Clay and Material samples, Heather Lippold
The North West Ceramics Foundation recently received a detailed report from Heather Lippold, a recipient of a Maureen Wright Bursary to attend a six-week residency in 2024 at the Medalta International Artist in Residence Program (MIAR) in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She was joined in the residency with members of the Dusty Babes Collective, who cycled in and out during the time. Heather was able to attend for the full six weeks, which gave her an excellent opportunity to develop her work. What follows is an edited version of her report, illustrated with tests produced by members of the Collective during the residency.
Heather wrote:
Group calcining tests
While at this residency I was able to take part in four soda firings and six gas kiln firings with folks in our collective. Throughout the six weeks , seven of us cycled in and out of Medalta. The advantage of having a group of us working on different material exploration was our ability to learn not only from our own results but also from each other. It also allowed us to commit to so many firings.
The first few weeks started with initial testing. I had brought with me a variety of wood ashes from the community, expired iron pills, laptop wiring, scrap metal shavings, copper carb (made from recycled laptop copper), oyster shells, eggshells, clays, silica gel packs. This time was exploratory and allowed us all to get a bit weird while researching what was happening with the different materials. The materials we had as a group for this “scavengers encyclopedia” would have been too much for one person to test.
The remaining weeks were focused on producing work for the soda and gas kilns to test surfaces and glazes and applying initial tests. My primary focus shifted to testing ash glazes with the ingredients I had scavenged from wood stoves and pits. I produced my own copper carb by oxidizing the copper wire I salvaged from my home and the recycling depot. I was able to produce a decent amount of work to showcase mine and others test results.
Cone Ten tests
My time at Medalta really let me dive into testing. Not having the resources to do that frequently in my current living situation was invaluable. Exploring the idea of the “scavenged” material really gave me more control over where the materials in my work come from. Learning to work with what you have in abundance rather than a scarcity mindset was one of my biggest takeaways.
It is one of the biggest pleasures of our Board that we are able to assist BC ceramicists in following their dreams and investing in their careers. Seeing the advances made by Heather Lippold and other members of the Dusty Babes Collective encourages us in our work all the more. We look forward to seeing how this experience contributes to their new work.
For more on the Maureen Wright Bursary, please see here.
