Janet McDougall & Sandi McNeil are part of studio #13. It is located at Nichol’s Cove Studio at 1291 County Rd. 36 in Trent Lakes.
Janet makes earth toned pottery inspired by the nature around her and Sandi creates wall weavings and unusual baskets of all sizes, exclusively made from natural and found materials. They often collaborate as well! Visit their studio this year to see their lovely work.
Sandi McNeil has just completed beautiful Basswood tables topped with pottery tiles by Janet McDougall. These collaborative pieces are always popular on the Victoria County Studio Tour. vcstudiotour.com.
basswood tables
In November when I first had trouble with my kiln I was not overly worried. Regular maintenance is required for any piece of equipment and to be expected. After replacing the elements, the thermocouples, and the relays, I was starting to get worried. There really isn’t much else to replace!
December came and went….January arrived and it was time to call in an electrician. Maybe it’s not the kiln but a problem with the connection. No such luck. Now at the end of February I am starting to get worried. Fenelon Falls Station Gallery opens in May. How will I ever get my pieces ready by then?
Being without a kiln doesn’t mean I have been idle. In fact, the ‘silver lining’ is that I have been able to just throw and hand-build. Normally, because of my small space, I produce for a couple of weeks then stop making and start the firing process. First the bisque firing and then days of glazing and then glaze firing, before I can get back to making again. Without a kiln there has been no break for firing. I have so many amazing pieces in my studio…well all over the house now…just waiting for firing. Hopefully I will have my kiln fixed soon (still no idea of why it is not working) and will start glazing….
End of March – Hurray! A working Kiln. I have been glazing and firing for days and have now a number of completed pieces. What a relief.
Sandi McNeil is getting her rocks in a row to choose the perfect base for her wire trees. If you want to see what they look like with a tree wrapped around them, visit her page on our site at https://victoriacountystudiotour.com/sandi-mcneil/ She, Carol Nichol and Janet McDougall welcome you to their studio.
A few years back, I was asked if I would consider making flower Memory Vases. This family had recently lost both parents and the siblings all wanted something uplifting as a memory of their parents. The request was to make a flower vase for each sibling that had a glaze make from the ashes of their parents. I had never done this before but undertook the task and everyone was pleased with the results.
The Glaze colour chosen
A dear friend remembered these Memory Vases when her husband passed away. She asked if I could do the same for her; making vases for each member of her family. She felt that having a small vase with the glaze made from her husband’s ashes would be a wonderful way of having a gentle daily reminder of her husband, while to others who would see it on the shelf or table, it would be just a lovely flower vase.
My friend asked for small vases with lots of interesting texture. I set about making a wide variety of vases for her to choose from. I needed 20 so I made 26….this would allow me to have extras for initial glaze testing as well as providing the necessary “oops” factor so prevalent in pottery.
The project is nearing completion. The final glaze has been selected and I will be glazing the memory vases soon. I have been honored to do this for my friend and her late husband.
This past winter I had a most unfortunate experience while dog-sledding. While on a rest break, my dogs reacted to a red squirrel and before I could find my brake, I found a small tree. After a very brief, violent encounter with the tree, both my hands and wrists were mangled, bruised and bleeding. After a visit to Minden Hospital, I came home with ten stitches across the back of my left hand. My right hand escaped stitches but was cut and bruised. I looked like I had Frankenstein hands! This was not good. I need my hands for basket weaving!
Sandi with Dogwood
I cut and gather and process natural materials all year round so that I can leisurely weave baskets as the snow flies and the wood stove burns. Now I wasn’t able to use my hands, so there was no basket weaving happening for a month and a half! Not to mention, no more dog sledding or cross country skiing.
Once I could use my hands again, the pressure was on to race against Mother Nature. I use fresh dogwood and willow, and the warming spring temperatures were quickly closing my window of time before pussy willows and leaves would start to emerge.
Forget about the leisurely weaving! Now I was weaving baskets as quickly as I could, all day long, and Mother Nature was cooperating, keeping the temperatures cool enough that my dogwood and willow were not drying out. As long as I had fresh materials, I could continue weaving. The last few baskets I made actually had willow that was trying to sprout their flowers.
