ABOUT CORI SANDLER - THE POTTER -


The Potter With As Many Styles As There Are Trees In A Forest and Voices In A Choir

A Studio potter who makes pottery that make you giggle.
I like to think I bring life to art and art to life, making the everyday a little brighter.
You can use my pots everyday, bringing a bit of whimsy into your life!

Working with clay is a remarkable joy for me. The first time I sat a wheel in an old farm house, I knew that this was a medium that just ... fit. I don't know if it was the mess that I loved, or the warm wet clay oozing through my fingers, or the way that a very personal conversation transpires between clay and artist.

I learned early on that while the artists wants to say something, the clay also has say something to say, and there is a need for mutual respect.

For more than 20 years I have been a potter, selling pots at stores such as the AGO gift shop, The Gardine Museum of Ceramic Art, The MicMichael Gallery, and The Guild Shop and Arts on King ( in Toronto, Canada).

STYLES/SERIES
My styles have many faces;

NAKEN LADIES , which celebrate women of all shapes and sizes. I was asked many years ago to create some pottery for International Womens Day. Although I take this event very seriously, I don't tend to take myself all that seriously, and thus, these happy, naive like doodles of naked women, arms outstretched in celebration we born.

CARNIVAL AND CIRQUE- are the pots with bold colourful strips and patterns, reminding me of the big top of the cirque de soliel. This is a wildly popular series for me with greens and purples, gold and yellow, blue and teal.... lots of little black dots round these pots out. The fiddlehead Butter Dish and Salt Shakers are a new addition in this series and I am just loving them soooooooooooo much. I hope you do to.

DOTTY SPOTTY POTTY - These are fun and rather minimalist for me. Most people think these are balloons adorning the pottery - hmmmmm..... Could be... or, maybe they are a bunch of gumballs on strings. What do you think they are?

FISHY WISHY - Need I say more. Fish among the seawead just outside my studio. The ocean is teaming with all kinds of marine life. There has got to be a fish or two that look like these in there.

GARDEN GATE - The spirals that are found on this pottery series reminds me of iron garden gates, with fillegreed iron patterning framed in wood or more iron. The bold framework in various colours really helps to define the negative space - which I then fill with dots and sprials. - As Harry Chapin sang... All my lifes a circle.

DANCING TULIP which remind me of the abundance of life on the west coast of Canada on Vancouver Island. This rainforest zone, means that things grow... EVERYTHING grows. The flowers start coming out in January/February and the trees are perfect places for eagles to get a really great view of life below. Gardening a very serious art form here in the Comox Valley and as a potter, my pottery is a little bit of a 'tilt of my hat' to those amazing gardeners - (including my own partner.)

WALK IN THE WOODS is my wood fired series. The ash dances around the pots with the flame in the wood fired kiln over a 3 day period. The kiln is stoked continuously for the 3 day period and then about a week later, the pots are cool enough to unpack the kiln. This is a community event with many potters and many pots.

, FUSION is a series of blending many swatches of colour with big brush strokes, while Desert Moon, , and Midnight Forest are all quiet, rich with hues of blues and dark green, Rusts and golden browns are the predominant colour. I often scratch through one colour on the pot to reveal another colour beneath ( scrafitto), even if the colour difference is subtle, it is a reminder, that there is always something which lies beneath the surface. These pots ask of the viewer to take time, to touch and to hold the pot, to see the many complex layers that all there, albeit, quiet and subtle and not completely obvious on first glance. This is akin to my personal growth and self exploration, which is not about the loud vivatious, cheerful look of the white series of doodled pots, but an understanding that we as humans, are much more complex and if we allow others in, or allow ourselves the time and space needed, we can uncover some of what lies beneath the masks we often choose or by some default, tend to wear. This series ranges in colour.

My Smoke Fired and Modern Primitives reflect the quiet, introspective part of me. There is something fascinating to me about the ability to learn of past civilizations - how they lived, where they lived, what they did, etc. by finding shards of pottery in excavation sites. Pottery is of the earth and uses elements from the earth to create both articles of beauty and function. I guess this is why I love the smoke fired pieces... In the process of making them, I imagine a more primitive time, and quieter time, and a more gentle time.

