Okay we are heading into the home stretch leading up to the opening of 2011's Matter of Clay III August 4. It would be understating it to say that we are merely excited. It goes beyond that as this will not only be the third Matter of Clay exhibition it will also officially mark ten years of concerted effort of getting the word out that there is an exciting viable clay art scene in Canada. It is an art scene that embraces all of Canada from Reed Weir's perch on an outcropping of the Newfoundland coast called Robinson's to Mary Fox in Ladysmith British Columbia where she is now ensconced in her newly designed home and studio. It is a scene that includes Astrid Kruse in the Northwest Territories and our southernmost artist Bernadette Pratt in our own London, Ontario.
The ceramic mosaic that is Matter of Clay III includes artists that have immigrated to Canada from all parts of the world as well as First Nations. They are united in a quest for excellence and their output ranges from the the functional to the wildly abstracted. They are all ages. The eldest is Dean Mullavey from North Hatley, Quebec whose professional career has had him kiln hopping in some of the most famous kilns in North America: Gaetan Beaudin's, Otto & Vivika Heino's to say nothing of an anecdotal moment with the iconic Beatrice woods in her studio when she was 100. Beatrice, who died at 104, was often asked the key to her longevity. Her oft-repeated reply was 'I owe it all to chocolate and young men, not necessarily in that order" Dean was the first person I have met who had heard the phrase straight from her lips.
There are currently over 100 artists participating and it was a thrill to finally be able to persuade Ron Roy to participate. Ron is a noted glaze specialist and prying some work out of him for the Matter of Clay exhibition took some doing. Fortunately I was aided and abetted by Liz Willoughby, another artist participating in the exhibition. They are delivering the work to the gallery on Monday. That'll be a good reason to open a bottle of wine.
Diane Brouilette has just connected to let us know that her pieces are on the way. I am hoping there will be one of her exquisite little teapots. I was too slow off the mark at a past exhibition and missed out on acquiring a sweet little purple teapot that I can still see just out of my grasp.
Puffins are making a huge hit in London. Reed Weir of Newfoundland made 100 of the little guys and they are a flock that is rapidly diminishing. it would appear that Londoners are puffin mad and we are selling them by the colony! They are cute and totally irresistible and, like potato chips, you can't stop at just one!
It is a wee bit busy so I am going to sign off for now and will get back to you on Monday!
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