Celebrating Clay Exhibition - March 2026
Bell, Amy
amybellpots@gmail.com
Studio
Shorebird Pottery
Artist Bio
My work responds to the natural environment and climate change, as well as reflections on the traditions of fine craft in Canada, particularly in domestic spaces. I teach pottery, am an active volunteer with the Ottawa Guild of Potters, a member of Gladstone Clayworks, and a Board member of Fusion: The Ontario Clay and Glass Association.
Artist Statement
My ceramic work celebrates the joy of creating and using handmade objects. I'm inspired by the natural beauty of the Canadian landscapes and nostalgia about gathering together to share food, make music and build community.
Bryttan, Jane
jbpottery@bryttan.com
Artist Bio
Jane completed a Fine Arts Practice certificate program at Emily Carr University in British Columbia, and in 2016 her artistic focus turned to pottery. Shortly after moving to Ontario she became an active member of the Ottawa Guild of Potters.
She is drawn to working in clay for its physicality and the deep concentration having success demands. While she enjoys creating decorative pieces, Jane finds it most joyful to make objects that are both artistic and functional -- art meant to be used and lived with.
Artist Statement
Nature is often my inspiration. Colour interactions, pattern, and texture are central to my work, and stained glass windows intrigue me. "In Bloom" is inspired by my ongoing interest in using glazes to evoke the glowing, layered qualities of stained glass on pottery.
Campeau, Martine
mcampeau@camyn.ca
Website https://www.martinecampeau.ca/
Studio
Martine Campeau Céramiste
Artist Bio
I started doing pottery more than 25 years ago. As an elementary school teacher, I had limited time for my practice but I loved the opportunity to create, to learn more about clay and to improve my throwing skills. Since retiring in 2020 I explore more deeply the world of ceramics. Pottery weaves its way into the different spheres of my life, whether I'm working in my studio, reading, traveling or meeting new people. I'm always fascinated to discover the infinite possibilities of this medium.
Artist Statement
(English follows)
Au gré de l’étreinte ou de la caresse des mains, l'argile adopte le galbe qu’on lui suggère. À la fois un art et une science, la céramique m’offre des possibilités infinies de création. La cuisson au four électrique m’incite à expérimenter avec différentes formes, coloris et textures inspirés par la nature. Les pièces émanant d'une cuisson dans notre four à propane témoignent de l'influence d'une plus haute température et de la variation du taux d'oxygène sur les parois émaillées. Le four à bois, plus capricieux et imprévisible, exige une cuisson de très longue durée afin de permettre aux pièces d’exprimer leur vécu. Le dépôt des cendres et l’accolade des flammes y laissent leur marque.
Puis, des liens improbables sont crées. Le bois de plage épouse des bols aux ondulations et aux teintes de sable. De fines pièces de porcelaine et de rugueuses plaques de grès deviennent complices pour composer des paysages. Des fougères imbibées de glaçures enjolivent le fond d’une assiette. Et certains de mes pots accompagneront humblement la délicatesse florale de l’ikebana ou s’harmoniseront au design minutieux d’un bonsai.
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With the embrace or the caress of the hands, clay adopts the curve that is suggested to it. Both an art and a science, ceramics offers me endless creative possibilities. Firing in an electric kiln invites me to experiment with different shapes, colours and textures inspired by nature. Pieces fired in our propane kiln testify to the influence of higher temperatures and varying oxygen levels on the enamelled walls. The wood-fired kiln, more capricious and unpredictable, requires a very long firing to allow the pieces to express their experience. The deposit of ashes and the embrace of flames leave their mark.
Then, unlikely links are created. Drift wood aged by weather hugs bowls with undulations and sandy hues. Thin pieces of porcelain and rough sandstone slabs become accomplices in composing landscapes. Ferns soaked in glaze embellish the bottom of a plate. And some of my pots will humbly accompany the floral delicacy of ikebana or harmonize with the meticulous design of a bonsai.
Chernushenko, Gaia
gaia.marie.c@gmail.com
Website https://littlesomethingsetc.com
Studio
Little Somethings Etc.
Artist Bio
Since childhood, I have never ceased to delight in the feeling of wonder I get when I make things with my hands. I fell in love with pottery as a child taking after-school classes at my local community centre. After a decade-long hiatus from clay, I now practice and teach at the very same studio: a tether to my community and my childhood self.
