prints.

Hello and welcome!

As this first blog post gets started we are pretty much 1 month away from the 'kindred' show at bookhou.  It is a show that has been just over a 1 year in the making, although the real work towards it, along with the actual pieces that will be exhibited are being made now.  This blog will be a place to document this process- the work leading up to the show, the inspiration behind the show, and some sneak peeks of the actual work that will be exhibited.

Krystal and I (Heather here) have both have had a really busy spring, but always in the back of our minds was our show and how we were going to link our work together in a cohesive way.  Both of us had been thinking about blue and white on our own, separately for a while, when it became a little more obvious that it could be a larger theme for our show.  An exhibit is often a good excuse to make new work, develop new ideas and processes along the way.  Some of the work we hope to exhibit will be similar to our usual work, others will be a departure from the usual.  We are almost ready to launch our promo and press for the show, which is really exciting.  Here is a glimpse of inspiration with some familiar work (my striped bottle vases) with some exciting new blue glazes on the way.