What happens when we slow down and take the time to look at things a little more closely? What magic is hiding in plain sight? As a visual artist living on Vancouver Island, BC, Sarah continually asks those questions in order to create functional and sculptural ceramic art. Using custom-developed glaze recipes, tools and firing techniques, each creation becomes a canvas for a singular glaze “painting”. A mountain vista, ocean waves crashing, or a radiant sunrise – every creation captures the essence of our natural world. Sarah's art transcends the visual, aiming to evoke personal connections with nature and infuse everyday moments with enchantment. With each piece, she invites viewers to rediscover the magic in their surroundings, ensuring that her work brings a touch of wonder to each observer's day.
Building her work always starts with design, with an idea, usually some scribbled notes and a few sketches. Sarah is constantly revisiting and improving her designs and brainstorming new ideas to try. Once she has a design mapped out then it's time to build it. In her home studio Sarah completes all the following steps to create a collection of functional work: wedge and prepare the clay, throw the clay on her wheel and/or run the clay through the slab roller; once the clay has dried to the right consistency she trims and refines the shape, potentially adding handles or other add-ons at this stage; then the clay is left to slowly dry until it's ready to be bisque fired; after firing, she then glazes the work using a collection of her custom-developed glazes and fires the work again (typically Sarah glazes and fires her work multiple times to achieve the desired results); once the final firing is complete, she does a final quality control check and sands the bottoms of every piece. Additional aspects of her work include (but are not limited to): testing different clay bodies, forms and glazes; mixing and preparing glazes; studio cleaning, organizing and maintenance; supply ordering and pickup; product photography; social media; customer service; packing and shipping order; website management and applying to various art shows and gallery exhibitions.
We respectfully acknowledge that the Filberg Festival takes place on the unceded traditional territory of the K'omoks First Nation, Gila 'kasla...Hay ch q'a'.
