Self-guided Pottery Studio Tour on Victoria’s Westshore

Shore to Shore

Date & Location

10 AM to 4 PM
Saturday, October 21, 2023

Our self-guided tour includes the communities of Langford, View Royal, Colwood, Metchosin, East Sooke, and Sooke.

Territory Acknowledgement

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples on whose traditional territory this tour takes place.

About the Artists

Please join us on October 21, 2023

 

The date is set! Shore to Shore 2023 is on Saturday, October 21, 10 AM to 4 PM, and we look forward to seeing you then.

Rain or shine, our tour will take place at participants’ studios in Greater Victoria’s Westshore communities.

Come out and support the artists and artisans in your neighbourhood. Get a head start on your Christmas list or add to your own fabulous collection of handmade pieces.

 

 

 

Margaux Baillon


Margaux of Margaux b. Pottery creates handmade, small batch ceramics from her studio in Sooke on Vancouver Island. She makes limited collections of FUNctional pieces to adorn your home!

She uses stoneware for all her pieces. This gives her a range of options for different clay finishes. She starts on the wheel and alters her pieces from there. She thinks about the functionality of each piece in your home and how you would use it day to day.

Margaux is opening up her studio in Sooke for the tour. 

Memet Burnett

Memet is a ceramic and 2D artist living in rural Metchosin, BC. She began working with clay alongside her mother as a teen in community studios in Alberta. Academically she pursued a degrees in environmental design and veterinary medicine, and her love of animals and colour come through in her art. Throughout her formal education she took many classes at places like MISSA and other art schools and community art centres which allowed her to marry her diverse interests in storytelling, environmental science, and sculpture.

Memet makes sculptures and decorative art which tell stories, often using bright colours, always with a touch of whimsy and charm.

Memet’s Tour Stop will be at the Metchosin ArtPod.

Sharon Bussard Grove

Sharon began playing with clay in her Grandma’s studio at around 4 years of age, the seed had been planted although it took until she reached her 40s to sprout.

When unhappiness with her job led her to announce that she was going to be a potter, her husband’s reply was, well I guess you better find a place to take some lessons.

Sharon was fortunate that they lived in Tsawwassen, home to Delta Potters Association, a co-operative pottery studio. It has been over 20 years now since she began her relationship with clay.

Sharon’s studio and showroom are in Sooke.

Daniel Casey

Daniel has always been fascinated by clay.  He has been collecting ceramics since hiss early adulthood and love the form and possibility of objects made with clay. 

He moved to Vancouver Island in 2006. In 2009 he began formal instruction in clay with Muriel Sibley, Wintercreek Pottery, a local potter. He took to clay quite quickly and had his own studio within his first year of throwing. He has continued to explore clay with a variety of mediums, clay bodies, firing techniques and instructors.

His influences are based in Antique Asian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, Ceramics and Porcelain.  He is lucky to have experienced and collected the works of Judi Dyelle, Robin Hopper, Harlan House and Kayo O’Young.  Their beautiful work inspires him as he strives to create his own voice in clay. 

Daniel’s studio is in View Royal.

Esther Drone

With her functional work, Esther strives to create interesting sturdy, solid everyday pottery. Mugs are one of her favourite types of pottery to make. Fitting handles to the varying forms and experimenting with new glazing combinations keeps each kiln unloading exciting.

She loves the physical nature of pottery, wedging clay, throwing large pieces and the three dimensional puzzle of packing the kiln.

The carved porcelain pieces are entirely different. They are a slow process of carving away at leather hard clay to reveal the imagery. Some are jars while others are purely sculptural. Unglazed, once fired they are then sanded for a smooth finish.

Esther’s studio and showroom are in Langford.

Hillary Grant

Hilliary produces pots that she hopes people will use every day. As a former pastry cook and baker, she spends a lot of time thinking about the relationship between the pots she makes and the food that may be served in them.

Although working alone can be difficult at times, she has a great group of potters around her who are always willing to talk about pots.

Whether it is a salad bowl, a mug, or a water dish for her dog, she strive to make pieces that are beautiful as well as functional.

Please note that due to illness, Hillary has withdrawn from this year’s tour. Please contact her directly to inquire about purchasing her work.

Irene Ives

Irene Ives is a ceramic artist living in Colwood. She uses a variety of handbuilding techniques and firing processes to produce both decorative and functional ceramic pieces.

