Teapot Show at Petrolia Mercantile

Better late than never.
(Sorry - but I did get very busy over the Christmas season).



The teapots are in place - and they do look good.

They look fantastic - and the workmanship is astounding.
I am always so pleased to see what the members of our guild can
do. I believe there are 17 teapots in all.

Please try to make it out to the Petrolia Mercantile in Petrolia to view the wares.

The store is located right on the main street in Petrolia
- across from Victoria Hall.

I have attached a couple of pictures that I took after we set
them up (if you click on the picture - it will make it larger).

So far - 2 or 3 of the teapots have sold.
The teabag holders for our fundraiser are also selling very well.

Dirty Girls

Wow! What more can I say?


Jane Danic:















Stef Smalls:















Carol Holmes-Kerr:












Dewy Spizziri:











Sarnia's very own "Dirty Girls".


Today was the opening for "Fire and Water" at the Gallery in the Grove - on until November 21st.

Wow - it was great - if you didn't make it up there, try to get up to see some of this fantastic work. There was a good crowd - and the art work was wonderful. These ladies have really put a lot of work into this show.
Carol came down for the opening (Carol - you're looking good - Ottawa must be agreeing with you).

I managed to take a few pictures - but of course the camera doesn't do them justice.

Correct me ladies if I have this wrong - I'll do my best:




This is a raku pot by Dewy Spizziri - (love the little turtle in the side). The colours and texture are great!




This is Stef Small's favourite Pot - now - I think she told me it
was saggar fired - using horsehair and feathers. There is a lot of great colour in this - pinks and cream. Really nice.





This Plate is by Jane Danic - and I confess - I was so busy looking
at the plate, that I didn't get a chance to read what the process was that she used on it. However - she has done some fantastic
carving around the rim - and then lustred the letters in gold.
It looks very old - what a great effect.





And last, we have a couple of masks by Carol Holmes-Kerr.
One is her face, the other is her daughters. I have to learn how to
do these (Carol - want to come back and a workshop for us)?
Again - I was so busy looking that I didn't get all the information on the process - but the gold lustre was a fantastic effect.




These are 4 very talented ladies!
Thank you for sharing your work with us.

What's on Your Wheel?

Can you feel it? Summer is waning - have you noticed how dark it is at 9 pm at night - that's a sure sign.

So - what's on your wheel? What have you been working on all summer?
I'm sure everyone is very busy getting ready for all the autumn sales and shows.


Here's a sneak preview of what I've been working on - another Dragon teapot. Among other things.




















Anyway - I thought it was time to post to the blog again - and bring everyone up to speed on what's going on.


First of all - I haven't figured out how to work the Yahoo site yet to send out messages to everyone - and since it appears that my e-mail isn't talking to Stephanie's e-mail, it may be a while before you receive any messages. I will do my best to rectify this in the very near future.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 21st - 7pm - site to be announced.

Stephanie and I have arranged for our teapot show to move out to the "Petrolia Mercantile" store in Petrolia for the month of OCTOBER - so I am asking everyone to
please bring your teapots to the meeting in September (carefully wrapped).
We will take them out and set them up at the Petrolia Mercantile for the show. Further information will follow shortly.

Please also - Karen, the proprietor of the Petrolia Mercantile has offered to sell teabag holders for us as a fund raiser. We are asking that everyone please try to make a couple of teabag holders for us and bring them to the meeting as well.

For those of you who don't know what a teabag holder is - it's a small bowl or decorative dish - usually with a "divot" in one side for the spoon to rest comfortably on - and the use is to hold teabags of course. Be creative - fancy is good.

That's it for now - I'll try to update again next week with more info on the teapot show. In the meantime - if you have any questions -send them to the guild - I will be checking them regularly - I just have to figure out how to send to the entire group.

Update on Recent Events

It's time for an update on the events of the past month.

On May 1st, we held a Teapot Contest in conjunction with First Friday.

I would say it was a rousing success - with some fantastic teapots entered in the contest.



At the right are the winning teapots.




From left to right:
By Ingrid Farago - honourable mention for Funkiest teapot.
Elizabeth Martiniuk - Best Functional Teapot.
Dave Dunk - Best in Show.
Stephanie Smalls - honourable mention for Functional teapot.
Tammy Ward - Funkiest Teapot.