Artist Statement
I love designing work ranging from jewelry and home decor to functional pottery. I find inspiration in architecture, furniture and interior design. I’m happiest when working with my hands, and I’m forever chasing that precise balance between personality and simplicity that renders a design timeless. My favourite thing about working with clay is combining functional and aesthetic design. I have an affinity for the words of William Morris, who tells us to “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
Danger, Jordan
jordan@dangercreative.com
Website https://dangercreative.com
Artist Bio
Jordan Danger is a multiple award-winning ceramist, muralist, and painter. Their works are known for their anthropomorphic figures and bold colour. They are the 2024/25 Artist in Residence for the City of Ottawa. Their works are usually sculptural or illustrative, with a mix of decorative and functional designs.
Artist Statement
I am a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans many mediums, though clay has become my primary language. As a sculptor working in what is often considered humble clay, I blur the lines between art and craft, form and function; I am creating pieces that invite both engagement and reflection. My practice is rooted in the desire to communicate what cannot be easily put into words—intangible ideas and emotions that demand form. I work heavily with animal and anthropomorphic figures, using abstraction to make space for viewers to see themselves within each piece. My sculptures are often ethereal and playful at first glance, yet they carry an undercurrent of heavier, more somber narratives. Viewers frequently tell me they were first enchanted—then quietly haunted. With a background in animation, my work is also shaped by a stylized use of colour and movement that lends each piece a sense of life beyond the still.
Davies, Elizabeth
eliz.m.davies@gmail.com
Website http://www.elizabeth-davies.com
Studio
Gladstone Clayworks
Artist Bio
A potter for over 20 years, Elizabeth Davies fully dedicated herself to her practice in 2016, when she returned to Canada from Europe where she had worked as a conference interpreter. Nature has always been the main source of her inspiration, but her pieces show the imprint of different people and places she has known. While living in Brussels, she was influenced by the flowing glazes of the French oblate Daniel de Montmollin, the simplicity and elegance of the British potter Chris Keenan and the quick, deft decorative movements of the Nigerian potter, the late Danlami Aliyu. Her intention is always to draw in the viewer with the surface design, and then to have them feel the urge to reach out, to touch, and to hold. She is a member of Gladstone Clayworks Co-operative and the Ottawa Guild of Potters.
Artist Statement
Nature has always been my source of inspiration. My hand-built cylinders become canvases for abstract designs inspired by the beauty of plants, from the fine grasses and wild flowers of the open meadow to the majestic age-old trees of the forest. In my more recent series of wheel-thrown vases, my aim is to show flowing waters bathed in sunlight and teeming with life, whether it be Ontario ponds, streams and lakes, or the African seas of my childhood. My intention is to draw in the viewer with the surface design, and then to have them feel the urge to reach out, to touch, and to hold.
Gervais, Carmen
Carmenzhome@yahoo.com
Studio
Slug Life Ceramics
Artist Bio
I was introduced to clay sculpture in France in 2012 when I took lessons from Patrick Berthaud, but it was my first wheel course in 2016 at LOAM Clay Studio that hooked me. I was a studio potter at LOAM for five years before I opened my home studio in 2022.
Artist Statement
I draw inspiration from the vivid artscapes in urban areas, and also from shapes and textures in nature. My eye is drawn to overlooked spaces, city infrastructure, forest floors and shallow water. I admire the art created in cities that represents the values of the people who create it, and showcases the beauty and creativity of the region. The forest floor is an endless story of diversity in form and texture, it showcases birth, growth, interconnection, metamorphosis, decay and regeneration.
Every piece I make is designed to deliver a delightful user experience, and my greatest source of inspiration is the people who interact with my pottery.
Lockhart, Erin
offsetlunchbox@gmail.com
Artist Bio
I have been working/playing with clay for about 9 years now. I took my first few year classes at Loam clay studio. And the Almonte potters guild when I joined the guild over 2 years ago. I helped with the move committee when the guild moved to its new location. As well as designed the new logo. I joined the kiln team a little over a year ago. I enjoy exploring new techniques and finding my own style.
Marsh, Sarah
slm_ceramics@hotmail.com
Minish, Barbara
barbara.minish@gmail.com
Studio
Thrown Stone Pottery
Artist Bio
I began potting over 40 years ago at Winnipeg’s Stoneware Gallery. A career with Environment Canada and the demands of a young family kept my work with clay on the back burner until about 15 years ago when I became a studio potter then teacher at Loam. In 2018, wanting to expand my knowledge and take more ownership and control over my creative process, I joined Gladstone ClayWorks where I continued to create and develop my craft.
Artist Statement
Perhaps owing to my maternal Greek ancestry, I have always been drawn to the classic shapes of Ancient Greek and Minoan pottery. Much of my work explores variations of these forms. I am intrigued by the aesthetically pleasing and sensuous curves that belie the utility and functionality of so many of these pots. More recently I have begun using “wild clay” bringing my artistic practice full circle by creating works from the same clay I played with as a child, dug from the Manitoba farm where I grew up.