She is heavily influenced by the materiality of the clay and considers her work to be a collaborative dialogue between her creative instincts, and the properties and demands of the clay itself. It is the most archival of mediums and she finds inspiration in the interplay between humans, clay and fire across time.  Her work is about texture, patina, erosion, accretion… Her pieces are imperfect, and irregular, reflecting the ever-evolving surfaces and forms found in nature. Her process purposefully includes evidence of the maker’s hand and she strives to create pieces that beg to be touched and handled.

Irene’s tour stop is at her studio in Colwood. She will also have some work on display at Metchosin ArtPod.

Sydnie Johnson

Sydnie is an educator and ceramic artist living on the unceded territory of the T’Sou-ke and Scian’ew Nations in Sooke, B.C. She obtained a Bachelor of Education at the University of Victoria with a focus on ceramics and geography, and a certificate of Fine Arts at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C. There, she discovered the beauty of plant cells under a microscope. She began to meld her passion for ceramics with science by carving the cellular structure of plants into clay. Carved and stamped with botanical and cellular imagery, her work is tactile and evokes a sensation of being unearthed.

Sydnie will be sharing her work from her studio in Sooke. 

Derek Kasper

Derek Kasper’s ceramic art is pigeon-holed clearly in his company name, No Two Alike Ceramic Arts. Coming to focus on clay relatively late in life he has a keen sense of father time looking over his shoulder. His curiosity and creativity lead him to try many concepts in ceramic art and he is constantly striving to push the limits of his abilities and the materials—before time runs out!

Derek’s work will be at the ArtPod tour stop in Metchosin. 

Gina Mar

Gina is a ceramic artist based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. She has been an artist for as long as she can remember. Her Mother said she started to draw the moment she could hold a pencil. In 2007, she was looking for a new outlet to express herself and found pottery. She joined a local pottery studio, took a few classes, and has never looked backed.

She is currently working on a line of jewelry and sculptures inspired by the ocean and wildflowers. 

Gina will be participating from Esther Drone’s studio in Langford.

Rebecca McClure

Rebecca is a contemporary ceramic artist living and working in Langford, BC, the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People. 

A ceramic artist for over 30 years, Rebecca makes vessels with a modern vibe, utilizing classic forms, bold contrasts, and vibrant colours. She brings her love of design to both her functional and decorative pieces.

Due to a series of unforeseen events, Rebecca will be unable to participate in this year’s tour. If you’re interested in her work, please contact her via her website

Phyllis Schwartz

Phyllis’s art is an attempt to transform texture, colour and form into a playful aesthetically engaging object. Working in photography, clay and drawing, she seeks to express whimsy, surprise and the opportunity for viewers to bring their own experience to her artwork. Her artist practice also provides her with the opportunity to not only use her art as a means to create imagery but also one that provokes viewers to look again and look for more.

In her ceramic practice, Phyllis explores glaze materials and effects in sculptural and functional forms. This work makes it possible for her to share the social history and ecology of BC ceramics, and the connection between earth materials, art and technology. 

Phyllis’s work will be on display at Metchosin ArtPod.

Diana Smith

Diana primarily makes non-functional abstract art in clay and encaustic. Her aim is for the work to be accessible (in price and concept), thought-provoking and attractive. The subject matter and style is often inspired by the Japanese wabi sabi aesthetic and world view which honours the imperfect, incomplete, humble and the hand-made.

Diana’s work will be on display at Metchosin ArtPod.

 Map & Locations

Please click on each pin below to see the artists names and specific locations.

Daniel Casey

View Royal

Esther Drone, Gina Mar

Langford

Irene Ives

Colwood

Sharon Bussard Grove

Sooke

Sydnie Johnson

Sooke

Metchosin ArtPod: Memet Burnett, Irene Ives, Derek Kasper, Phyllis Schwartz, Diana Smith

4495 Happy Valley Road, Metchosin

Margaux Baillon

Sooke

Have a healthy tour!

Shore to Shore Studio Tour follows the current Provincial Health Officer’s Orders and Guidance regarding COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. Everyone’s comfort level is different, so please be prepared to wear a mask if requested by the studio host and please avail yourself of hand sanitizer at each site.

If you have any cold or flu symptoms on the day of the tour, please stay home and make private arrangements with the artists to see their work once you are well.

Thank you for helping to keep everyone healthy, happy, and safe!

Where are we?

Shore to Shore Studio Tour is located on the Westshore of Greater Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC.

When Is It?

10 AM to 4 PM
Saturday, October 21, 2023

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