Theme Day: Purple

 

The August theme for the City Daily Photo Blog community is purple and for this theme I offer this rare purple speckled fish which I made in earthenware about 20 years ago. There aren't very many of them around. This is also my entry for the Saturday's Critters meme.

Taking part in the Purple theme. Click HERE to see more purple from around the world. 

Click HERE to see more critters from around the world. 

Paper Doll Dress?

 

This ceramic dress was spotted in a gallery. I always loved playing with paper dolls when I was a kid. That is another one of those things that are not done anymore.

August Theme Day: Black

The August theme for the City Daily Photo Blog community is "Black" and for this I offer a little black dress (LBD). Found in a gallery it is ceramic and made to reference the paper doll clothes of days gone past. I remember playing with paper dolls & clothes for hours.  
Taking part in the theme "Black". Click HERE to see more examples of black from around the world.

Walking

This 7 foot tall vase with bronze legs is a recent addition to the front courtyard of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics which is directly across University Ave from the Royal Ontario Museum. The artist is Shary Boyle who is a well-known Canadian artist. Unfortunately the courtyard is undergoing some construction right now so it is surrounded by fencing.

Illusion

This suitcase is actually not a suitcase but is instead another work in clay found at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics. The artist for this piece was Marilyn Levine, a Canadian who was a long-time California resident and who was part of the explosion of studio pottery that took place in the 70s. Her specialty was imitating leather in clay and that included suitcases, shoes and especially leather jackets. It was hard to get a good pic with all the reflections on the glass case in the museum but to see her work in real-life is amazing. I have seen several of the jackets and it is hard to believe they are clay - everything down to the 'metal' buckles etc is made of clay!

Tea Time

Another of the pieces from the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics that caught my fancy is this wonderful teapot by American artist Richard Notkin who is known for his statement teapots. I love the quirkiness of this one with the dice handle on the lid and the walnut and acorn supports down at the bottom.

Blue

A couple of more pieces from the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics, these are the work of Canadian artist Roseline Delisle. I love the control she had in her pieces and that intense blue is fabulous. Much of the museum's collection is of a historical nature but I have to admit that it is the modern gallery that really thrills me. The pieces are mostly behind glass however making it a bit difficult to avoid a lot of reflections.

Not So Empty Spaces

While I was at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics this week I discovered that they do allow photography and so I will show you a few pieces that I really liked. This piece titled "Apparently" is by Canadian artist Greg Payce and was created in 1999. He often plays with the empty spaces between vessels and here you see 2 young children appearing as if by magic! 

Gardiner Museum

The Gardiner Museum is located directly across from the Royal Ontario Museum on Queen's Park and is dedicated exclusively to the exhibition of ceramics. They currently have a show running on the mid-century Canadian architect Ron Thom and how his appreciation of ceramics was essential to his design aesthetic. Thom is most well known here for his design of Massey College at U of Toronto (which I will show you tomorrow) and for Trent University in Peterborough Ontario. The wonderful ceramic head out front of the museum is by Japanese artist Jun Kaneko who has lived in the USA since the 60s. This 6 ft tall piece was purchased by the Gardiner as part of its 30th Anniversary celebrations and was installed last September. I love it!
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click here for more signs.