I grew up in Thunder Bay and was introduced to clay playing on the beaches of Black Bay in Dorion where our family had a summer cottage. The sticky grey clay was used to form crude pots which would be left to dry and crack in the sun and used in clay fights in the shallows. Sometimes we would paint our bodies to mimic those we had seen in National Geographic Magazine. Later in high school I was immediately drawn to pottery when it was offered as a medium in the art room. My grandfather helped me build a potters wheel and gradually I picked up basic skills. I continued to pursue ceramics through a fine arts program at Lakehead University and set up my first studio in 1986.

After 30 years of working in clay, function continues to be the basis for most of my ideas as a potter. I like that pottery is experienced both as a visual  as well as a physical thing appreciated in the context of use, not something that just sits on a shelf. I would even argue that we do not fully appreciate a pot unless we are able to handle and use  it.

I continue to  work at a potters wheel, working in series of cups, bowls, or plates. This process helps me explore variations on a form and refine the original idea. Typically, new ideas emerge slowly out of the day to day making cycle. My partner  Vivian has always contributed some decorating and is currently doing a series with birds on mugs, some plates and larger platters and vases.

During the summer we live at our house in Rossport and I work in my studio there, perched on the rim of Lake Superior. The view to open water and nearby islands is wide and always in the background. It encourages a feeling of expanse. Images from  life in the boreal forest and the lake regularly find their way on to my work in one way or another. The wood fired Japanese climbing kiln I built in 1997 is used 3 or 4 times a year. I also have a studio in Thunder Bay where I fire with a gas kiln.

What I love about clay and what keeps me going as a potter, are the seemingly endless possibilities of the material and the direct engagement with the moment.

 

For an article about Tim Alexander and his work by former curator of the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum and the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Glenn Allison click here

 

CV

2015         Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Toronto Ontario

2014         Northern Ontario Juried Regional Art Show, Thunder Bay Art Gallery

2011        Ganjin International Porcelain Exhibition,  Ganjin S. Korea

2011        Mungyeong Traditiional Tea Bowl Festival  Mungyeong S. Korea

2010         Ontario Arts Council Grant Project ‘Floating Stone’ a body of new functional work.

2009        ‘No Drips Allowed’ National Teapot Show at Bancroft –Snell Gallery London, Ontario Canada

2008         Solo Show “On The Rim” Thunder Bay Art Gallery exploring connections between the vessel and the landscape of Lake Superior.

2007         Residency Fabrica San Pedro Uraupan, Mexico.  Studied local pottery

2003-04    Residency at Pope Valley Pottery, California USA.  Fired Anagama and Noborigama kilns

1997        Built Noborigama Wood Kiln in Rossport

1994    Established studio at Nicol Island on Lake Superior, Rossport, Ontario Canada

1993        Taught Ceramics course at Lakehead University Thunder Bay Ontario Canada

1986        Graduated from Lakehead University in Ceramics