THE CLAY HUB COLLECTIVE
NEW Kids Instructor: Alecyn Lea is a BC-certified educator who has worked in both Canada and Germany. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from AUArts in Alberta and a Bachelor's in Education from the Werklund School of Education. She believes that children learn best through art and hands-on learning, and this is a guiding principle she carries into the work as an online Learning Consultant who works with home learning families and as an Arts and STEAM educator with Home Learners Network. She is an avid ceramicist whose work is inspired by the flora and fauna of Vancouver Island and she has been teaching clay online to kids for the last couple of years.
New Instructor: Irene Ives 2024
email: irene@ireneiveshandiworks.ca
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/iveshandiworks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ireneiveshandiworks/
Irene has been engaged in ceramics and visual arts for over 40years and produces and sells her work from her home studio in Colwood, BC. She is a member of the Metchosin ArtPod artist collective and her work is also featured in the Art Pod Gallery. She mainly hand-builds using mid-range clay and fires in both oxidation and by using alternative firing methods. She has been experimenting with smoke firings ( both pit and barrel firing methods) for the last 6 years.
New Instructor
Laura Gosnell:Laura feels at home nestled amongst coastal forests, mountains, and the Pacific, each of which influence her work. Equally influential are the years she has spent traveling the globe touring clay studios and wandering through galleries and museums. Her current work is inspired by the major ecosystems on the west coast. The high fire white porcelain is a backdrop for sea, air, and earth line sketches, and the sea glass glaze is reminiscent of the Japanese floats she collected with her grandfather on the west coast while growing up.
Laura began working in clay in 1998, as a reward for completing her environmental biology degree. Little did she know it would start her on an entirely different path. Though most of this exploration has been self-led, she has formally added a Fine Arts Diploma to her studies. Not forgetting her science background, Laura is driven to work in a sustainable manner and is exploring studio practices that reduce energy consumption and promote the responsible use of material. She strives to make beautiful work that endures, in hopes to counter the current consumer trend towards the disposable.
Wilma Delongchamp is a long time health care educator and avid ceramic artist. She has explored sculpture of the human form, Raku firing, and functional pottery among many other approaches. In addition to completing many courses, Wilma has apprenticed under a well known Vancouver Island Artisan for Raku pottery. Currently Wilma has her own studio, uncommonclay, and volunteers at the Clay Hub as a monitor, glaze committee lead and board member.
Anna Scouten is an educator originally from Bowen Island who began her journey with clay 6 years ago under the instruction of Japanese potter HiDe Ebina. She is inspired by the natural environment and strives to create functional pieces that pay homage to the Earth. She is forever thankful for the lessons learned through playing with clay such as creativity and impermanence. She recently moved to the Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Valley and has loved finding community in the Clay Hub Collective and is constantly motivated by other members to try new projects and learn new ways of interacting with clay.
Linda Helms ...........................Raku Instructor
Working as an art educator in the public school system in Winnipeg, Manitoba I developed a fascination with clay and began exploring a variety of wheel throwing techniques as well as firing processes. One of my favorite methods of firing came to be raku. Since moving to Vancouver Island I have the opportunity to be fully engaged in exploring this process.
Raku firing takes place outdoors in a portable kiln where one to two pieces are fired at a time so as to take the necessary care for each piece according to the glazing requirements. This method of firing and subsequent exposure of the clay to extreme temperature changes, a reduction atmosphere (reduced oxygen) and using different combustible materials evolve into a very intuitive process prone to desirable and undesirable effects. The immediacy of this process crates surprises in numerous ways resulting in unique and distinct pieces providing a great deal of satisfaction not only to the artist but hopefully to a connoisseur as well.
My work has regularly been show in the annual Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show and I have had the opportunity to feature my work in a show at Imagine That. I have also participated in a number of shows at Shibui Gallery on Genoa Bay Rd. Two of which focused mainly o my own work together with another artist's doing two dimensional work. The Shibui Shows were highlighted with raku demonstrations on site.
In early 2020 I had the opportunity to be an artist in residence in Nayarit Mexico working with other accomplished ceramic artists for two weeks which culminated in a major raku firing and demonstration for the participants and the public. Here is a synopsis of this event on a you tube video.
https://.youtu.be/B_d_DWWF5kk
There are various ways to approach raku and I am currently exploring a variation called Naked Raku. As this new method continues to intrigue me I will be continuing along this new path in my own new work. My recent work using this technique can be viewed at Excellent Frameworks Gallery in downtown Duncan.
Joseph Lyons....................................... Instagram: kbrpottery
Hi, my name is Joe and I’d like to invite you to my pottery class. I’ve been playing with clay since I was a kid, and I feel fortunate to have learned from some incredible artists in the course of my journey. I’ve been teaching for several years at various studios on Vancouver Island. My approach is casual, lets have fun and grow together with this wonderful medium. I find a rewarding combination in pottery; relaxation and connection with community. I also love a challenge, please bring your ceramic goals to class and we can make them happen. See you at The Hub.
