This summer, I returned to Art Tahsis to complete a three week artist’s residency. This year, I focused on working with wild clay from the landscape, and digging a pit to fire the resulting pieces in.
My workspace in the beautiful, sunny studio, which overlooks Tahsis inlet.
A gorgeous afternoon view of Tahsis Mountain across the inlet.
Silky blue-black clay from Kitwanga, BC. This beautiful stuff was brought down from northern B.C. by Celine for me! It required little processing, being so fine and free of debris.
Brushing Tahsis clay slurry through a fine sieve to remove larger particles, rocks and organic debris.
A swim at the river on an especially hot day.
Drawing up some designs for coil-built pots.
A pot in progress. Most ended up being constructed of commercial clay, with more tests still needed on the wild clay.
Several coil pots on the go. As the layers of one dry, I pivot to another.
A bear skull found by Troy.
Colours of the cut block. These will be turned into earth pigments.
Doing a low bisque in the kiln to make the pieces more durable for the pit firing.
Test tiles made of the wild clay from Tahsis and Kitwanga. Blended the wild clays with commercial clay to try and see if it improves brittleness.
The test tiles after firing. The colour change was quite surprising!
