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WOLFSTONE POTTERY

Air, Earth, Fire and Water

create a synergy

of beauty and form for you

to use and to enjoy.

Find us at these events:

May 7. Spring Sale at Home

July 15-16. EMAC Art Show, Pinawa

July 30-31. Fire ‘n Ice Festival. LDB

Oct 22-23. EMAC Show at The Forks

Mid Nov - Fall Sale at Home

Nov 19. Lac du Bonnet Craft Sale

Dec 3- Pinawa Market

Gallery


OAK High fired porcelain, incised with oak leaves and glazed in matte green and orange shino.		FIRE High fired porcelain, glazed in shiny burgundy and matte orange.		EARTH New design coming soon!

TRIGLYPH High fired porcelain incised with a triglyph design from ancient Greek architecture.	WATER The blue glaze breaks on incised design like waves on the Winnipeg River.		SEVEN SACRED TEACHINGS Seven Sacred Teachings. Medium fired red stoneware, etched with totem images created by Henri Guimond. Each mug contains a scroll with the Seven Sacred Teachings as taught by Elder David Courchene to Turtlelodge.

“The amazing reptition of symbolic association through time, and in all of Europe on pottery, figurines and other cultural objects has convinced me that they are more than “geometric motifs”; they must belong to an alphabet of the metaphysical.”

Marija Gimbutas

Gaia’s Children

Permission to reproduce. Potters may reproduce Gaia’s Children on condition that at least $1 from the sale of each pot is donated to a local green project. I donate to Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (CPAWS) for the protection of the eastside boreal forest.

Production Specifications

Throwing. Use reconstituted (recycled) clay to throw small pots (2-3 inches in diameter) with narrowed rim.

Incising. On the belly of leather hard pots, incise the repetitive image found in the banner at the bottom of this page. Use round incising tool to incise heads; use triangle tool to incise legs as inverted V and arms as V.

Glazing. Use a matte earth-tone glaze that ‘breaks’ over the incised pattern.

Education. Insert a tiny scroll into each finished pot with these words:

Gaia’s Children

These little pots made of recycled clay hold three big hopes:

that the people of the world will cooperate to reduce global warming,
that we find joy in small things as we reduce consumption,
that we reconnect deeply with nature.

$1 from the sale of this pot was donated to (your green project).

Created by (your name and contact info). Reproduced with permission.

Artist Statement – Irene Friesen

I have working with clay since 1977 and was a student of Kathy Koop for five years. Now I teach students how to create wheel thrown pottery and share my passion.

Pottery is made by hand to be held in the hands of the user. It delights me when a customer holds my pots in their hands, listening to voices that echo thousands of years of mystery and sensing intuitively which pot is calling to be taken home.

Earth, having met fire, water and air

Whispers ancient secrets,

and sings songs of spirit.

Come! Let’s journey together.

Pottery is the art of elemental transformation that begins with giving form to clay from Earth. When the form is leather hard, I refine it and etch designs on the body, and then allow Air to dry it. I submit the pots to Fire in the kiln. The first firing transforms the pot from clay to non-porous bisque. After applying layers of glazes that are unique combinations of Earth and Water, the pots undergo a second firing that transforms glazes into pottery for you to use and enjoy.

The designs incised on my pottery are inspired by nature, totem art and by Marija Gimbutas, the reknown archaeologist who decoded the geometric motifs on ancient European pottery. Those repetitive hieroglyphics from prehistoric times when cultures lived peacefully and honoured the Earth Mother.

I work primarily with porcelain clay because it feels like butter in my hands and responds to subtle shaping. I use stoneware clay for rustic designs or for oven-ware. In order to reduce the carbon footprint of production, I am making a transition from high-fired work (Cone 10 - 2600F in a gas kiln in Winnipeg) to medium fired work (Cone 6-2200F in an electric kiln at home). High firing achieves lustrous glazes in deep hues, so now my challenge is to find medium fired glazes that offer similar qualities of depth and beauty.

Member, Pinawa Art 211