Instructor, Nanaimo Ceramic Arts. 2018-present
Instructor/Studio Technician, Bowen Park Pottery Studio 2018-2020
Bachelor of Visual Arts Degree from Vancouver Island University. 2020
Apprentice for Dean McRaine, Lightwave Pottery, in Kauai, Hawaii. 2011-2016
Student/ Work Study Volunteer, Pottery Northwest, Seattle. 2008-2011
Patti Parkyn
Patti is a ceramic assemblage artist, owner of Passion Over Principles Clay Art. She volunteers and teaches at the Clay Hub studio, a member since 2017. Her unique eclectic creations are on display at Imagine That retail artisan co-op in Duncan, BC. “My grandmother and my mother root my curiosity. Our three spirits dance when I create. It is a magical time; somewhat addictive, I must confess. I am inspired by pattern, textures, and the mystery of seeing something for what it is not. There are no artistic rules in my studio. Things happen by chance, without intention or influence. I let my passion and distractibility guide me. I move clay and colour around, then add curiosity with bling and bits. Every piece is one-of-a-kind.”
Valerie McCubbin
A life long desire to learn pottery, it only started to come to life about 15 years ago. After classes from a number of instructors and several years of practice, the stars aligned and I am able to share my passion through The Clay Hub Collective. Teaching brand new aspiring potters the bare basics of creating a vessel is an honor and a great deal of fun. I look forward to my time spent in the company of creative, adventurous fellow mudslingers.
Cathi Jefferson
Cathi’s career as a studio-trained potter began under mentor Herman Venema in Matsqui, British Columbia, in 1974. She also completed fine arts courses at Kwantlen College and the Fraser Valley College. Two Canada Council Grants provided funding for a 4-month residency at The Archie Bray Foundation in Montana and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Experiences with fellow ceramic artists include residencies in Canada, the US, and internationally.
Her exhibition history has been extensive over the years, being invited to participate in three USA exhibitions at the National Clay Exhibition for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and the ‘21st Century Ceramics’ in Ohio. She was juried into the Sydney Myers International Award, Australia. In 2010, Cathi was awarded the Carter Wosk BC Achievement Award for Applied Art and Design. Among the many publications that have featured her work are Robin Hopper’s ‘Functional Pottery’ and Phil Roger’s ‘Salt-Glaze Ceramics’.
Cathi’s passion for the preservation of nature is evident in all aspects of her work. Her studio and gallery on the beautiful Cowichan River near Duncan, BC, is surrounded by the west coast rain forest that inspires her. The unique salt-fired functional stoneware and sculptural forms she creates have designs from nature that she cares so passionately about. Her large sculptural pieces represent the forests that are so crucial to the health of the planet. Her concern for the fragility of nature led her on a three year creative journey that created her ‘Reflecting Nature: Reflecting Spirit’ installation.
Susan Faulkner Susan has been with the Clay Hub Collective since the first couple of years we have been open. She has been a class helper for the kids classes with Cathi and Tanis, she has been a volunteer monitor. Her love for hand building has lead her into a teaching position at the Clay Hub. She is always trying new ideas and is open to other’s ideas and creativity. Having fun with clay is what Susan loves to do and share with others.
Guest instructor who changed the way we do our glazing steps in the studio. Amazing insight
Sue McLeod
Sue McLeod was first introduced to ceramics at Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson, BC where she completed a 2 year clay diploma program. After she graduated in 2010, she moved back to her hometown of Victoria, BC where she continued to make pots from her home studio.
Sue explored ceramics through a mainly artistic lens for several years, but she always felt like there was a big hole in her understanding of the craft. There was a whole other technical side to clay and glazes that she was unfamiliar with. Challenges kept arising that showed her just how little she really knew about her materials.
After countless glaze catastrophes, Sue became determined to do whatever it would take to develop an understanding of how glazes work. In 2014, she enrolled in an online Glaze Calculation course, offered by Alfred University. This course taught her everything she hoped to learn about glazes and so much more that she hadn’t even considered.
Since taking that first class, Sue has gone on to take more ceramic chemistry courses through Alfred University, including an Advanced Glaze Chemistry course and a Clay Bodies course.
Sue has been employed full time as the ceramics studio technician at Cedar Hill Rec Centre since 2015 where she uses the knowledge she gained from these courses on a daily basis. She can now confidently fix runny glazes, eliminate crazing, increase durability and develop new glazes from scratch. Glaze research and testing is a regular part of her practice and she’s always learning new ways to create different effects, colours and surfaces.
Sue is compelled to share what she has learned and has been teaching glaze chemistry workshops since 2017. She gave a talk about Understanding Cone 6 Glazes at the NCECA conference in Pittsburgh in 2018.
Sue feels that understanding glazes is the missing piece from so many ceramic artists’ practice and hopes to inspire them to take the steps to further their knowledge.