Dog Sled Team
The baskets I make in the winter represents my stock for the rest of the year so I was happy that my season was extended with a cold wintery spring! My right hand has fully recovered and my left hand bears the scar of impact and I will probably always have a wonky ring finger. But I can still weave baskets. Of course I’m not very fond of red squirrels anymore and I will be wiser when I resume dog-sledding next winter.
A few years ago I travelled to Italy to take a pottery course. A few of us have stayed in touch and decided to travel to Portugal, see the sights and take in a couple of pottery workshops. It is a wonderful way to experience a country and get to know “the locals”. After a couple of days of sightseeing fun in Lisbon, we travelled to a wonderful small town on the coast called Estoril.
Our workshop was with Helena Brizido, an internationally known and very talented potter who is currently focusing on alternate firing methods as she creates unique sculptural pieces. Three days working with Helena has inspired me to revisit alternate firings for some of my work. Helena introduced us to some new twists to some well-known alternate firing methods such as raku, naked raku, and barrel-firing.
I am excited to get set up to work with all of these firing methods again but I am especially looking forward to exploring the ‘new to me’ India Smoke. It will require some work to set up and some new equipment but I am up for the challenge!
Spring is always a busy time of year, and in my basket weaving life it is even busier! All winter long I gather willow and vines, and soak many, many yards of bark, before happily constructing a large variety of spoked baskets. Once Spring arrives, I start to notice changes in the materials that I gather and use all winter. The willows sport pussy willows, quickly followed by leaves. The dogwood loses its lovely red colour, and the outside temperature starts getting pleasantly warmer. These are all signs that its time to put my basket weaving on hold and start to plan my once yearly, cedar bark gathering.
The arrival of spring means that it is time for me to refocus, and put my energy and time into replenishing my stock of cedar bark. Cedar bark can only be gathered during a short window of time anywhere from late April to late May. During this time, the sap is running in the bark, but it is not yet sticky. Sticky bark is hard to peel and separate, and who wants a sticky basket? This window of time is dependent on the warming temperatures of spring, so every year it is a guessing game to determine when to start peeling.
peeled bark
This year I have plans to make some trails on my property suitable for dog-sledding, and several cedars are in the way. If I don’t cut them down this spring and harvest the bark, those trees will be knocked down later this summer, and by then the bark will no longer be useful for basket making. So, I have been very busy cutting down and peeling cedar trees. This year I have the luxury of more time to spend gathering bark. I have been able to peel the bark from the tree and then immediately remove the outer bark from the inner bark while the bark is still moist and flexible. The outer bark is not useful, but the inner bark is well worth the time spent to gather and process it. Cedar bark peels off the tree in a lengthwise direction. When first peeled, the inner bark is a creamy white colour and feels wet and slippery, but not sticky. I remove the outer bark and coil each strip of inner bark and tuck in the ends to contain the coil. I then bundle the coils together and hang the bundle to dry in my studio. As it slowly dries out, the bark turns a golden honey colour, and becomes stiff and inflexible. In this state it can be stored in my studio for many years until I’m ready to use it.
peeling
In the process of gathering cedar bark I cut down the entire tree. However I use different parts of the tree for different purposes, and nothing is wasted. After cutting down the cedar tree, I cut all the limbs off, leaving a short stub on the trunk so the bark will lift off more easily. The peeled trunk is put aside and is used for landscaping, bridge building and kindling wood. The cedar bark that I peel off, is processed into weavers, and is one of my favourite materials to use for basket weaving. Large branches and small diameter trunks form the legs for twig furniture. Smaller branches are put to one side and are also used in twig furniture. This year however, I found a new use for the small cedar branches that I haven’t thought of before! I love it when I get a new idea that I am pretty certain will work out successfully. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this idea before!!
In the past, I have often peeled vines and used them for basket frames. I have peeled basswood branches for wall weavings. I almost always include peeled willow and peeled dogwood in my baskets, but I have never peeled cedar branches with the intent of making a basket frame. Impulsively, I decided to peel a pair of small cedar branches, exposing the creamy coloured wood that I knew was underneath. Then I carefully bent and flexed
cedar branches
the cedar branch over my knee so it would bend to form a fish basket shape without breaking. This worked well because the branches were so fresh, so I made several fish basket shapes and wired each pair together. I have set these frames aside in my studio to let them dry out. If I keep them out of the weather they should slowly age to a yellowish patina.
I will use the peeled cedar frames in my basket courses this summer, and I look forward to using them myself to add to my basket repertoire.
