Fired Up! Contemporary Works in Clay -Annual Show and Sale

The annual Fired Up! -Contemporary Works in Clay event is a highlight of the Canadian ceramics art scene. For its 42nd year, the group explores the concept of “Ebb and Flow”. In art making, as in life itself, there is a natural cycle of ebb and flow. Artists who work in clay inherently embrace the transformations and rearrangements of both their medium’s properties and their creative process. Clay fluctuates between liquid, semi-solid, dry and then vitreous, glassy states and potters work to coax desired effects along this ever-changing rhythm. They are patient; their work involves engagement in stages and evolutions, knowing when to take the lead, and when to let the materials do their work. The cycle of making is a dynamic, rhythmic choreography of preparing, building, guiding, combining, experimenting, while embracing the importance of timing. It involves a lifetime of developing an intuition for when and how to influence the materiality of the clay through its fluctuations and resulting metamorphosis. We as artists are in a constant state of flux and flow as is the clay we embrace as our partner in creating art. Becoming a ceramic artist is a life-long, non-linear process and our group is a working example of the ebb and flow of artistic development across time as we showcase the work of emerging artists to that of renowned masters in our field.