Richardson, Joanna
Amblyandpottery@gmail.com
Website https://www.amblyandpottery.com
Studio
Amblyand Pottery
Artist Bio
Joanna Richardson is an Ottawa-based potter who makes work rooted in thought and function. She works with stoneware, mixed media, and a fascination with the simple and mundane. Each cup or bowl, teapot or nail, is a meditation on stillness, peacefulness through repetition, and comfort in muscle-memory.
Joanna received her Bachelor of Honours in Cultural Studies from Trent University in 2015, and her diploma in Fine Craft Ceramics from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in 2018.
Artist Statement
The material of clay always draws me back in. I love how it can be fragile but strong, moldable but unyielding, and able to create functional, sculptural, and conceptual works.
I find the transformations, trials, and traumas clay goes through inspiring as a metaphor for our own human growth and change.
My work often changes style — moving from functional to figurative to abstract — but my themes tend to remain similar. I often explore concepts of vulnerability and how our internal landscapes intersect or clash with the world around us.
Riggs, Nancy
nancyriggsart@gmail.com
Artist Bio
I trained as a graphic designer and worked in studios in Toronto and Ottawa before moving into freelance work, which I continued until retirement. During those years, I took evening wheel-throwing courses and happily gave most of my pots away to family and friends.
When my two children were born, pottery was set aside as life grew busier. My creative energy was fulfilled through design work and other pursuits, including mixed media and encaustic painting.
In the early 2000s, I took a hand-building course with Chandler Swain, and the creative freedom of the process opened my eyes to possibilities. In my painting practice, I focused on design, pattern, and texture in non-representational works, often incorporating found treasures—antique papers, rusty fragments—into collages and assemblages. With hand-built clay, I discovered I could work in a similar way: making stamps from found objects to texture the surface, then constructing pieces using collage-like techniques. The approach was the same; only the medium had changed.
Over the years, my style has evolved from highly textured surfaces to organic forms with an increasing focus on decorative methods and glaze techniques. I find inspiration in nature and in my travels. I expect my work to continue evolving as I explore new discoveries and fresh ideas in clay, rooted in the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi— the beauty of impermanence and imperfection.
Artist Statement
Working in clay has always been a joyful, ongoing experiment in expression.
Years ago, I was drawn in by the mesmerizing rhythm of wheel throwing: centering, spinning, pulling, coning, opening, squeezing—slip slapping and trimmings flying. It felt like a wonderful party in mud, striving to conquer the clay before it conquered me. Symmetry, function, proportion—perfection was the goal.
Discovering hand building was a revelation, opening my eyes to an entirely different clay reality. The natural characteristics of clay offer endless opportunities for experimentation and discovery: wet and dry, cracking and squishy, elastic and short, groggy and smooth. The process led me this way and that—slabs, coils, textures—working and reworking until the clay felt satisfied. The final piece might be more or less successful, but there is always satisfaction in the act of creating. I’ve come to realize that the more meditative the process, the more meaningful the outcome.
I continue to experiment with style and decoration, form and function—drawing inspiration from nature, wabi-sabi and its embrace of impermanence and imperfection, as well as from other potters, cultures and techniques. I want to explore it all in my ongoing journey with clay.
Salole, Isobel
isobeljsalole@gmail.com
Artist Bio
Originally from London, England, I have been a member of Gladstone Clayworks Co-operative for the last 15 years. This stimulating workplace is where I create my mainly hand-built and sculptural work. With a history of painting and various craft endeavours, I was pleased to discover a new medium – clay. Since then, my work has largely focused on hand building as opposed to wheel throwing. I find the slow, methodical, creative manner of hand building particularly satisfying.
My interest has largely been focused on using black clay, because its raw, silky feel, and the fired finish look of iron ore. However, I also find enjoyment in working with different clay bodies and surface techniques. More recently, I have been experimenting with a broader use of decorative surface textures to enhance my pieces. My functional pieces are mostly planters and vases; the sculptural pieces invariably have a story to tell, and invite the viewer to offer their own interpretation.
Artist Statement
Exciting and challenging is how I describe my relationship with clay. My inspiration comes not only from nature, but life as it can be found in all its many manifestations. Exploring the many avenues that ceramics has to offer provides endless fascination and challenge for me. I enjoy slab building, making three-dimensional pieces in a mostly architectural style. My planters, vases, and boxes are intended to invite a tactile response, whether by following an angular or curvilinear line or the raised surface of a slip or glaze. By using a painterly approach to applying slips and glazes, I aim to achieve expressive and contemporary work that is both appealing and useful.
Stapper, Christina
cmspotteryrussell@gmail.com
Studio
CMS Pottery
Artist Bio
I started my pottery journey in 2020, and have now made it my full time passion.
