By Jasmin Legatos
When Gail Wexler happened upon the work of well-known Ottawa potter Chandler Swain at a local pottery show, there was no doubt in her mind: she had to learn the craft.
Five years later, Wexler now devotes much of her creative energy to potting at Gladstone Clayworks Co-op, a group she helped start two years ago.
Serious potting is not quite the same as what is depicted in movies like the ’90s hit Ghost. While sitting at a wheel and creating a pot is one aspect of being a potter, it is not the whole story.
When Wexler tries to explain how a piece of clay is transformed into a vase, bowl, cup or sculpture, she says it’s akin to a science. There are various procedures: the glazing, the undercoating, and the firing process, to name a few.
And then there’s the way a potter crafts his or her work. At Gladstone Clayworks Co-op, many of the members are hand-builders, which means they craft their pottery without the help of the wheel.
“It just happened that when I started working, I started with hand-building,” says Wexler. She adds that hand-building lets a potter be more artistic.
“My pots have an organic look to them; they tend to be more decorative. You can’t eat out of my bowls,” Wexler chuckles.
The co-op is the only one of its kind in Centretown – and perhaps the only one in the city, says Catherine Brewster, a member of the Ottawa Guild of Potters and a self-described friend of the co-op.
Brewster, a former professional potter who now pots mainly as a hobby, says while most Ottawa potters prefer their own studio space, the input a potter gets from their contemporaries at a place like Clayworks is valuable.
The co-op is a place where members can share workspace, material, equipment – and perhaps most importantly – ideas and expertise, adds Wexler.
“It’s great,” exclaims Jean Mullan, another member of the co-op. Like many of the 20 other members, she is a part-time potter but tries to make it to the studio as much as possible.
Mullan, a full-time director of undergraduate recruitment of Carleton University, says being around other potters in the co-op setting is a good way to learn more about her craft.
But the members of the co-op don’t pot professionally, Wexler says, as it can be very difficult to earn a decent wage as a potter.
It’s especially hard if you’re a little more on the artistic side, unlike production potters, who make a living with their pottery.
A production potter will churn out bowl after bowl, cup after cup, for mass consumption. These potters would need their own kiln, a type of stove that hardens and dries the clay.
At Clayworks, where everyone shares the kilns, production pottery just isn’t a possibility, Wexler says.
Clayworks doesn’t discriminate, however; the co-op has yet to turn down an applicant for membership, and while some level of knowledge in potting is necessary, the co-op isn’t just for experts.
“Members have to have some classes under their belt,” says Wexler, “and they have to be willing to be part of this kind of organization.”
At Clayworks, all the members are responsible for the upkeep of the studio, which is housed on Gladstone Avenue in a 170-sq m. space. The space is open to members whenever they want to stop by.
There is an initial membership fee of $300 and a small monthly fee as well. However, members say the creative advantages far outweigh the economics of membership.
“A place like this affords people the opportunity to share information and provide mutual support,” says Wexler. “You feel you’re part of something you helped to build or maintain. You develop a profile in the community.”
The community will get a chance to peer inside the doors of Clayworks for two weekends in October, when the co-op holds their second annual open house.
It will be held in conjunction with Enriched Bread Artist, a non-profit artist-run space housed in the same building.
At the open house, members of Clayworks will show off the kind of wonders you can make with just a little bit of clay, some creativity and hard work.
For more information call Gladstone Clayworks Co-op at 613-231-6177.