Pinecroft Studios, Ontario.

Before I moved out east to Big Hill I lived and worked in Muskoka, Ontario for over 20 years. The last 2-4 years I had the wonderful pleasure of working down at Pinecroft Studios, Aylmer, Ontario.

I meet Brenda the potter, through her cousin and potter Tony Clennell…..very long story short, I would contract my pottery skills to her for 2-4 week periods and make pottery for the showroom. It was a wonderful place to work and I would stay with Brenda’s amazing 95 year old mother Tress!

They took me in like family and indeed i felt very much a part of their extended family. We worked hard and we spent many hours chatting about pottery, life….Brenda also has a set of identical twin girls…a couple of years older than mine, so we had not only the love of pottery in common but raising twins!

In 2007 we sold our home in Muskoka and I moved down to a little farm house in Springfield, which is very close to Aylmer and still contracted my skills to Brenda, but also shared the pottery space with her and created my own work and conducted workshops. It was a beautiful atmosphere to work and live in, and i miss them dearly!

They have just launched the Pinecroft School of the Arts, and here’s a link to their website.

http://www.pinecroftcentreforthearts.ca/

I know it will be a huge success, they are dedicated and hard working folks….and a bit on the crazy side, which always helps! So, if you’re looking for a unique and amazing experience with very talented potters, take a look and sign up! If i lived closer i’d be there in a heartbeat!

Workshop closed for a couple of months!

This is such a time of hibernation for me….i’m not working in the pottery studio till the beginning of March. I’ve got lots to keep me busy so i’m certainly not bored! I’ve been exploring pastel painting and thought i’d share a few……good, bad and the ugly!!!

But first of all i want to put in a link to a wonderful chef here on the Island, who has frequently used my pottery to display his most tempting and delicious looking food. So check out

http://thebitehouse.com/2013/02/01/leek-stuffed-trout-with-marinated-vegetables/#more-2563

Bryan and his partner are becoming frequent visitors to either the studio or the market – there are another couple of my pieces being used…look at the brussel sprout dish on his blog for example!

So just to start with a painting i didn’t finish and wasn’t successful…had a few redeeming qualities, but mostly i got discouraged, so i didn’t try to finish it.

This next one is the beginning of one i’m working on right now! this is the underpainting which looks totally different from what the end result will give me….hopefully!

And here’s one that i feel was successful…from the beginning underpainting…

to the finished piece…

Finally, i did manage to get some socializing with a gang of great women….. this is us having lunch after a long, uphill hike….we munched down heartily!

If anyone wants to come by the showroom, there are pots on the shelf, please just call ahead – just wear warm cloths, there’s no heating on in there!

A ton a day!

Another potter friend of mine, Tony Clennell, introduced me to this most amazing guy over in Britain. Tony has been blogging about this guy for a little while now….you can read more at http://www.smokieclennell.blogspot.ca – Tony is also a great wealth of information in the pottery world.

But let me get back to the reason for this post! ISAAC BUTTON! This amazing man, worked at a pottery, in England for about 20 years i think. He not only dug and made his own clay, but he was known to throw a TON OF CLAY A DAY!!! Mind you that wasn’t every day, cos of course he had other stuff to do, like finishing the pots, glazing them, filling the 3 chamber, coal firing kiln, that took 48 hours to fire…..it is an amazing little video.

http://lakesidepottery.com/Media/Isaac-button/isaac-button-country-potter-part-1x.html

He has such a down to earth feel about him, right down to the pipe constantly in his mouth and his little cap always on his head. He also wore a shirt and tie each day, under his overalls! The movie was created during the last year of him being in production, and it is accompanied by the Beatles! So, go grab a cuppa tea and settle down for this 35 minute gem!

I thought i was pretty industrious….or at least when i was in full production many years ago…now i’m a bit more laid back which is just fine by me. By the way, a ton of clay translates into approximately 45 boxes of clay….a box holds 44 lbs. I think in a year i might use about 80 boxes or a bit more….that’s just about 2 days of throwing for Isaac.

In other news….it’s been pretty damp around here, lots of snow then it melted and now it’s frozen!
This is the view out the door 2 days ago!

And this was a few days ago, when it was really beautiful!

ugly mug…take 3!

I apologise for putting out another post, but it seems that the one that got posted yesterday, was without all the images – well at least for those who get an email informing them of a new post! Word press has changed their format and i was totally confused and it was late!!! It has been fixed now!

Anyway, i also wanted to add an image of….

Tracey!

and Lori….

Now it is definitely time to get things ready for christmas…..the rain is coming down in buckets and we have a tree to find on the property and cut it down! I think i’ll opt for kitchen duty!

UGLY MUG….PART 2!

If you remember, a few months ago i got a strange but lovely request, from 2 women who were planning to open a new cafe and emporium. Well The Ugly Mug has opened, at long last, after months of the usual crap that goes into this sort of endeavor!