I have a home pottery studio in Russell, just outside of Ottawa and have a little shop that is open weekly on Thursdays.
Artist Statement
Pottery has brought me closer to myself, to community, to grounded-ness. I love seeing my pottery evolve as I learn and grow. Grateful for other inspirational potters and clients that continue to give my pieces homes.
Vienneau, Wade
wvienneau@gmail.com
Artist Bio
Since 2007 Wade has been taking various classes from many talented instructors in the Ottawa area like Anne Chambers, Paula, Murray, and Leta Cormier. In 2011 he graduated from Haliburton School of The Arts and participated in their end of year sale.
After years of working and teaching at the Gladstone Clayworks Wade took an international posting in Mozambique and taught ceramics and was the ceramics technician at the American International School in Mozambique.
Upon his return to Canada Wade attended Sheridan College to obtain a Bachelors of Craft and Design; Major in Ceramics, in 2025. During his time at Sheridan he was part of a team of students who took key roles in the studio maintaining studio resources and mentoring fellow students as Studio Monitors. He also taught ceramics throughout the summer at Hintonburg Pottery in Ottawa and at LA Fab sur Mill in Chelsea, QC.
Wade has been an active member of the Ottawa Guild of Potters since 2010 and was a member of the board of Fusion Clay and Glass as their Student Representative for 2024.
Artist Statement
Inspiration for my work comes from imperfect beauty seen in nature. I do not shy away from the drips and runs but work with them to capture the work of the hot kilns and fluxes used during the firing like salt or soda. Evidence of movement in my work is typically found in the body or rim as the clay is pyroplastic in the kiln, as the kiln cools those movements are forever captured in the vessel. Working with gas or wood as a fuel gives a lot of variation to the glazes and to the clay bodies I have been working with and formulating. My studio practice will hopefully have a wood fired kiln. I want to push the limits on clay bodies I have been experimenting with over the last two years. The adventure has only begun.
Wilfong, Emily
emily.wilfong@gmail.com
Website http://www.wildtree.ca
Studio
Wildtree Ceramics
Artist Bio
I've been playing with clay since 2014 and have built my business up slowly over the years as I've practiced my craft. I began small just with jewellery having previously had a jewellery business with beads, wires etc. I eventually added new products over time such as planters, trinket dishes, ring cones, soap dishes, spoon rests, vases and more recently dove into making mugs.
I currently work out of my home in Chelsea, QC, having a dedicated workspace in what should be our dining room! There are plans and dreams to build a studio on our property and eventually hook up my own kiln, I currently fire with a couple gracious potters.
Willemsen, Lucy
lucywillemsen@gmail.com
Website http://www.potterybylucy.ca
Studio
Pottery by Lucy
Artist Bio
I am a lifelong maker who has spent over four decades exploring wood, leather, textiles, sculpture, and paint. In 2018, I took a beginner’s clay class with the simple intention of recreating birch bark in ceramic — and I never looked back.
Working from my home studio in Val-des-Monts, Quebec, surrounded by lake and forest, I draw constant inspiration from the natural world outside my door. Birch bark, wildlife, weathered wood, and the quiet resilience of the forest all find their way into my work.
Lucy Willemsen is a multidisciplinary artist and potter based in Val-des-Monts, Quebec. For more than four decades, she has worked across wood, leather, textiles, sculpture, and paint before discovering clay in 2018. What began as an exploration of birch bark in ceramic quickly evolved into a focused and deeply personal body of work.
Working from her home studio surrounded by lake and forest, Lucy draws constant inspiration from the textures, wildlife, and quiet resilience of the natural world. She creates both hand-built and wheel-thrown ceramics that blur the line between functional pottery and sculpture, often recreating the intricate surfaces of birch bark and organic forms found in the forest.
Lucy’s work is also shaped by love and memory. After the loss of her husband Dwight, creating became both grounding and healing — a way to honour the life they built together in the forest that continues to inspire her.
Artist Statement
Living and working in the forest of Val-des-Monts, Quebec, I am continually shaped by the landscape around me. Birch bark, weathered wood, shifting light on water, and the quiet presence of wildlife inform both the surfaces and forms of my ceramics. I am especially drawn to birch — its resilience, its scars, its ability to peel and renew — and I recreate those textures in clay through carving and layered surface work.
My practice bridges hand-building and wheel-throwing, allowing functional vessels to carry sculptural presence. I want my pieces to feel grounded and tactile, as though they have emerged from the forest floor rather than the kiln.
After the loss of my husband, my work deepened in meaning. Clay became a way to steady myself — to honour memory while continuing forward. In embracing imperfection and natural texture, I explore endurance, healing, and the quiet strength found in the land.