Three Degrees of Separation

This spring The Colborne Art Gallery hosts three guest ceramists: Lindsay Anderson, Brenda Sullivan and Susan McDonald. Ceramics is arguably the most technically challenging material an artist could choose. Each of these artists has devoted a good number of years to the compelling pursuit of their next experiment, whether of a surface, a texture or an effect. Many solitary hours are spent developing and making the work, but the clay community is strong in our region and these three go way back. McDonald says, “I think the connection between us is all three of us like to push our limits and the limits of the clay. Lindsay’s works push raku to the extreme. I don’t know how he even gets any of it to survive! Brenda gets an idea and develops it until it becomes larger than life (somewhat like her personality!), and I am never content. I want to develop a cross-over between my painting and my pots.”

Lindsay Anderson’s bio is impressive. He studied ceramics in Saskatchewan and worked as a studio technician at the University of Saskatchewan. Since 2012 he has been teaching courses at the Visual Arts Centre in Bowmanville. When asked about his influences he writes, “…Alex Colville in particular. Thomas Manshardt, concert pianist — friend — mentor and currently Jack Bush, painter. Landscapes that have influenced my work are Saskatchewan and Alberta.”

Sculptor Brenda Sullivan has had a life-long love affair with clay. “I can remember as a child in Newfoundland forming sculptures and baking them in the sun on a large rock in my mother’s garden. My formal education in ceramics started in Montreal…and continues to this day.” She made her living for forty years creating whimsical, functional ware, until she returned to sculpture after attending the artist in residency program at Medalta Centre for Ceramic Arts in Medicine Hat, Alberta a few years ago. “My work has been guided by what I see in nature; by tiny forms in driftwood, seed pods and clouds on a sunny day. Pieces are thrown on the wheel and altered, formed by slab, by coil and pinch or by wherever the moment takes me. Most are glazed and high fired but I’ve been known to apply acrylic paint in order to achieve the look that I’m after. The environment is constantly on my mind and I hope to inspire a connection for people… after all we are all only “three degrees of separation” away!”

Susan McDonald has lately been using a mix of porcelain and stoneware.  “My recent theme is experiments with colour — generally on white, but not always. I will be using soluble colourants on top of white glaze for many of my pieces. I am trying to get “painterly” qualities onto my pots — so some will look like watercolours, and some will look like acrylics, with a few wood fired pots thrown in just to round out the experiment! One piece is circles of paper clay that hang together and overlap, like the circles of our life, with the colours signifying things coming into being…From the void so to speak. It’s called “Becoming.”

There’s another thing the three potters have in common…a depth of perception!

The exhibition “Three Degrees of Separation,” along with displays of art by other Colborne Art Gallery members, runs from March 5 to April 10, 2016 at 51 King Street East, Colborne, Ontario. There will be an opening reception from 2 to 4 pm on March 12 with artists present. All are welcome, admission is free and the gallery is wheelchair accessible. For more information, please visit www.thecolborneartgallery.ca or phone 905-355-1798.

The Colborne Art Gallery is a collective of artists who have shared ideas and worked to present artwork in Colborne, Ontario for more than twenty years.  Artists who are interested in participating in the cooperative are encouraged to contact the gallery at .

-Annie McDonald

Press Coverage

Northumberland News:
Three Northumberland ceramists headline Colborne Art Gallery show

Northumberland Today:
Three Degrees offers three artists

Colborne Art Gallery exhibits Three Degrees of Separation

Colborne Art Gallery exhibit on display until Apr. 10