Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down 1x3
meet the contestants
Alice Gibson, 21 (she/her)
Hometown: Penticton, BC
Instagram: @aliceingridceramics
Alice started making ceramics in her parents' greenhouse in the spring of 2020. During the pandemic, she spent eight hours a day on the wheel teaching herself how to centre and throw clay. She realized that all she wanted to do was make pottery so she eventually dropped out of university where she was studying psychology, joined the local pottery guild, and applied to pottery school. She recently graduated from a ceramics program at Selkirk College's Kootenay Studio Arts and hopes to be a full-time ceramist one day, turning her love of making beautiful objects into a career. Her work is influenced by mid-century modern design, finding beauty in simplicity and echoing that mentality in the pieces she creates.
Andrew McCullough, 32 (he/him)
Hometown: Fredericton, NB
Instagram: @nuceramics
Andrew works as the Parliamentary Editor for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick. He flexes his creative muscle through pottery and has 11 years of experience, working out of a shed beside his house. After dropping out of university, a friend made him sit in on an art history class at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, which led him to studying pottery. He currently creates pottery under the name Nu Ceramics, taking inspiration from minimalist Japanese ceramics, mid-century modern design, Scandinavian design, and the arts and crafts movement.
Elsa Valiñas, 43 (she/her)
Hometown: Fredericton, NB
Instagram: @clay.corazon.studio
Elsa has been potting for over three years. At university she fell in love with clay when she took a hand-build workshop where she learnt the traditional process of preparing clay (hammering a piece of solid clay, making it powder, sieving it, adding water, and letting it dry). After working in furniture design and then interior design, she came to Canada and began taking ceramics classes. She used to be the manager of a medium-production pottery studio, but is now self-employed, using her apartment as her working space to create her art. She hopes to eventually set up her own studio and sell her pieces, as well as give back by facilitating workshops and teaching others about the craft.
Jackie Talmey-Lennon, 39 (she/her)
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Instagram: @jackietalmeylennon
Jackie has worked in pottery for a decade, both as a wheel-throwing instructor and as a studio technician. In 2003, she took a a ceramics class in the same room that is now the Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down studio but she was so intimidated that she gave up. After taking a pottery class ten years later at a studio in Vancouver, she was immediately hooked and went on to graduate from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Jackie also sculpted for her brother's stop-motion film.
Jen Sonnenberg, 32 (she/her)
Hometown: Stonewall, MB
Instagram: @jensonnenbergwoodfiredpottery
Jen is a substitute teacher and hockey coach. She has 15 years of experience as a potter and took her first pottery class at the University of Manitoba. She aims to create a sustainable pottery practice one day, as well as teach pottery classes and sell her pieces.
Kiefer Floreal, 27 (he/him)
Hometown: Winnipeg, MB
Instagram: @kflorealpottery
Kiefer is originally from Kenora, ON, but now lives in Winnipeg, where he works from a single-stall garage that he impressively turned into a workshop. He started making pottery in high school and has eight years of experience as a potter. He experiments with "the Japanese art of Gyotaku," using real fish as prints on his pieces. With a love of travel and a yearning to teach, Kiefer hopes to help young people find opportunities to succeed artistically and follow their dreams.
Michael Wood, 35 (he/him)
Hometown: Salisbury, NB
Instagram: @woodstoneware
Michael left his restaurant job of 12 years to pursue pottery. He has six years of experience and recently graduated with a diploma in ceramics from New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. He currently works with several stores that order from his brand, Wood Stoneware, and he dreams of working in pottery full-time.
Renu Mathew, 49 (she/her)
Hometown: Olds, AB
Instagram: @renuceramics
Renu is no stranger to competition-based shows: she was a finalist on The Great Chocolate Show Down Season 1, proving her multi-talented capabilities when it comes to art. She began making pottery in high school and majored in sculpture as a university student. She currently teaches high school art, as well as an edible arts chocolate course. Renu also teaches cosmetology and works in the film industry during summer when school is out. Her inspiration is an uncle who was a successful sculpture teacher in India and made many public sculptures and carvings.
Susan Johnston, 67 (she/her)
Hometown: Surrey, BC
Instagram: @seaspiritceramics
Susan was first introduced to pottery as a teenager. She found her way back to it seven years ago when she completed a university ceramics certificate program. Now a retired high school art teacher, her passion for art hasn't diminished, and she is always looking for opportunities to create meaningful pieces. Susan created a 12-foot-high conceptual art piece titled "Here We Have No Lasting City," with large, canopic bird jars signifying the fall of societies, which was exhibited at the university.
Thomas Haskell, 35 (he/him)
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Instagram: @tshaskell
Thomas grew up in Trinidad and now lives in Toronto. He is a self-taught potter whose island roots inspire his ceramic work. His MFA thesis show at Ontario College of Art and Design was entirely ceramic pieces. He's now the manager and teacher at Create Art Studio, a studio in Toronto's East End. His goal is to have his work shown in museums and to share a realistic perspective on the Caribbean and its stories through his ceramic pieces.
Click to view1x3: Abstract Yourself
Self-expression through pottery proves challenging for some of the potters.
main challenge: abstract self sculpture
who made what: [Spoiler (click to open)]
Andrew - vessel escaping a dark form
Elsa - lantern with a hand holding a crying heart
Jackie - resilience and sobriety
Jen - two eroded rocks with dripping colors
Kiefer - urn with exposed heart
Michael - bones
Renu - tree figures of lifelong learning
Thomas - eyes and hummingbird wing eyelashes
spot challenge: hand carved repeating flower pattern on a lidded porcelain urn (guest judge Adam Field)
rankings: [Spoiler (click to open)]
https://instagram.com/p/C3oCItwvmEI
1 - Jackie
2 - Elsa
3 - Jen
4 - Kiefer
5 - Thomas
6 - Renu
7 - Michael
8 - Andrew
potter of the week: [Spoiler (click to open)] Jen
https://instagram.com/p/C3tPdhBvpZ5
eliminated: [Spoiler (click to open)] Andrew
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