On a recent trip to India, I met with a potter in a very small rural village, who makes water vessels (among other things) for his entire commmunity.
By pounding and shaping a large piece of clay with no wheel or electricity, he forms a beautiful vessel, firing it in the ground with smoldering smoke for several days, until the vessel is 'baked' and ready for the villagers. My pots are much easier to make as I use a wheel rotating hundreds of time per minute to assist me.

Does travel ever help to give one perspective!!!

I make pottery for personal enjoyment, both decorative and functional ware, - cone 6 (meaning it get's really hard and is more durable than earthenware).

Perhaps you too will have the opportunity to get your hands on some wet clay soon and play... play.... play!

Tiles - If you are interested in tile work, for your kitchen, bathroom or ... wall hanging, let's talk about it.

Home Staging - If you need to rent art, just ask.

Film Shoots -I'm Always interested, let's talk.

I am glad that you have found your way here. I hope you have the opportunity to get your hands on some wet clay soon and play... play .... play!

Next time you are in the valley, please come and stay with us at TREE ISLAND BED AND BREAKFAST

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CurriculumVitae (CV) for Cori Sandler as of Sept 2011 (printable version)

Exhibitions & Shows/Fairs: British Columbia

2012 - The How Did It Get To Be December Holiday Sale - Studio Sale

2012 – Comox Valley Potters Club Sale

2012 – Cambpell River Pottery Sal

2012 – Featured Artist at The Potter’s Place, Courtenay BC

2011 – Comox Valley Potters Club Sale

2011 – Cambpell River Pottery Sale

2012 - A Touch Of Saltspring Holiday Sale - Victoria Area BC

2011 – Haig Brown Festival – Campbell River

2011 – Filberg Festival, Comox BC

2011 – Featured Artist at The Potter’s Place, Courtenay BC

2011 – Campbell River Art Gallery

2011 – Comox Airport

Selected Exhibitions & Shows:  and Toronto, ON:

2009 – Roncesvalles Village Studio Tour – Toronto

2008 – Lots of Pots – Garden Ave – solo show

2002 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

2002 – Gallery 611

2001 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

2001 – Wagner Rosenbaum Gallery

2000 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1999 – The Moose Show

1999 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1998 – The Moose Show

1997 – International Women’s Day Show and Exhibition – Ryerson University

1997 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery –This Is It! - 2 woman show

1996 – International Women’s Day Show and Exhibition – Ryerson University

1996 – W.E.S.T. Studio Tour

1996 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1995 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1994 – West End Studio Tour (W.E.S.T.)

1994 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1993 –The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art - One Woman Show/slide presentation

1993 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1992 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1991 – Mac’s Mansion Gallery – 2 woman show

1990 – 1996 – The Potters’ Studio Winter and Spring Show and Sale

Gallery Affiliations

 Island Potters ( Hornby Island, BC)

The Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC

The Potter’s Place, Courtney, BC

AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) gift shop, Toronto, ON

 The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art gift shop, Toronto, ON

 The McMichael Gallery, Kleinberg, ON

 The Guild Shop, Toronto, ON

 Gallery 611, Toronto, ON

 Artful, Burlington, ON

 Arts on King, Toronto, ON

 Wise Daughters, Toronto, ON

Associations and Memberships:

 British Columbia Potters Guild 2010 - present

 Comox Valley Potters Club – 2010 – present – 2011 President of Guild

 Potters Council (International organization) 2010 – present

 Fusion – The Ontario Clay and Glass Assoc.1990- present

 Fusion - annual conference committee 1990 – 1997

 Fusion – education committee – 1990 - 1997

 Toronto Potters (Guild) 1990 - 2010

 Potters’ Studio 1990-1996

 Hamilton Potters (Guild) 2008-2009

Selected Workshops and Classes attended:

Nick Joerling                Rob Tetu                     Cathi Jefferson           Carol Ann Michaelson

Jane Hamlin                 Meira Matheson          Lana Wilson                Randy Johnston
Andrea Gill                    Tom Coleman             Ellen Shankin              Wayne Ngan

Richard and Carol Selfridge                            Gordon Hutchens (North Island College)

Alan Burgess ( North Island College)              Tony Clennell