The Poplar Studio

CABC Auction

2011-09-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

The Crafts Association of BC is hosting it's annual fundraising event in support of educational and regional programing for artists by hosting a 1920's style party and craft auction.
Check out the CABC homepage for details and ticket info.
There are over 70 pieces in the auction, beautiful works from artists all over the province, including this piece of Keith's.

Ishihara Platter by Keith Lehman

Bob Kingsmill, Don Hutchinson and Darlene Nairne from the Kingmill Shop also have pieces in the auction. You can see the whole gallery here.

Keith is at the shop until the 7th, so pop in and say 'hi' if you are down on the Island.

Upcoming Summer Events

2011-07-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

We have markets and festivals coming up fast! It's non-stop glazing, firing, ware and drum-making time down here at the ol' Poplar Studio!

First up: The Harmony Arts Festival. It runs: Friday, July 29 from 4–9 and Saturday, July 30; Sunday, July 31 and Monday, August 1 from 10–9. We will be in booth #11, sharing with jeweller Marnie Burton.

Also, check out the promo video featuring some of the participating artisans.

The next Saturday, August 6th we have our first date at the Trout Lake Farmer's Market. We will be sharing a booth with the lovely and talented Stephanie Menard. Carole will be there with a selection of cuddle cups, scrambowls, some of our new dotty-ware and more!

August 1-7 is our week at the Kingsmill Studio Pottery Shop. Keith will probably be polishing up some big beautiful Poddrums, getting ready for...

The Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival; Saturday, August 13th! We are very excited to be vending at a music festival again! We used to go regularly to the North Country Fair, but it's been a while. This one is waaay closer to home, and only one day. Headliners include K.D Lang, John Mayall and Imelda Mae. It should be a great day!

Whew! Then maybe we'll take a little break and go camping.

Have a wonderful Summer and we hope to see you out there in the sun somewhere!

Spottery

2011-04-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

For the month of May, the Gallery of BC Ceramics is hosting a fun members show called Spottery. The only requirement was that each piece entered had to have at least one dot. Since I'm a bit dot crazy as it is, this show was right up my alley.
Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated by the colour blindness test created by Japanese Dr. Shinobu Ishihara . Thankfully I am not colour blind but I had a high school friend who was and I often wondered what it must be like. I'm also just attracted to colourful dots in a dot to be honest. Carole and I have been collaborating on a series of dishes we call Dotty Bowls and watching her put bands of dots around the rims made me want to see the whole inside of the dish covered with them. I started thinking about the test plates again and realized that with our extensive glaze palette I could probably pull one off. Whether it would actually work or not I didn't know but I decided give it a shot regardless. I threw some large 18" platters and then several smaller bowls for testing on. The whole process from start to finish has taken about 3 or 4 months and seems to have been quite successful. It wasn't without its issues however. I had no idea how long it would take to do the dots on the large pieces, or how much it would hurt my arm and shoulder to hold it in that position while applying thousands of glaze blobs. People think pottery is so relaxing! There was also some trouble with glaze blistering on the first big bowl, but firing it again with a 40 min soak at cone 6 solved that issue. It washed the colours out a little but at least the glaze was properly melted. Next time I'll try soaking at cone 5 for 20 min. I also learned through my friend Jody's colour blind Dad that the pieces actually do work as colour blindness tests! "I don't see anything. Your Mom says she sees a five." Thanks Jody's Dad!

The show runs from April 30 till May 29 down on Granville Island at the GBCC

recent studio shots

2011-03-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

Some recent work.

Collaboration Dotty bowls

New batch of handle bowls.

Chatter dishes

Waiting for their glass jackets.

Holey bowls with inserts

making smoke

2011-02-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how sometimes one thing leads to another in unforeseen ways. I'm currently on one of these little adventures. Post firing reduction is a method used to impart a black, grey, smokey look to a ceramic piece, sometimes using glaze and sometimes not. Western Raku is one of the most well known forms of this and pit firing is another. For many years I have used variations on the pit firing method to finish my Podrums using different materials for combustion, etc. Most typically I would bisque fire the pieces to my desired temperature first, Cone 010 (aprox. 900*C) and then after they had cooled down I would place the drum in an old garbage can filled with newspaper, light it from the top with a blow torch and after a few minutes I'd put the lid on and let the whole thing smolder until done. Usually in about half an hour or so I was able to pull it out. If it hadn't received enough smoke I'd flip and repeat. This was working fairly well and I liked the quickness of it all but after losing a few too many pieces to cracking (thermal shock)I decided to change my approach. I now preheat the pieces to 450 celcius in my electric kiln before placing them in the bed of newspaper. This means the paper ignites almost immediately on its own and there are less hot and cold spots for the pot to contend with. I usually do this on dark rainy nights (not hard to find in Vancouver) so I just let things smolder slowly overnight and by the next morning it's cool enough to pull out.