The second photo here is of a tribute to one of our members - Dave Dunk.

Sadly, Dave passed away in November of 2008. His picture is placed alongside some of his teapots.

He has been, and will be sorely missed by all
of the potters in the guild.

We'd like to thank his wife Jean for taking the time to bring in the photo and teapots
for us.











And this last photo is of our setup on
May 2nd for our second annual spring sale.

For some reason or other - Blogger won't allow me to upload the other picture that Jane sent to me - so this is it.

We had 10 potters on hand for the sale. The weather co-operated nicely, and all things considered - it was a good day.

We had demonstrations of painting on pottery by Terri Recker, wheel throwing by Carol Holmes-Kerr and Luke DeVries, and handbuilding by Carol McLachlin. There were
lots of great door prizes, and I think a lot customers were pleasantly surprised to see such a wonderful collection of pottery being presented in this local venue.

I think that all of the potters in this guild should give themselves a pat on the back - there is some great talent in this group.

Teapot Show

Just a reminder that our teapot show starts this Friday night - May 1st. Opening and awards will be held at the First Friday starting at 6 pm. Teapots need to be dropped off at the Lawrence House on Thursday, April 30th - at 10 am for jurying.

Here are some images of the teapots that we have so far:

Annual Sale

Our 2nd Annual Sale is coming up on May 2nd.

This is a reminder to all members to please attend the meeting on Monday, April 20th for final instructions on the sale. If you have not yet signed up, this will be your last chance to sign up to be in the sale.



Meeting to be held at Lambton College - 6:30 - 9 pm - Rm K211.




Mug Fundraiser - please bring your donation mugs to the meeting on Monday night. The mug fundraiser starts on April 22nd (Earth Day) - at the Energy Exchange. Please contact Stephanie if you have any questions.

Pottery by Dewy Spizzirri

Dewy Spizzirri has also sent in some pictures of her pots for us to enjoy.

Dewy enjoys working in alternative firing.

This first pot is smoke fired.












This pot to the left is a small Raku vessel.












This lidded vessel is an example of foil sagger firing with
horsehair.














And last but not least another fine example of a
raku pot.

And - if my memory serves me correctly -
Dewy won the "Wolff Award" with this pot.

Great Work Dewy!

Empty Bowls Reminder

I thought that I would put up a reminder about Empty Bowls coming up in Sarnia on Tuesday, March 31st.
There are 2 sittings - 5:00 and 6:15.

Here is a replay of our previous post:

Second Annual Empty Bowls

Dinner Fundraiser - March 31

The Ceramics Department at Lambton College is organizing our second annual Empty Bowls event to take place on Tuesday, March 31, at Creations Fine Dining, the Hospitality program's own restaurant. There will be two seatings, one at 5pm and the later at 6:15pm. Tickets are $25 and are on sale now at Lambton College, in the Counselling Department, call Colleen at x3612, at the Inn of the Good Shepherd, and from members of the Sarnia Lambton Potters Guild.

At Empty Bowls events which have been held around North America for almost two decades, potters create bowls, and local chefs create soups and everything is donated for the event. Each guest will enjoy a "poverty meal", of soup, bread and coffee or tea, and go home with their choice of bowl as a reminder of all the Empty Bowls around the world.

All funds raised go towards ending hunger in our community. Proceeds will go to the Inn of the Good Shepherd and Lambton College’s own Food Bank. Last year we raised $6456!

Thanks to our generous community sponsors, last year 99.9% of the ticket price went directly towards ending hunger. This year’s sponsors include: Lambton College, Alexander Mackenzie High School, Alternate Grounds, Antonio’s Pizza, Blackwater Coffee & Tea Co., The Brigantine, Canadian Linen and Uniform Service, Chartwell’s, Food Basics, GP Catering & The Panini Grill, Lola’s Lounge, New Trish Inn, Normand Piquette Catering, The Pottery Supply House, Sarnia Lambton Potters’ Guild, and Tuckers Pottery Supplies.

Beth Turnbull Morrish

Ceramics Professor, Lambton College

519-542-7751 X 3412

Upcoming Workshop

I have been asked to post this message regarding an upcoming workshop with relation to the Thames Cultural Centre and Powerplay:


I was experiencing some problems with resizing the poster - so - in order to see it larger - please click on the image.


