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Made In Haliburton Newsletter — June 1, 2012
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Tag Archives: Canadian potter
Canadian Potter Margery Cartwright Loves Oak Leaves and Acorns
Margery Cartwright is a Canadian potter who is very happy to be able to live in the beautiful surroundings of the Haliburton Highlands, with all its lakes and trees, and make a living as a potter. Margery incorporates nature into many of her designs. Her signature work is her line of pottery that is decorated with an oak leaf and acorn. She uses a real oak leaf and acorn as her pattern thereby bringing the natural environment that surrounds her into her home and work.
Margery began her career as a potter in London, Ontario where she joined a group of fine craftspeople selling their goods at the Covent Garden Market. She was drawn to the Haliburton Highlands by courses at the Haliburton School of the Arts and soon began to realize that she could move to this lovely area and make a living with her pottery. She believes she has truly benefited from being a part of this dynamic, artistic community.
Canadian Artist Creates Dragonfly Mugs and more ..
When Susanne James is not busy selling cottages in the Haliburton Highlands she is busily at work in her pottery studio creating a variety of functional stoneware items including the incredible dragonfly mugs that are the prize in May 2012′s draw for those who sign up for the www.MadeInHaliburton.ca newsletter or “Like us” on Facebook. Susanne has a passion for dragonflies and sees them as the “good bugs”, ones that are welcome especially when those nasty biting bugs appear. 
After all the dragonfly consumes these nastier creatures and thus, the more the merrier. All of her functional items for the home are dishwaher, micro wave and food safe. Each item is handmade and one-of-a-kind. Thus, don’t expect these two dragonfly mugs to be exact replicas of one another as they were not made from a mold. Most of her pieces are wheel thrown but she has a few square or rectangulare pieces that she hand builds. For the platter shown on the left she brings twigs from the forest into the studio and uses them to duplicate mother nature’s designs precisely.
In addition to functional items for the household Susanne likes to knit and thus, has created an innovative series of knitting related pottery items. The best known of these items is her knitting yarn bowl. Great way to keep your yarn clean and close by. Her other items include mugs with a cable knit pattern on the side and needle and spindle holders.
Susanne took her first pottery course at the Haliburton School of the Arts 20 or more years ago and has taken many additional courses since. While she has dabbled in other artistic media she is most taken with pottery. She loves the texture of the red clay she works with and the aroma of cocoa bean shells that it gives off as she works in the studio that has been created for her in her home. Her firing is done in an electric kiln.
Susanne is a very active member of the Arts Community in the Haliburton Highlands. She is a member of the Arts Council~Haliburton Highlands, a board member of the Rails End Gallery and Arts Centre, and a participant in the Tour de Forest, a studio tour that takes place on the August long weekend each year. Take a look a a sampling of her work at www.MadeInHaliburton.ca.
Charlene McConnell and the Haliburton Highlands
Charlene McConnell began her connection with the Haliburton Highlands as a cottager. Her dream, as far back as when she got married, was to own a cottage. She and her husband even saved duplicate wedding gifts as their “cottage collection”. After much searching they decided they could not find something they liked in their price range and sold the “cottage collection”. Soon after they visited the Highlands, saw an add for a property they loved and bought a cottage. They began spending so much time at the cottage that it only made sense to move there. Prior to moving to the Haliburton Highlands pottery was a hobby for Charlene. The move enabled her enrollment in the ceramics intensive program at the Haliburton School of the Arts, graduating in 2005. She now describes her love of pottery as an obsession. She and her children started new schools at the same time. Her husband continued to work in the city making life a bit challenging at first, especially with their remote cottage location and the challenges of wintering at the cottage.
Charlene literally brings the beauty of the landscape of the Haliburton Highlands into her studio and her designs. She collects real leaves and branches during woodland hikes and uses them for inspiration and pattern creation in the development of her pottery pieces. As to what she is working on next. Porcelain flowers and woven baskets. She states that “every kiln load has at least one experiment in form or glaze. I am always striving to push limits. do something different. I have a plan but the results that come out of a kiln change the direction, give inspiration and always directs the focus. Absolutely can’t guarantee where I’m going because it always is directed by how the kiln chooses to dance.” Watch for her new creations as they emerge into a form she is happy with here on MadeInHaliburton.ca.
Charlene is a member of the Arts Council~Haliburton Highlands and the Tour de Forest, which is a studio tour that happens on the long weekend in August each year.
How Barbara Joy Peel Fell In Love With Pottery
Barbara Joy Peel was born in what is now known as Thunder Bay Ontario. At the time it was called Fort William. One of six children and the daughter of an RCAF pilot she was afforded the unique opportunity to live in a variety of locations. Through this experience she learned, first hand, about the diverse landscapes and people of Canada.
In 1971 her husband, John, made a career change and became a teacher. They had multiple opportunities to take a job in urban locations but, Barbara Joy’s love of the northern landscape and small community life made the job opportunity in the Haliburton Highlands more appealing.
Barbara Joy took a job as a law clerk, working for David Bishop. She would likely never have sat at a pottery wheel were it not for her desire to bond with her neighbour, who was a potter. At this time the Haliburton Guild of Fine Arts offered pottery courses in a garage used by the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School for storage. At the end of the first night of classes Barbara Joy was offered the opportunity to try the pottery wheel. She sat down and made a perfect cup. From that moment was “hooked”. Barbara Joy says: “I was soon forced to give up my job because it interfered with my hobby”. In 1979 she opened her home-based studio-gallery in the Village of Haliburton. The studio sits high atop a scenic hillside that overlooks the village of Haliburton. The view is a constant inspiration for her functional pottery that is simple in form, yet elegant in style.
Barbara Joy Peel is a member of the Haliburton County Studio Tour that brings many art loving individuals to the Haliburton Highlands to tour the remote studios of many of the Highlands most talented artists. The tour is always the weekend before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend which is a time that the forests are adorned with their fall foliage. It is a wonderful time of year to explore the countryside and do a fall cavalcade tour and art tour at the same time. She is also involved with The Tour de Forest . This is a newer studio tour featuring artists of the Haliburton Highlands. It is growing in popularity and is now in its 6th year of operation and occurs on the August long weekend each year.
Barbara Joy Peel loves sharing her favourite pastime with others and does so frequently by teaching at the Haliburton School of the Arts. The School of the Arts is part of Fleming College at the campus that is located in the village of Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. Feel free to sign up for her beginner programme and see if you too will fall in love with making pottery.