The other interesting angle to this process is that the first drums I tested were ones that I'd burnished. Unexpectedly, some of my fingerprints were revealed after the smoke firing giving an interesting abstract finish. Wanting to play more with this altered, resist like finish I started gathering freshly fallen maple leaves from the trees next to the kiln shed. I placed these on top of the first layer of paper and then pressed the glowing pot into them before covering with more crumpled paper. The results have been very satisfying. The moist leaves don't burn as fast, therefore leaving the surface a bit lighter in that area. I have begun experimenting with different types of leaves etc. and am having a blast. The final step to this process is a light coat of floor wax to bring out the shine. Although their low fire porosity means they won't hold water, these pieces are perfect for showcasing dried flowers or interesting branches. As with all ceramic endeavors, one small change in protocol can lead to something completely different. I'm not sure where this adventure is going next but it sure is satisfying and if you see smoke rolling down Railspur Alley don't call the fire department, it's just me.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

2011-02-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

Granville Island was visited by the traditional Chinese lion dancers and drummers today who perform to welcome Spring, ward off evil spirits, and bring good luck for the coming year. Merchants hang a head of lettuce with a red money envelope hidden inside, and the lion tears it down, neatly extracts the cash and merrily flings lettuce leaves all over the entrance to the store. It's very exciting! We were hanging our lettuce and a woman came by and told us to hang it higher, and hide the envelope to make it more challenging! So we did.

He was a very agile lion and got the lettuce down quite quickly,

and very considerately managed to not actually throw it on the customer who was in the store.

So, that was awesome all round.

Happy Year of the Rabbit!

ps. Don Hutchenson just brought some lovely rabbit-themed wares into the shop!

Going Dotty!

2010-12-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

New bowls thrown by Keith, glazed by Carole.

I'm imagining them serving soup, or granola, or ice cream

or fruit salad, or some other colourful deliciousness.

I am pretty excited to try this pattern out on other shapes too!

New Web Site

2010-11-26T23:07:00.000-08:00

Our new website will be up and running at http://www.poplarstudio.ca/ very soon. If the link does not work, you should be able to preview the site here.
Cheers,
C&K.

Holiday Baking!!

2010-11-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

Goodness, it's been a while! How have you been? We have been keeping busy and intrigued, we fired the new gas kiln (!) at the studio for the first time, Keith has been working on some new smoke-fired vase/bottle forms that are really gorgeous and now we are in full holiday production mode, throwing, firing, glazing and firing some more like the crazed mud-maulers we are.
Our new site is ready to be launched and should be up sometime on November 26th, apparently it takes a while to chug through the intertubes and attach itself to the address so please check the link again later if it doesn't work the first time.
We are just doing one holiday show this year:

It will be super-fabulous!
If you are planning to attend, please:

Go to our new website, check it out,
send us an email on the contact page asking to be signed up for our contact list (No spam! Never shared! Just info about sales, events, etc that we are participating in.),
and we will send you a special code word which when pronounced at our booth at the Holiday Market will get you 10% off your purchase.

We'll do a few posts with some fun gift suggestions and sneak peeks of new work, leading up to the market to whet your appetite for delicious, local, handmade crafts. Stay tuned....

Around the studio...

2010-07-21T00:03:00.000-07:00

Owls and rockets.....

our new spraybooth....

..and the raven who hangs out in Railspur Alley.

Summer Events

2010-07-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Hope you are having a wonderful Summer! We are enjoying our bike commute to and from Granville Island more than ever with the current sunny days and lovely warm evenings. We've been busy in the studio and we'll have freshly-fired pots (and the bakers will have freshly baked bread!) ready for this weekend Kitsilano Farmers Market. The forecast looks great and it's peak season for delicious cherries and blueberries and, peaches and-well check out the line-up here. The market runs from 10-2, and is located at 10th and Larch.

Mmmmm, bread and cheese and blueberries.....

Next up for us is the West Vancouver Harmony Arts Festival Craft Fair. Located right by the beach in Ambleside next to the Ferry Building Gallery, this is one of our favorite fairs, not only for the chance to see our wonderful fellow crafters, but also for the gorgeous view and live music. This event runs for two weekends, we will be there just for the first one, July 30th-August 2nd. More info on the vendor line-up for each weekend here.

Here's a shot of our booth from last year-here's hoping we get the same lovely weather this time!

February Frenzy

2010-02-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

February is usually pretty quiet, rainy, and contemplative. Not much happens saleswise and we bumble along slowly and start to contemplate which shows to apply for and to make production plans. This year looks like it's going to be a bit different. Granville Island where we work, teach, tech and sell, is one of the city's major Olympic "Celebration Sites" so things are promising to be quite lively. The False Creek Community Centre is almost completely given over to La Place de Francophonie, except for the weight room and pottery studio, so classes and studio time will continue, but I feel like I should polish up my barely remembered high school French a little.
"Bonjour," I will say, "bienvenue au l'atelier de poterie!"

We are at the Kingsmill shop this week, until the 7th, Keith will be working on some huge mixing bowls with spouts, cute little side-handled three-legged teapots and some of the new style of chopstick bowls, so do stop in and say "hi" and watch him at work if you are nearby!

I am fortunate to have been granted the February "emerging artist" spot at the Gallery of BC Ceramics this month. There is a veritable chorus line of cuddle cups on their front counter. It's very exciting to be in such good company! That is lovely gallery assistant Sarah, in the background.

