metal is clay

It's wonderful to be able to make what you love. Period. It just is. But apparently there are problems too—like the separation anxiety I'm having as I send new pieces off to an exhibition or show, I'm finding it really hard to let go. Chalice Series vessels, left to right: "Ich Dien (I Serve)", "Chalice #3", "Chalice #2 (Just Another Vessel". Handbuilt Southern Ice porcelain, underglaze, translucent glaze with encapsulated stains, ash glaze. Fired to cone 10 in oxidation. 2012. Three of the new "Chalice Series" vessels I fired and glazed over New Year are now moving out into two summer shows: "Chalice #2, Just Another Vessel" will be part of the Alberta Craft Council summer exhibition "Shift. A Transformative State Of Mind" which opens July 14 in Edmonton; "Chalice #3" and "Ich Dien (I Serve)" will be available in Calgary at the Ruberto-Ostberg Gallery Show "Connections", o...

There's a fairly long line-up of stuff that gets me hot under the collar… This is also the title of a sure to be excellent upcoming show featuring contemporary necklaces that I, sadly, won't be in. So I decided to have a solo show and post a picture of my current favourite new necklace: "For The Girl Who Has Everything: A Snack". "For The Girl Who Has Everything: A Snack". Sterling silver, stainless steel, gluten free cookie, brass, cubic zirconia. Constructed. 2012. There is at least one reason I won't be in the show: I didn't enter. And there's a reason I didn't enter… That would be the $30 fee to have my entries reviewed for potential inclusion. Simply put, I have hemorrhaged far too much cash recently entering shows—the same amount would have bought me a considerable amount of raw metal and gemstones, a run of business and post-cards, or even the best part of the airfare to go see the show! It's not that I'm against ...

I think I'm an artist… But I make jewellery and ceramics. I recently made a piece in metals that looks and functions like a picture. And you can wear it if you so choose… A Still Life With Gin And Oranges  was provoked into being by the selection criteria published by a big Canadian emerging artists art fair, who excluded anything "decorative" or that could be used. Their potentially apartheid approach to anything clay or textile was overcome by including sculpture in their definition of art (so just to be clear: 3D work must be neither useful nor decorative to be art. Anything 2D is art).  And so I give thanks to ARTINFO for this thoughtful piece on the art fair . I note that the red leather sofa (mentioned lower down in the article) would have been specifically excluded at my fair, because it was, well, useful - and because the organizers also specifically excluded furniture.  A Still Life With Gin And Oranges - picture, pendant, art? Chased and constr...

I did something slightly nuts over New Year... I fired 3 kiln-loads of porcelain , wanting some very specific pieces glazed and ready to ponder their metalwork and gemstone additions. It added up to very late nights and early mornings - with not nearly as much whisky as I would have liked (but I can always catch up on that). I was finally flirting with the first pieces in a long anticipated body of work. I think I know what they might be like when they’re finished - I’ve seen them in the movies my brain runs long after my hands have stopped working, they seem fabulous - so colourful, lush, ancient looking. Blank porcelain bisque, and glaze samples But first, I had to overcome a situation many potters fear: the room full of bisque. Clean, white, totally blank. The pots look like the pieces that I made, and yet they don’t. Strangers - all of them - sitting around in my tiny studio, intimidating me every time I passed. I had set them out around the room, and then spent at lea...

And so this is Christmas, 2011. This time of year always sets me thinking about the big scheme of things, from the very close to home and my love for the people I am with, to feeling so small and far apart - missing those far away, or sadly gone from this life. It's the latter that sends me to the big cosmological questions, quite literally to ponder life, the universe, and everything. A pierced copper star for a friend's tree. 2009. There is apparently a beautiful reality - cosmologically speaking - that we contain elements from the stars, and we return this gift to the cosmos when we pass. Our atoms continue to move through the universe, uniting us with all of life. My work is frequently inspired by ideas like this, relating our very human quest to understand the natural history of our universe with the emotional experience of living, and loving. A Big Pi Universe. Cast sterling silver pendant. 2011. I'm sharing a picture of my piece called "A Big Pi ...

His & Hers Nerd Pendants. Sterling silver. 2011. There is no point in denying it: I am a nerd. I designed these pendants for the "Branded" exhibition at the fabulous Influx Gallery in Calgary this summer. I like to bring my background in science and natural history into my art work, and in this case, I also brought some political advocacy. In an era in which some cultures still deny females equal access to education, I used the loaded motif of the apple to create a context to present the writing to the viewer. Here's the full artist statement: His and her “ nerd ” pendants confidently declare affiliation with a tribe that delights in knowledge, education and technology. Nerdism nourishes the world around us, and we are proud of that contribution. His “ nerd ” pendant is about strength in identity. Styled after a traditional branding iron, the pendant is a rugged and substantial piece of silver, designed to perpetuate this important meme beyond one life...

A single purple petunia. Knocked onto the sidewalk, bright face turned defiantly to the sky, nearly crushed underfoot. I picked it up and brought it home. It quickly took up residence in a wood-fired porcelain cook’s dish. Restored overnight, it was ready to greet the camera.