I began making murals soon after I began working with clay. The early ones, as usual, began with thrown elements (enclosed rings, small cups and spheres), as will be seen in the ‘starswarm’ and ‘landscape‘ pieces.
I also began making tiles, which could be used for fireplaces, etc.
bison, 1974, textured clay tiles mounted on cedar backing, 95 x 126 cm, glazed, ∆10.
landscape, 1976, clay tiles and thrown elements mounted on cedar backing, 96 x 122 cm, glazed, ∆10.
starswarm I, 1976, clay wall mural, 61 x 122 cm, composed of all thrown elements.
starswarm 2, 1976, clay wall mural, 122 x 165 cm, composed of all thrown elements.
horse, 1976, clay wall mural, 61 x 82 cm, clay tiles, iron oxide.
rock formation, 1976, wall mural, 183 x 70 cm, clay tiles mounted on plywood, ∆10. This was made by laying out a slab of clay and adding various shapes and thicknesses to it, then slicing it into tiles.
the arts, 1977, maquette for a large mural competition for the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, 38 x 66 cm, unglazed, iron oxide rub, ∆10. I didn’t win.
swirl, 1979, wall mural, 61 x 82 cm, clay tiles, glaze. Here, stiff clay was extruded, causing it to curl and crack. The extrusions were then added to a base clay pad, then cut into tiles.
cave bison, 1984, clay tiles, 77 x 89 cm, glazed, iron oxide rub, ∆10.
beach, 1986, porcelain, 29 x 46 cm, mounted on black plexiglass. A thin slab of clay is manipulated into the image, dried, glazed and fired to cone 04.
sheet, 1986, porcelain, 27 x 43 cm, mounted on black plexiglass. The image was sprayed with pink underglaze, then with a transparent glaze and fired to cone 04.
view west, 1988, wall mural, 61 x 127 cm, clay tiles mounted on plywood, ∆04. This mural was made by spraying glazes on commercial tiles then re-firing them. It was one of two I made for a commission, of which I got to keep, because the buyer took the other one, of which, unfortunately, I have no image.
kitchen florals, 1991, a commission using plain white commercial tiles that I decorated and re-fired to ∆04.
evolution venus to barbie, 1995, clay wall sculpture, 44 x 57 cm, figures mounted on a backing of clay mixed with perlite, fired to cone 04. I got to wondering about the perception of the female body over the eons and decided to compare the Venus with the modern day Barbie.
