The Spafford Collection of Ceramics

Should be a great exhibition worth the drive to see it. My former prof Jack Sures, who is one of the reasons i’m a ceramicst today, will have work alongside so many artists for whom Saskatchewan ceramics are known. The list includes: Gisele Amantea, Victor Cicansky, David Gilhooly, Marilyn Levine, Jeannie Mah, and Zane Wilcox.

A review of some great art, by an amazing writer.

Ever since I spent 2 years living and making work in Australia it seems that all things Australian and in particular Australian craft have been on my radar so it was no surpise to run across an article about the work of Patsy Hely, a PHD student at the Canberra School of Art at the Australian National University. While I was a student there I was lucky to have the opportunity to meet Patsy and see her amazing work first hand. The article, PASTORALIA – The Work of Patsy Hely, is published online at Craft Victoria’s Craft Culture site www.craftculture.org and is written by another dear friend of mine, Sarah Rice, a ceramic artist, art theorist, writer and instructor in the art theory department of the ANU.

Here is an image of Patsy’s work from the exhibition and another vase form from an exhibition held at Beaver Galleries in Canberra.


New Craft – Future Voices Conference and Exhibition

As their website states:
“New Craft – Future Voices is an international conference and exhibition organised to encourage debate surrounding the future of craft. It seeks to expose and articulate craft issues currently being investigated via doctoral research, post-doctoral research and craft practitioners, and to document new ways of questioning and disseminating the dialogue of craft practice.
New Craft – Future Voices will explore the relation between skills, intellect and culture within the individual vision of crafts practitioners.”

I’m lucky to be participating in the conference’s exhibition and it’s worth checking out their website at www.newcraftfuturevoices.com as they had an interesting submissions process wherein you had to post your submission to their website and undergo a very public review process. While it was a bit unsettling, it was a great experience to participate in as you were able to read the other submissions and gain valuable insight into the range of theorectical research being undertaken internationally. Should be a great conference as a result.

The conference will be held July 4th to 6th, 2007 at the University of Dundee in Scotland. There is also a related blog site – www.craftresearch.blogspot.com worth a read.

Power of 10

The Saskatchewan Craft Council is currently hosting an exhibition of work from Saskterra, which is a Saskatchewan based Ceramics collective. The exhibition showcases work from members of the organization over the last 10 years. The exhibition can be viewed online at www.saskcraftcouncil.org

Here’s some pics of my work from the exhibition.



New Craft Journal calling for submissions

Cahiers métiers d’art * Craft Journal is a non-profit organisation that encourages and publishes critical, historical and technical research on local and international craft.

They are looking for essays, reviews and artist profiles. The first issue to be out in July 2007. Their site details all the submission info and how to sign up to receive the online mag.

craftjournal.ca