metal is clay

Merry Christmas! Have some rich, dense and creamy gluten free (GF) shortbread—a small (but cunning) gift from me to anyone who is gluten-free or loves someone who is… And if everything goes according to plan, it will mean that lots more people will be able to offer home-baked gluten free goodies when I go round for a visit! My mum’s shortbread was legendary, not least because it lasted for such a short time once she’d baked it… I have modified her recipe by increasing the usually small amounts of ground almonds and rice flour to completely replace the wheat flour. And I took inspiration from her use of whipping cream to ‘wet’ and bind the dry ingredients, instead of just using water. What an amazing difference—that creamy, fresh flavour I had always loved is right there in the first taste. See below for recipe. Gluten free almond, rice four and butter shortbread baked in an unglazed stoneware tray. Diameter 10”, 0.75” deep. The trays make great pizza too. Christine Pedersen 2015...

Photographing a group of new pieces is always interesting—getting to know who they are and seeing how they fit together. I had placed 18 porcelain vases on my dining room table ready to take their pictures; after a couple of days of hanging out with them I felt like I was trying to organise the guests in a wedding party… All those colours and heights and styles—lining up, fitting in, and settling the kids down in front. And then there are all the other shots - like the small family group caught in a candid moment, the teenager poignantly standing apart from their parents. Vases have a very special place in my affections and my need to make (more on this below). Thanks to the Citizen’s of Craft web-site for helping to get the word out that “Vases are people too”. I knew I wasn’t alone :) The vases are available from the excellent Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond, Alberta.   The Family Photo 2015 - Probably Unrepeatable. Porcelain vases, tallest is 11 inches. Christin...

I have a rule when I make my ceramics: I have to love how the finished piece looks on my dining room table. This was the first large piece that I glazed in my new glaze style: “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” - it has splashes of bright yellow and lime green glaze on top of a translucent glaze, on high-fired porcelain clay. There is also a funky mix of wood ash, black underglaze, and ash splodges: it captures a snow-bank a few days after a snow-fall - the expanse of white, splashes from the road and bikes and - y ou can fill in the rest of the inspiration. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow. Porcelain walled and footed bowl. Pinched and hand-built form. 4.5” x 8”. Christine Pedersen. 2015. This glaze style makes me smile... It was hard to let go and take it to Bluerock , and I have a blank space in the middle of my table. Maybe I’ll be able to post a shot of it on the dining room table of its new home.

First vlog posting ever -  it was a very fun day at Bluerock Gallery on Saturday Dec 5, lots of people, and lots of chasing on metal. Have to admit it was a bit intimidating wielding a hammer inside an art gallery... Thank you to gallery owner Karen Gimbel and the Bluerock team for the invitation to bust out of my studio for the day. Looking forward to next time!

South of Calgary for half an hour, then drive due west—past the Big Rock (1) and fields of rolling prairie foothills—straight towards the Rockies… It’s a lovely drive down to Black Diamond from Calgary. My first collection of work is now on show at Bluerock Gallery —so proud to be joining the talented artists and friends already there. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow: Orange & Red Slurpee . Pinched porcelain vase. 17.5 cm/ 7” tall. Christine Pedersen. 2015. If you’re making the trip, I strongly recommend you set-off early and call into Chinook Meadery , just west of Okotoks. Loads of lovely honey-related products, honeycomb to sample, and a live hive doing actual bee-business right there in the shop. Top tip: the honey ganache is amazing on bread and cookies, or straight off your finger whilst still sitting in their car-park. We are working our way into the case of mead we brought back, haven’t drunk them all yet so we can’t elect a champion. So far: six thumbs way up! (1...

obsessive chasing desire: the process in which the metal artist yields to their need to strike one piece of metal with carefully shaped tools for a very, very , long time. I will be doing a chasing metalwork demonstration at Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond, Alberta, on Saturday December 5, 2015. I will have loads of samples - flat chased pictures, works in progress - and a very special holly sprig that I have been working on for over 90 hours… Look forward to seeing you there. “Run”. Brass portrait study. Chasing and repoussé. 14.5 x 9 x 3 cms. Christine Pedersen. 2014. ‘ Chasing ’ is the use of tools to create lines or texture marks on the surface of metal, it can be just like drawing. But the artwork can also be made into a three dimensional form by hitting and stretching the metal surface from behind—‘ repoussé ’—to sculpt relief, or volume, into the metal surface. The Statue of Liberty is probably the most famous repousséd object in the world - it’s also an awful l...

Canadian fine craft artists, the galleries, shops and studios where you can meet them, and the museums, art institutions and curators that shape our history - all working together in one place to show the world our work… Drool. The Citizen’s Of Craft web-site is open for business. And I’m all smiles - I spent many summer evenings happily camped in my basement editing pictures and loading them up to create my profile .  407 members and growing every time I visit, I think this could just be the best thing to happen to fine craft artists in Canada for a very long time. It’s a   h u g e  under-taking to create and maintain such a resource, so I’m feeling pretty confident about my very sweeping statement. It’s only been a week and 3 complete strangers have taken the time to share my profile on Facebook (and I didn’t even ask them to): thank you to my new friends, and I look forward to the many opportunities this new resource will create in our far-flung hands-on comm...

Makers, the clients that commission them, and those who receive our work as gifts become entangled, forever, through an original piece. Makers fashion the physical thing, but it is their creations that build memories. As I consider the enduring nature of metal and stone I fully expect that this new pendant could be handed on to another generation. It’s a lovely thought that someone that I will probably never meet might one day inherit both the pendant and the story of how it came to be made. It is a gift to me, as the maker, to be part of this experience. Thank you to my client—SA—for commissioning the piece, and I hope it brings your family joy. One Becomes Many: SA . Bronze pendant with raw emerald crystal set in sterling silver. Cast and constructed. Leather necklace and hand-carved recycled ebony piano key toggle. Pendant length 50mm.  Christine Pedersen. 2015. Additional design info: the pendant design originated in a linked cast necklace, where multiple co...

My most recent “commission” has long been paid for, over and over and over. It is a picture of my family home, the very centre of my—our—world until… I left. University, love, a new home, jobs, emigration, another home—so many transitions and new stories but whatever “home” is, wherever I am, there is a sense or feeling that has never left me: I know this place, and a part of me feels like I belong there. I drew the house, the medieval church in the centre of town, the way flowers or a spanner or a horse or rail-tracks fit together to represent us all; each small part symbolic to the whole. I drew a story that describes “home”, this place to which we return, where our lives will always overlap. Funny, I didn’t really notice how the river, the road, and the rails also lead away.  Fluvius Visum (River View) . Chased brass panel, custom half-lap alder frame finished with milk paint and beeswax. 12 x 12 x 2 ins. 2014. So do I belong to the bricks and mortar? Or to the ...