Happy Women’s Day!
This month, I dropped off a fresh batch of handpainted clay trinket dishes and London-themed notecards to one of my favourite locally owned and women-led businesses, White Clover Soap, in Manotick, Canada.
Emma stocks brands and products from many other women who are artists, makers, designers and her space is like entering a divine smelling sanctuary while you shop – handmade soaps, essential oils, hand poured candles, jewellery, art – all in the heart of Manotick – a little village in the City of Ottawa.
Photo: Me (Amy Lynch), dropping off my first Spring blooms pinch pots at White Clover’s retail shop – I didn’t intend on matching their sign, but green has always been my lucky colour.
While I was doing our handover, a local Englishman popped in for a shop and a chat.
He gave me kind feedback on my art cards, all photo prints of charming NW London, where we used to live when our oldest was born. He asked me about my pottery and design process, then said his own mother was an artist. A nice serendipitous moment and a great day to mark it all! 🍀
Spring hasn’t officially arrived (yet) but I’ll be over here making more floral themed pinch pots and trinket dishes over the coming weeks. For now I’m thrilled these have been released into the wild at a warm and welcoming local business in our community.
Photo: Clay pinch pots handpainted with watercolour and ink drawings of florals, plants and buds, including roses, carnations, tulips and lavender plants, now available at White Clover in Manotick, a small village on the outskirts of Ottawa, Canada.
Handbuilding small vessels and vases
This pot started as a mug with handle but then became a curved vessel, snapped while holding leftover blooms from Valentine’s Day.
I tested seaside textures, some hand drawn and others stamped, before painting the imprints with underglaze. The final form is smooth to touch from the clear glaze coating and firing.
Photo: Handbuilt stoneware clay bud vase handcarved, imprinted and decorated with underglaze, holding a Spring bouquet surrounded by crystals, Irish art and seaside influences at one of my creative workstations set up at home in Ottawa, Canada.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about it when I picked it up from my local community studio but it fits in well with my bedroom creative corner and surprisingly comes to life more when holding these flowers.
Ever had a piece you created slowly grow on you?
My next experimental pieces, were using my usual stoneware clay from my community studio, which I hand pinched into what I thought started to resemble tulip blooms, with a curved and carved exterior, I decided to keep the rims a bit rough. These could be used as tiny bud vases, sugar or cream keepers, or small wine or espresso cups. Both are glazed with a pale seagreen and are food safe.
I created a matching pinch pot curved bowl, and together, they’re giving me some Chip and Mrs Potts attitude from Beauty and the Beast.
Photo: A pair of handbuilt stoneware clay small vessels, carved and glazed seagreen, accompanying a small pinch pot bowl, on our kitchen table at home, a solid wood hand-me-down from our parents’ farmhouse.
Next up, I plan to keep creating handbuilt vases, smaller vessels and a few different mug forms using the dried plants and floral influences I’ve been creating and keeping around home.
These will most likely be ready by Beltane (May 1st), which marks the beginning of Summer in Ireland, coinciding with the middle of Spring in Canada, when we’ll most likely be able to begin planting our perennial and annual gardens here in Ottawa (fingers crossed the morning frost will be gone by then).
I’m trying to balance my handbuilding with gardening, rest periods and my physiotherapy as we head into the more active and outdoor seasons of the year.
I have a home pottery studio setup now in our basement and in the coming weeks I’ll give you a tour of that on the blog, as I test it out and experiment with creative workflows this Spring!
Keep creating friends,
– Amy (+ Family) xx
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