Tracey Black-Hanratty and Lori Latimer-Merlin, both pure Cape Breton women…..had a vision, and it came to fruition just over a week ago! They wanted a dynamic but warm environment where regulars would come for their morning and afternoon coffee! When i visited them this afternoon, the place was buzzing! It certainly had a warm and inviting atmosphere, a place where i could well imagine having it as my regular cafe!

I had made them 25 ‘ugly’ mugs….not so ugly as it turns out…and they sold out in 3 days! So the request came last week….8 days ago, for 100 more! I thought i was finished with production but was up for the challenge…usually i like about 2 weeks to produce enough for a kiln load! but i was more than happy to provide them with more Ugly mugs!

I surprised myself and managed to get 109 mugs made in 7 days…and delivered them up to Sydney on the 8th day! Amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it!!

So go see them….The Ugly Mug, 1290 Kings Road, Sydney, Cape Breton Island. Phone # 902 270 UGLY (8459).

Hours of operation: Monday – Friday: 7.30 am – 6.00 pm: Saturday: 9 am – 4 pm: Sunday: 10am – 2pm.
Visit their website: http://www.uglymugcafe.ca.

Seems like their website isn’t up and running yet….maybe check back later!

Update and news….

It has been a very busy fall here at Big Hill! Lots going on in the cabins, and many pots being made in the studio. Celtic Colours happened early in October and we had a great time taking in some of the concerts, and meeting some of the musicians. Near the end of October we had a wonderful young woman from Germany stay with us for 2 weeks…..she was very sweet, upbeat and was a huge help….
harvesting the vegetables,

stacked our winter supply of wood onto the back porch…

and she was a huge help to me in the pottery workshop!

Eva left here a few weeks ago and is in Montreal right now. Then she will return to Germany. We miss having her with us, she was a delight!

I’ve been exploring a new medium…pastels….and am having a great time. I’m presently figuring out how to host an 3 day arts workshop, here at Big Hill, with an wonderful artist from Portland Oregon, Marla Baggetta. We have begun the process of figuring out when it will be. Most likely it’ll be either June or Septemeber 2013. I’ll keep things posted here. Let me know if any of you would like more information. Not that i have a whole lot right now!!! In the meantime, here is her website, take a look….she’s a fabulous painter…and after chatting with her for the first time last night, she’s seems to be just the sort of woman i’d love to take a workshop with….very passionate and engaging!

http://www.marlabaggettastudio.com/GalleryMain.asp?GalleryID=70516&AKey=3YH3YL29

My first attempt at a pastel painting….i’m lovin’ this medium! no paint to clean up, no brushes to have standing in turps for ages….

With the upcoming Christmas season, i’ve been working pretty diligently in the studio….I’m into the glazing and firing cycle right now, and have 4 kilns fired, 2 more to go!!

this is what a bucket of glaze looks like before i blast it with the mixer….kinda cool i think!

Here’s a close up of an oval platter with the new layered glaze application, i’m pretty happy, altho the image here is a bit more green than the real piece!

All the latest work, new stuff and the familiar work – will be on view at the upcoming Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design Loft show, held in Sydney, on Charlotte Street.
FRIDAY 30th NOVEMBER; SATURDAY 1ST DECEMBER; SUNDAY 2ND DECEMBER.

Here are a couple of shots taken at last years event! It is wonderful show, small and intimate, and some amazing crafts and art for sale. Come take a look!

The showroom is now only open by chance or appointment. But the shelves are very full right now, ready for the christmas shows, so if you’d like to come have a look, before the show, please give me a call: 902 295 2726. I’ll also be at the Baddeck Farmers Market, Christmas Show, December 12th, 11 am – 2 pm. It is being held in the usual place, The Community Hall beside the library! Hope to see you there!

Finally, this is what Terry and I encountered when we took a day off and went exploring a few days ago!
Simply magical!

The Ugly Mug!

A few months ago I got a very interesting phone call…..Lori and Tracey began the conversation by telling me they were opening a new cafe/emporium up in Sydney, called The Ugly Mug, and continued by asking if I’d be interested in making some mugs for them to sell!!!! As you can well imagine, I had some mixed feelings about them contacting me….they made the comment that they had seen my mugs….and thought I’d be the right potter to help them out!!! As it turns out, they didn’t really want ugly mugs, they just wanted something a bit different, and so I took on the order.

When you’re in the thick of regular production, making many familiar mugs, it’s just too easy and comfortable to stay within what you’ve been making for years, with the understanding that they sell well!
So, it was a fun and challenging exercise to come up with a bunch of new forms, with a looser feeling to them, I loved it! And from this short exploration I’m going to start making a new mug form. I’ll keep the present one on the shelves also, but will have a few new shapes for people to choose from.

I like how you can get a better idea of the form of a piece, like a mug, by photographing them with their handles turned away!

We delivered them yesterday and found out that they are in a very frustrating place, waiting for all sorts of building inspectors to approve certain things….they have been delayed almost 3 months! Not a great place to be when you have the impetus of a new venture and are being stalled at every turn! Hopefully they will open within the next month….but we’ll just have to wait and see!