In the summer of 1992 I had the privilege of spending 10 weeks as a resident artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts. I wanted to make the experience worthwhile so I arranged an exhibition for that September at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto.
Having recently finished a marine-themed dinner set for my daughter and her husband, I decided to see what else I could do with that fishy idea. One porcelain bowl, in which I brushed copper red fish over a turquoise stain, came out of the kiln with the fish looking almost alive. I chose to feature it as the title image for the exhibition, inspiring my wife to suggest both the bowl and the exhibition be called: ‘Ultramarine’. (The bowl sold from the exhibition to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, so I can proudly claim to be included in the Gardiner’s extensive and impressive collection of ceramics.)
The programs available at the Banff Centre at that time were wide, including most other disciplines: music, dance, painting, fabric, video, etc. We were encouraged to investigate many of them if we found the time out of our own studios. I tried mono-printing, as evidenced in the second picture below, where I’m standing with two prints of a fish design that I managed to pull.
ultramarine, 1992, porcelain bowl, 42 cm d, stain and glaze on base white glaze.
artist with mono-prints, Banff Centre, 1992.
pickled fish jar, 1992, stoneware, 35 cm high, brushed stains and glazes on base white glaze.
canister set of four, 1993, stoneware, to 27 cm high, trailed copper red on base white glaze.
fish tray, 1991, stoneware slump mould, 36 x 24 cm, brushed and trailed copper red on white glaze, ∆10.
fish dish, 1992, stoneware, 57 cm long, trailed glazes on white base, ∆10.
two red fish, 1992, porcelain bowl, 32 cm d, copper red glaze on base white glaze.
three red fish, 1992, stoneware bowl, 35 cm diameter, brushed copper red on white glaze, ∆10.
three talking fish, 1992, stoneware bowl, 32 cm diameter, trailed glazes on white base, ∆10.
jar with fish lid, 1992, stoneware 40 cm h, brushed glaze design ∆10
large fish lidded jar, 1992, stoneware, 43 cm high, brushed and trailed glazes on base white glaze.
large jar fish lid, side 2, 1992. The handle was hand-formed.
jewel boxes, 1992, porcelain, to 10 cm diameter, carved marine designs, blue celadon glaze.
jewel box ‘coral reef’, 1992, porcelain, blue celadon glaze, ∆10.
jewel box red fish, 1992, carved porcelain, 10 cm diameter, celadon glaze, ∆10.
fish vase, purple, 1992, stoneware, 30 cm high, dipped, sprayed and trailed glazes, ∆10.
fish vase, red, 1992, stoneware, 29 cm high, dipped, sprayed and trailed glazes, ∆10.
diversionary tactics (shark vase) 1992, porcelain vase 43 cm h, blue celadon ∆10
octopus vase, 1992, carved porcelain, 29 cm high, celadon glaze, ∆10.
‘seaweed fantasy’ vase, 1992, carved porcelain, 28 cm high, celadon glaze, ∆10.
feeding fish vase, 1992, carved porcelain, 28 cm high, celadon glaze, ∆10.
tea set, pink, 1992, porcelain, teapot 26 cm high, copper red sprayed over white glaze.
red fish teapot, 1992, porcelain, 27 cm long, copper red glaze, ∆10.
