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English Potter offers unique creations, classes, workshops

by Anita Locke

Gail West opened her Lakefield studio, The English Potter, last October and has seen great success in bringing her unique, handmade ceramics and pottery classes to area residents.

Gail is a potter and sculptor. She utilizes in a number of techniques including slab rolling, and coil and thrown pottery.

Of the slab rolling technique she says, “It’s just like being given a clear canvas. Possibilities abound. Another is randomly coiling clay or rolling out irregular shapes. Fragility imposes wonderful challenges. Will the pieces hold their shape, crack or explode? Will they survive a final firing? Success makes it all worthwhile.”

Coil and thrown pottery, her earliest pieces, consisted of sculpture from life forms. She has recently had fun with masks and titled themes.

She favours earthy tones, layering glazes texturally which produces the effect of movement on the surface.

Items such as banana skins, nutshells, garden fertilizers are included in the pit or drum next to the piece being fired with wood and straw. This creates singular pieces, markings and colours belonging uniquely to the piece fired.

Most of her sculpture is inspired by the female nude, often stylized from the original life form.

In addition to having her pieces for sale at the studio, she also offers classes for adults and children. Classes are available during the day and evening hours, and people are able to join at any time. The classes are geared towards beginner and intermediate students.

She also offers birthday parties for children, where youngsters from age seven and up are treated to a three hour party, complete with supplies, tools, the creation of a piece of work that the children hand-build on the wheel, a piece that Gail creates which the children can paint and take home at the time, and a cake at the end of the party.

Children come back later to pick up their own unique piece after it has been fired in the kiln.

Later this spring, Gail will also be offering workshops such as the creation of clay bird houses, clay life sculpture and jewellery making. The jewellery pieces are unique and one-of-a-kind using glazed clay pieces embedded with melted glass. Jewellery includes such things as pendants and earrings.

Gail shows her work at various galleries, stores and shows throughout southern Ontario, as well as being a participant on the Apsley and Kawartha Studio Tours. She will also be selling her work at the Lakefield Farmers’ Market, slated to begin operations in early May.

The English Potter showroom and studio is located at 15 Burnham Street, Lakefield. For more information call Gail at (705) 652-6775 or email her at info@englishpotter.com.

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