July exhibition at The Beverly Owens Project

Pop! Pop! Goes the Culture! is a three person exhibition at a very "hip" Queen Street West gallery in Toronto. It's just steps from the Drake Hotel and runs from July 2 - August 2, 2009. I have 4 pieces in the show and one is my particular favourite. It was finished right before the delivery date, so no photos yet. But it is a metal "Prairie" wagon with my signature collection of accumulated animals and a little girl riding on top of a horse. She is wearing clothing made from fabric cut from my own doll's clothes and a mini-skirt I sewed for myself when I was sixteen - if you can imagine! Here is the quote that is decaled on the side of a house-like form on the piece:

An unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised;
Happy in this, she is not yet so old
But she may learn’ happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn

It's from Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare and the character Portia is speaking about herself in a self-depreciating way. But she musters enough spirit to dress as a man and save her husband from death. So she is much smarter than she lets on. My little girl on top of the horse is at the moment of being told to become more "lessoned" - but probably won't do it!

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2009

More summer fun! I will be at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition at Nathan Phillips Square on July 10, 11 & 12, 2009. My booth number is 674 in the "yellow" area, so please come to visit.

My piece "Sleigh Ride" (shown here) has been accepted for the Unity and Diversity exhibition at the Cheongju International Craft Biennale (CICB). The exhibition runs from September 23 to November 1, 2009.

Orange

Orange combines the bliss of yellow with the heat of red. It is joy, enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction and success.

I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs

And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

Carl Sandburg, Theme in Yellow, 1916

Studies on Czechoslovakian Milk Pitchers

Since I am always drawn to brightly coloured objects (maybe it is a result of being very near-sighted!), Czechoslovakian ceramics fit that criteria. I have a large collection of functional work with Art Deco stripes, patterning and decals. Here are a few of the milk pitchers, filled with corresponding animals.

Artists' Project, Toronto March 5 - 8, 2009

I will be participating for the first time in the Artists' Project at the Liberty Grand at Exhibition Place, Toronto from March 5 - 8, 2009. I've also been invited to exhibit at the Masters Exhibition at World Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, 'Adventures of the Fire' for the 5th World Ceramic Biennale 2009 Korea. I hope to send the ladder, toybox and carriage.

SOFA Chicago with Ferrin Gallery

For this series, I found inspiration from antique porcelain and earthenware vases from the early 20th century. The delicacy of form and decoration on the vases influenced each new study. Groups of animals were interspersed with tiny porcelain cups and saucers, shells, garlic globes, and embossed ribbons. The range of white and off-white hues was achieved by using white earthenware, porcelain and mother-of-pearl luster, along with glossy, textured, satin and crackle glazes. These studies lead to a new understanding of the old and an old understanding of the new.

2 New Works

Here are 2 more new works that have multi-coloured animals and vintage toys as containers - a metal stroller and a drum.