Pottery in Port Hope --
by Susan McDonald!
On a personal
note:
I entered the wonderful world of clay when I was sent
by mymeditation teacher Mark Webber (Lama Karma
Tenpa Lekshe Yongdu) to find a space to make or throw
one hundred vases as part of my practice.  Being the
practical person that I am, I turned the assignment into
100 mugs in various sizes and shapes, and with varying
skill levels, some of them were pretty funny looking.  I'm
not sure Mark knew that I would get hooked by the
clay, but that
is what happened.  And then, I had the opportunity to
buy the kiln that Mark and other students of the
Venerable Namgyal Rimpoche had been using to do
studies on color and form (what a golden opportunity!).
 

I continued to take pottery lessons with Edwin
Longueville and furthered my study on form, sometimes
in ways that made both he and my fellow students
chuckle over my endeavours!  I would always come up
with a study of one hundred of this, or one hundred of
that -- so I moved from mugs, to casseroles, to tea pots --
with other pieces thrown in just for the heck of it, all the
while wanting to experiment with glazes and surfaces
of form as well.  This has made for a fascinating
experience with clay.  

So, on a 'personal note', everyone who works in my
studio joins me in this adventure with clay, for clay will
surely show you who you are.  Are you impatient?  Are
you tense?  Are you angry?  Are you joyous?  Are you
content?  Are you loving?  Are you compassionate?  Are
you able to maintain concentration?  All of those
things will come out in your pieces that you produce -- in
a form that will last for thousands of years!

And it's such fun!  Every time you unload the kiln it's
like Christmas morning ...Will the glazes be good, will
the form maintain itself, have we over-fired, have we
under-fired, will colors have leaped from one piece to
another (this does actually happen), what great
'accidents' will have happened that actually improve a
piece?  What did you do right that could never be done
again?  So much anticipation!  And, what about the
poor pot that you labored over for hours and hours,
that looks like crap when it comes out of the kiln?  
What does that do to the mood?  What an adventure!

By the way, Mark (Lama Lekshe Yongdu) has a web site
too:  www.markwebber.org, and he teaches all over the
world.  He is in the midst of teaching at a six month
retreat at the Dharma Centre of Canada in Kinmount,
Ontario.  
Rimpoche's teapot
"I found that the
acquisition of knowledge,
whether it is undertaken
in infancy or middle age,
is a process of pulling
oneself up by one's own
bootstraps.  At first, and
at every stage,
something had to be
taken on authority; later
on, one begins to see
the underlying reasons.  
I was continually coming
up against my own
mental limitations, but I
also discovered that they
became slightly less
limiting if I exercised my
mind by gently and
continuously stretching
it, until it could catch a
glimpse of what had lain
just beyond its previous
range.  When the poet
said a little learning is a
dangerous thing, he did
not mean it was a bad
thing.  It is the starting
point from which to
acquire more."
     Michael Cardew
       Pioneer Pottery
Professional Biography:

Susan McDonald lives in Canton, Ontario, where she has her
studio, works in clay, and teaches in a lovely rural setting.  She
also teaches ceramics part-time for Durham College, Foundations
of Art & Design Program.  She initially trained with Edwin
Longueville of Green Heron Pottery and followed that with courses
and workshops with the American Potters Council, Fusion, and
NCECA.

Susan’s artistic background influences her fusion of three-
dimensional form with techniques that reflect her fascination with
surface, form and space – creating bold functional art for everyday
use.   Her primary focus is the teapot as this form provides her
with a broad spectrum for interpretation. She creates unique
pristine teapots that receive a multi-layer slip matte finish which
mimic the ‘just completed form’ that is her inspiration.   She
contrasts these simple forms by creating others that she
embellishes with the fabulous bright colors reminiscent of the vivid
abstract paintings of the 1950’s.   

She will be taking part in the "By Hand" show at the International
Centre in Toronto in January, 2009, and the "One of a Kind" show
in Toronto in the Spring of 2009 as well.  

One of her teapots was accepted in Spring 2008 for the “Big Fish,
Small Teapot” International Competition, San Francisco, and in Fall
2008 another teapot was shown in the “Global Positioning/ China,”
show at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen, China, and
became part of the permanent collection there.   

In 2007 she won a Fusion Design Award for her installation “Teapot
Meditation, 108 Teapots,” and a section of this installation was
used in the Pottery Supply House 50th Year Anniversary Calendar
for 2008.  Her work was also accepted for the Distill Cup in 2007,
Distill Gallery, Toronto, and her work has also shown in England, at
the Where I Fell In Love Gallery, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire.  

She also shows in the Northumberland Hills Studio Tour in
September, The Ganaraska Studio Tour in the Spring, The
Kawartha Potters’ Guild in May & November, and The Potters
Market Show in Guelph in May -- along with her Studio Open House
in June and November!