metal is clay

“Open Vessel”, 14” long, Southern Ice porcelain. Survived the bisque firing—phew—now ready for a high temp firing to mature the clay. Everything takes time…make, dry, fire, fire again. And there’s a lot of sampling. Some pieces will unfortunately fail, but they all provide information. All this process tries to make next time go better, to feel more informed. But these are raw materials and their character changes, even with refined minerals, making ceramics a pretty harsh teacher. It's a journey, and to quote Tony Nadal, tennis legend Rafa Nadal’s uncle/coach: “Stay humble, stay hungry”. The sample: “Skiff”, un-glazed sculptural porcelain vessel, cone 10 fired, and ready to go out in the world. Skiff—deep in the kiln, in amongst endless glaze tests, on the bottom shelf of the last glaze-firing. That orange sample in the centre is incredible, going to be seeing a lot more of that colour…  

I made this video for the makeanddo virtual film festival at The Ceramic Congress 2021. It's an intro to the cheap and quick ‘jigs’—workshop devices that hold parts for you—that I made to give myself some extra hands while building “Pool”, a porcelain and metal sculpture. The sculpture is still a work in progress, I keep working on other projects and sneaking back to it, good thing that metal-work is so patient! You can watch the whole film festival on Youtube .  The film was edited by the very talented—and insanely productive—Carole Epp at musingaboutmud . Thank you Carole, awesome job! 🙏👏 Follow along with me in the studio @metalisclay on instagram   #ceramicsculpture #porcelain #themakingof #organicceramics #contemporaryporcelain #crunchyporcelain #contemporaryporcelainvessel #ceramiclife #pinchypinch #contemporaryceramicvessel #studioceramics #canadianceramics #benchpeg #benchtips #intheworkshop #wip #inthestudio #metalwork #canadianmetalsmith #vmaamember

The Beaux Arts exhibition, curated by Angela Clarke at Il Centro Art Gallery, Vancouver, was developed with the Vancouver Metal Arts Association . The work of nineteen artists is included, and I am very honoured to be one of them. Huge thanks and kudos to the volunteer members of VMAA who have managed to organize and install a professional show under the current incredibly difficult conditions. To quote from Il Centro’s web-site : As the first exhibition in our Charles Marega 150 celebrations series Il Museo at Il Centro presents Beaux Arts: An Exhibition with the Vancouver Metal Arts Association. This exhibition features the sculptural metal art form both large and small. Entitled Beaux Arts in honour of the artist style of which Charles Marega was an interpreter, this juried show integrates traditional metal work with non-traditional styles and elements, true to the Beaux Arts form. Throughout the exhibition space there is a continuous juxtaposition of traditional and non- traditiona...

The Cracks Are How The Dark Gets Out: contemporary porcelain vessel, part of my ongoing Fenestrations series. 2020 was definitely a year when the dark could get stuck inside, and as other recent life experiences have taught me, it is necessary to seize the light. I haven’t published the Fenestrations series works - yet: I want to develop a show opportunity for them. Somewhere where we can walk through the whiteness, and let the light do the talking, rays and shadows completing the forms. This is a short video introducing a favourite piece from the kiln in 2020.  No doubt about it, all this isolation is tough on everyone. I’m spending my time making, and learning: making my own studio videos, and doing more self-promotion in a time when there are so few live show opportunities (find me on instagram and twitter @metalisclay ). Artist statement follows. Hope you enjoy, and please get in touch to find out more about available work, thanks. "The Cracks Are How The Dark Gets Out" ...

One - lovely - gold ring...for C & M. 14k yellow gold. Commission. Christine Pedersen.      December 2020: the last month of a very strange year, a year full of deep reflections. I’ve been working away designing and building new work, even though shows were so limited, because it takes a lot of time to create complex pieces and I want to be ready for 2021! The garden was fantastic this year due to the gardener’s spending a lot of time in it: a stay-cation reflecting on life and the universe, grateful to be able to walk and run in our neighbourhood. I’ve also started to share my studio life on instagram —it’s been a really useful way to stay in touch with friends and see fantastic hand-made original work by fellow makers. OK…it’s actually been hard to stay focused, there is just so much beautiful hand-made work out there! It’s been such a joy to make some new friends on the way, especially while we are all dealing with such reduced contact with each other.  ...

Making: A Career in Craft is now open at the Alberta Craft Gallery, Calgary, in cSpace (the former King Edward School). Show runs September 19 - November 7, 2020 Cory Barkman and I are showing a small Plum Blossom screen, and I have three new chased and repousséd flower pendant necklaces. See more images here . Artists have contributed background writing for the show, sharing aspects of what they have learned from a career dedicated to making their art and fine craft work. I found it a really interesting read, and a great way to connect with some artists that I do not know personally: Making: A Career in Craft Exhibition Guide Alberta Craft Council also have a fabulous Craft Collaborations exhibition running - unique pieces made by member artists working together, available via an on-line auction - see the artwork here The "Making" group exhibition first opened on February 1, 2020 in the Feature Gallery in Edmonton ...And then sadly had to shut down pretty much straightaway ...

Cory Barkman’s Chinese Plum Tree Screen - which included hand-made bronze flowers by yours truly - was included in the Society of North American Goldsmith’s Jewelry and Metalsmithing Survey Vol. 2. The picture I submitted (to be found on p.180) shows a smaller project we made at 31 x 21 x 2 inches; Cory’s work is usually custom-built to suit a specific location. I previously posted a detailed description of making the bronze flowers using the ancient techniques of chasing and repoussé, and I will be making more bronze flowers soon. Hopefully there will be some left over for jewellery this time - more details to follow! Check out Cory’s functional sculpture at corybarkman.com , and please contact me if you are interested in exploring a project idea. ISBN 978-0-9988002-2-6 Order from:  https://www.snagmetalsmith.org/resources-opportunities/jams/ Copyright Cory Barkman, 2018. Image: Christine Pedersen.