Susan Delatour LePoidevin Gives Workshop
In Williams Lake

On the last weekend of October, I was asked by the Caribou Potter’s
Guild in Williams Lake to give a workshop of hand-built houses and
sawdust firing. I arrived on the Friday night to an eager group of guild
members of all abilities, from several beginners to the more advanced
potters, who were keen to see the slide show.

I showed photos of
my work and my
inspirations, which
included places I
have lived and show-
ing somenthing of
the many cultures I
have studied in art
history that ultimate-
ly have influenced
my work.

=a

g The next day, after a
Hand-building brief demonstration
of my method for
hand building houses, the group of 12 set to work. Their results were
fabulous, with each person coming up with their real or imaginary “spe-
cial place”: a church, a childhood home from memory, and some fantasy
houses from one’s imagination. We used Imco Sculpture mix which
works really well for hand building as it is fairly forgiving . The slabs dry
quite quickly and the clay has a lot of grog so it holds together as one is
working with it.

I brought along my extensive library of inspirational books, including
many pictures of architectural renderings from around the globe, as well
as books on hand building clay sculptures and the primitive firing
process. The class seemed to really enjoy browsing through my books
when they weren't hard at it working on their pieces. After a long day,
one of the members graciously offered her home for a delicious potluck.

The next day we spent the morning glazing the houses with underglaze
colours. In the afternoon, we loaded a brick box with sawdust and fired
a few small bisque pieces that everyone had been asked to bring so I
could demonstrate my backyard technique of sawdust firing.

It was a fabulous weekend with a wonderful group of enthusiastic pot-
ters. | was so impressed with their studio set-up that it has inspired me
to want to start a similar studio here in Princeton. Our local recreation
leader is spearheading a project to turn an empty school into a well-
ness/cultural centre so I have my classroom earmarked. I will need start-
up funds so if anyone out in the potter’s community knows of funding
organizations for equipment acquisitions, i.e. kiln, wheels, tools etc.
please contact me, Susan Delatour LePoidevin at 250 295-0527 or email
at slepoide@cablerocket.com. I also am available to give workshops to

January 2006 Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

schools, groups and other guilds
at a reasonable rate, so please con-
tact me as soon as possible for
workshops in the New Year.

Susan Delatour LePoidevin

Hand-Building

Q CREATIVE
CLAY

%. WORK-
i 2 i SHOPS
By Susan Delatour LePoidevin

Professional ceramics Artist &
Teacher for 20 Years

Handbuilding/Sawdust-Firing

* Specializing in Creative Clay
Houses

* Slideshow Presentations

* Flexible Format

* All Ages Adults & Children

Enquiries Welcome From
Schools, Guilds, and Small
Groups.

Contact Susan for more info:
Email: slepoide@cablerocket.com
www.susanclayart.com
www.gobc.ca

Tel: 250-295-0527

PQ Box 879

Princeton B.C. VOX 1W0O