Holiday Spice!

2009-12-13T23:21:00.000-08:00

Portobello was fun, we met great people and sold lots of pots! We had a sweet spot right by the window, which gave us a nice bit of extra shelf space (something we always need). All the rest of the stock is now at the shop and the studio and we are just firing a couple more kiln loads before taking a holiday breather.

I went shopping at the Farmers Market Holiday Market on Saturday (which was huge and FANTASTIC) and was tipped off about this bus ad, today I spotted one on Broadway and snapped this picture:

which was pretty exciting! Hopefully I can get a better one, but still, wow! This is part of a holiday ad campaign for Granville Island. http://www.granvilleisland.com/gifts

They came by the store a month or so back and borrowed some things they liked for a photoshoot, and now-cups on a bus! I kind of wish I'd kept this one...

Portobello West this weekend!

2009-11-28T01:40:00.000-08:00

Lots of delicious pots, fresh from the kiln! Come and check out the awesome Portobello West market, we'd love to see you!

Portobello West coming up soon!

2009-11-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

Ware being glazed prior to glaze firing.

We are working like mad to get lots of stock ready for the holiday season! We are doing one holiday sale this year, namely Portobello West, which is a local art, craft and fashion show held in the spectacular Rocky Mountaineer train station. We will also be making sure there are lots of goodies on hand at Kingsmill Studio Pottery and The Gallery of BC Ceramics. As usual we will be at Kingsmill the first week of the month, so please drop in and say "hi".

Transporting green ware from Kingsmill to the Cartwright Studio in the back of the van.

Back at "The Mill".

2009-11-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

Hi there, here's hoping you had a wild and wonderful Hallow'een!

I can't believe it's already November! And as it's the first week of the month, Keith and/or Carole will be in the Kingsmill Studio Pottery shop until the 7th. Shop hours are 10-5, please pop in and say "Hi" if you are down on Granville Island.

We are gearing up production for the holiday season, we will be stocking up at Kingsmill and the Gallery of BC Ceramics, and bringing a tasty selection of stylish pots to the Portobello West market on November 28th and 29th! (Oooh, that's coming up fast!!)

Our website is still under construction, but a lot further along. Check out the progress at poplarstudio.ca

Black-White 100

2009-09-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a bit late, the show is coming down on the 29th, but if you are down on Granville Island before then, check out the "Black-White 100" members show at the Gallery of BC Ceramics. All pieces are by members of the Potters Guild of BC and are strictly black and white, or just black, or just white. Anyway, you get the idea. It's a dramatic looking show in the bright white gallery space and there is gorgeous work on display, some from clay artists who are not regular Gallery of BC Ceramics exhibitors.

Keith chose this event to debut his new bowl design:

And I made some "formal" cuddle cups.

In other news, we are getting a new roof on our studio! The process is pretty noisy and dirty, but it will all be worth it this winter when the rain only rains outside. Yes, that will be good.

Picture by Keith, post by Carole.

The Net Loft on The Express

2009-09-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

Johanna and Zach from Shaw Cable's program The Express, were down on Granville Island today doing a spotlight on the Net Loft Building. They did interviews at Edie's Hats, Little Dream, and The Kingsmill Studio! Keith threw bowls, and chatted with Johanna about the history of the shop and it's mandate of allowing the public to see artists at work. Carole acted as spotter for cameraman Zach to ensure that he didn't back over anything breakable in his quest for the perfect angle.
The segment will air on The Express, Shaw Cable, Channel 4 on Friday Sept 4 at 3pm, 6pm, and 10pm, and will repeat throughout the weekend and Monday.
We don't have a TV, so we'd love it if someone could record it for us!

Workin' at The Mill this week.

2009-08-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

When I first started working on Granville Island, I worked at
Blackberry Books, I think I was maybe 19. I used to love going to
Bob Kingsmill's shop, watching him create his wonderful pieces, and chatting. When Keith and I started seeing each other, many years later, I commented I thought his work had a similar sensibility to Bob's and found that he was a fan too! It was such an honour to be asked to join the shop in 2004, and we feel so lucky to be a part of it.

The first week of the month is our week at the Kingsmill Studio Shop. The store is shared by four potters, Bob Kingsmill who has been on Granville Island since it began 30 years ago (!), Don Hutchinson, Darlene Nairne, and Keith. Each of them minds the shop and makes work there for one week of each month. Now that I am making some pieces I have them in Keith's space and I help out at the shop during his week.

We'll be at The Kingsmill Studio, 1620 Johnston St, from Sept 1-7, and the shop is open 10-5 every day-sometimes later. Please drop by and say "Hi!", watch some pots being made, and check out our newest work.

Carole.

Felicitous Salutations!

2009-08-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome to the Poplar Studio's brand new blog!

We are in the process of relaunching our website and eventually this blog will become the 'updates and upcoming' section of it. In the meantime, we will use it for basic studio info while the site may be up and down. Please bear with us as we redo the site with current products, pricing and information.

You can email us any time at info@poplarstudio.ca Please let us know if you would like to be added to our email list. We will notify you of the relaunch and also of various events we are participating in throughout the year. We will not share your info with anyone else.