~ POTTERS an

COLUMBIA a

Wendey Stenerud

Dec. 8, 1951 —- Sept. 1, 2013

The Potters Guild of British Columbia has lost a wonderful member recently, with the passing of Wendey Stenerud on Sept. 1, 2013.

Wendey has been a member of the guild since 2011 and her mugs are well-loved by staff and customers. She is survived by her husband Dag, and her sons Erik and Karl. PGBC extends our deepest sympathy to Wendey’s family and friends, and fondly remember her as a kind and talented member of our guild.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Burnaby General Hospital or the BC Cancer Agency will be appreciated by the Stenerud family.

To view Wendey's work see: www.wendeyspottery.com

For Wendey’s full obituary, please see: http://www.legacy.com/ obituaries/burnabynow/obituary.aspx?n=wendey-marlene-sten erud&pid=166821544#fbLoggedOut

www.geeenbarn.com

9548 192 Street, Tuesday-Friday 9-5

Surrey, B.C. VAN 3R9 Pech barn Saturday 9-1

Phone: 604.888.3411 Closed Long Weekends Fax: 604.888.4247 POTTERS SUPPLY LTD. greenbam@telus.net

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter : October 2013

Contd from Page 8

doors line the long walls, while human and animal figures slink around the outside. Open from above, the interior reveals a wildly polka-dotted floor, which contrasts with the surrounding white walls and more mutedly coloured exterior. The work is enigmatic, reminiscent of De Chirico’s foreboding architectural fantasies, yet the overall mood is playful. The work can be understood as a maquette ofan un-built work that encouraged viewers to explore the spatial environment through the experience of architecture, something that was of great concern to her at that time.

‘The polka dots might link to the later mosaic works, of which Tile Wall Piece: Her Story, 1994, is a good example. Constructed from found and made tiles, this small work suggests a narrative with a running woman, gesturing hand, barking dog and other symbols of daily life. Feminism was, and continues to be, a significant influence on Michener’s work, but in contrast to many ideologically driven works produced in the 90s, Michener’s focus on women’s experience appears to be more nuanced and open to interpretation. During this time, Michener made other figures, notably a series now displayed at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, which consist of found, donated and made ceramic tiles and shards attached to wood and plaster frames.

Pieced Together Man #8, from 2012, represents her current work of large-scale busts encrusted with ceramic and glass tiles. At once decorative and striking, this work is most impressive due to its strong, graphic quality, powerful personality and carefully rendered anatomy. The eyes fix the viewer fiercely, and the alert expression is almost uncanny given the array of striped, flowered, blue-willow and brightly coloured ceramic and_ glass shards that articulate it. The collaged surface reflects the artist’s sense of contemporary life, in which our attention is pulled in a thousand directions, and the workings of our brains, “bouncing back and forth between different tasks and ideas.”

Sally Michener: Back to the Future whets the appetite to see Michener’s work at the grand scale to which her most impressive works aspire. Now in her eighth decade, she continues to develop new work and to refine her life-long themes. Like Louise Bourgeois, she is an inspiration to us all, as this exhibition reminds us,