It looks to be a good workshop - well worth the trip to Chatham.

Pottery By Stephanie Smalls

The potters of our guild have been very obliging with pictures. We are pleased to show some of the works of another of our members : Stephanie Smalls.


A group of glazed dishes:
















A hand built vase.
















A raku vase: Using Horsehair and feathers.

















A pair of Raku Penguins .















Nice work Stephanie.

Also: Further information will be supplied as I receive it. In April, we will be having a fundraiser at a local coffee shop which is opening on Christina St. in Sarnia. They will be selling coffee in our mugs - and you get to keep the mug. Here is a preview of a selection of mugs
we have on hand.





Some pretty interesting and funky textures there.


As previously mentioned - I will update the information as it is received.

More Photos

Carol Holmes-Kerr, who is the current president of Sarnia Lambton Potters Guild has supplied us with some photos of her pottery:






The first is of a raku leaf:















Foil Sagger Bowl











Goddess Pot













Raku Apples











Face Mask









Gteat Work Carol - as you can see - we have a lot of talent in our guild.

We hope to have more pictures posted soon, along with information on upcoming events.

Pottery

Today I'm posting some pictures of pottery supplied by a couple of members of our guild:
(to see larger images, please click on the picture)


Condiment Complements set by Beth Turnbull Morrish:







"Maple Leaf" Majolica by Monica DeCampo










"Afternoon Tea" Teapot by Beth Turnbull Morrish:










Flower Majolica by Monica DeCampo








Both Beth and Monica use surface decoration to achieve wonderful results on their pottery.

We will be featuring more work by our members, and biographies (with pictures) as well.

Nice work ladies!

Empty Bowls

This post is from Beth Turnbull Morrish:

Second Annual Empty Bowls

Dinner Fundraiser - March 31

The Ceramics Department at Lambton College is organizing our second annual Empty Bowls event to take place on Tuesday, March 31, at Creations Fine Dining, the Hospitality program's own restaurant. There will be two seatings, one at 5pm and the later at 6:15pm. Tickets are $25 and are on sale now at Lambton College, in the Counselling Department, call Colleen at x3612, at the Inn of the Good Shepherd, and from members of the Sarnia Lambton Potters Guild.

At Empty Bowls events which have been held around North America for almost two decades, potters create bowls, and local chefs create soups and everything is donated for the event. Each guest will enjoy a "poverty meal", of soup, bread and coffee or tea, and go home with their choice of bowl as a reminder of all the Empty Bowls around the world.

All funds raised go towards ending hunger in our community. Proceeds will go to the Inn of the Good Shepherd and Lambton College’s own Food Bank. Last year we raised $6456!

Thanks to our generous community sponsors, last year 99.9% of the ticket price went directly towards ending hunger. This year’s sponsors include: Lambton College, Alexander Mackenzie High School, Alternate Grounds, Antonio’s Pizza, Blackwater Coffee & Tea Co., The Brigantine, Canadian Linen and Uniform Service, Chartwell’s, Food Basics, GP Catering & The Panini Grill, Lola’s Lounge, New Trish Inn, Normand Piquette Catering, The Pottery Supply House, Sarnia Lambton Potters’ Guild, and Tuckers Pottery Supplies.

Beth Turnbull Morrish

Ceramics Professor, Lambton College

519-542-7751 X 3412

All About Us

Hello to everyone out there in Blogger Land. I want to take this opportunity to introduce the Sarnia Lambton Potters Guild to you.

We are a group of potters in and around Sarnia and Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. There are approximately 30 of us from all walks of life and of all ages. We share one common passion - pottery.

We call ourselves the SLPG for short. The SLPG was started 3 years ago, by a couple of enthusiastic potters, Barbara Blackburn and Stephanie Smalls. Many of us attended classes at the local community college (Lambton College), but felt the need for more opportunity to network with other potters. After an inaugural meeting, and an enthusiastic response from the local pottery community, we were off and running.

We meet the third Monday of every month (except July and August) - usually at Lambton College to discuss local pottery issues, and learn new techniques.

In upcoming posts, we will share pictures of our work - and biographies of our members. We will also keep you up to date with the happenings in our pottery community