Matter of Clay III August 4 - Sept 2 2011

Over one hundred artists are participating in this years Matter of Clay III, an exhibition of incredible ceramic works by incredible ceramic artists from all over Canada. Watch this section over the next six weeks as we start uploading images of the work that will be going on sale at &PM on Thursday August 4th at the gallery.

I am blown away by the creativity and quality of the pieces that have been submitted for inclusion in the Matter of Clay III. One of the criteria was the work had not been exhibited before consequently there will be over 300 new pieces entering the marketplace with this exhibition. Another exciting aspect of this year's exhibition is the number of experimental works where the artist has stretched the limits of the material and taken risks. There are also works where the kiln has been particularly kind touching the work in an unique way resulting in a remarkable glaze. An example of this would be a bird sculpture that arrived today by Pat Webber of Salt Spring Island, BC. A remarkable sculpture from her bird series has truly been blessed by the kiln gods in the way that the flames and ash have conspired to turn something wonderful into something spectacular, a "once in every fifteen years', as Pat put it,  tour de force. Watch for an image in the near future.

Mahmoud Baghaeian of Montreal, participant in Matter of Clay in 2001, and his work has just arrived. It was a pleasure to once again see his Persian inspired wax relief designs in the gallery. There is a wonderful 'pillow jar' that would bring a gleam to the eye of any collector.

The gallery is awash with crates and boxes from all over Canada and Brian and I are looking forward to opening them to see what treasures await. Jackie Noble of Noble Concepts will be photographing the work for the catalogue. Jackie has been photographing work for the gallery since we opened so I know the catalogue will be great.

Watch this section! Images will start to appear in the not too distant future!