Emma is the owner and operator of the Tin Can Pottery Shop.

Emma has lived on Vancouver Island since late 2011 having graduated from a graphic design program in Calgary and took many years of Fine Art classes at NIC. She loves playing with clay and spending time exploring the alchemy of ceramics to develop new projects from the natural world.

Emma's eclectic background is reflected in what she chooses to shape in clay. You might find a set of four 'Metta-meditation cups', fungi-inspired cups and tea-pots, or bee decorated mugs, plates, and bowls she’s christened 'bee-ware.' All pieces marry the principles of purpose to the fires of the imagination. Her newest work is inspired by the world of the microscopic, and features images of life such as tardigrades, stentors, paramecium and cyanobacteria.

Instagram: @emmaheitzmannartstudio
Website: ehpottery.ca

Hi, I'm Gillian. I moved to Vancouver Island from the lower mainland in the summer of 2022. I've always loved creating things and learning and prior to moving I spent a lot of time wood working. After moving to the island and not having access to a wood working studio, I took up pottery and fell in love with it.

I am currently making pieces for the kitchen as well as pieces for the home such as vases and soap dispensers. I enjoy trying new forms that are interesting to me, working with larger amounts of clay and would like to spend more time learning more glazes and other finishing details. I love the exploratory nature of pottery and ability to continually grow and improve.

@gillianann.ceramics

I am a queer disabled artist living on the unceded territory of the Lekwungen People. Happy Slug is a concept that came to life through my love of slugs and the joy I feel through creating. Happy Slug is the reminder that this artist is a slow and steady slug that moves with deliberate determination. Happy Slug is my love for all things deemed weird and different. Happy Slug takes the fear of being too much or too loud and turns it into big bold dopamine-releasing pieces of art that scream to be worn and adored. Happy Slug is a home for everyone that has ever felt different, felt out of place, misunderstood, or out of place.

Creating art is therapeutic for me. Creating fills me with warmth and love and joy. In sharing my art with you I hope to share that love and joy with others.

Instagram: @happyslug_creations

I am a West Coast artist living on Vancouver Island.

I've always had a love and connection with trees and Mother Earth, and I find that this propels me to create even more; to honor the life that she gives and shares. I love to walk through the woods touching the trees and smelling the air. And to wander the shoreline, investigating tidal pools, and searching out what the storms left on the beach.

My main medium is acrylic paint combined with coloured pencils, and markers. I draw trees using graphite and dabble with watercolours. Creating gives me a freedom from the daily life as well as negative thoughts. There is meditation when I'm at the easel, a comfort. This is especially true when I'm creating mandalas with trees and Celtic knotwork.

I am primarily self-taught, having taken a few local art classes.

Website: lynnsamuelhood.ca
Instagram: @lynnsamuelhood
Facebook: Lynn Samuel Hood Art

Meet the Maker: I'm Maddison. I'm a queer artist living and creating in a special little corner of Vancouver Island. My studio is named after my Bernese Mountain dog, Mabel. My fun & loving Mabel dog and ceramics are two of my main outlets. Mabel's bold personality influences the style of my work, along with my intuition for design and fashion. I love to experiment, and I have no set style of work - -myself and my work are constantly evolving. What I love most about clay is that it's simultaneously the least forgiving and yet most versatile medium.

My work evolves as I learn, grow, and gain confidence in my skill. I am self taught, and have been committed to clay since February 2021.

Instagram: @mabel.ceramics
Website: mabelceramics.ca

Born and raised in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. I have always thought that this beautiful area is the jewel of Canada’s west coast. The love of the outdoors, exploring, hiking and kayaking have inspired my original paintings as well as photography and crafts.

Facebook: RobArt

Rod Heitzmann has been creating both sculptural and functional ceramics for over 20 years. He started with evening programs in Calgary. After moving to the Comox Valley in 2007 he began taking Fine Arts classes at North Island College. He is an active member of the D’Esterre Seniors Potters Club.

Rod enjoys making masks from clay. Each mask tells a story that possesses and expresses a spirit's emotional character. He frequently draw on my knowledge of ancient cultures to express these spirits but without direct duplication. Because clay is a medium that is highly malleable when soft it allows him to use a variety of techniques in the creation of form and expression. However when clay hardens and dries it becomes inflexible. In the kiln, these objects are transformed through the forces of heat and chemistry to attain their final forms. During firing, he turns over control to these forces, and allow the primal elements to work their wonders!

I make wooden spoons, by hand. I use unvalued, salvaged wood: windfall, field maintenance, land clearing, tree pruning. Natural crooks and curves make for interesting and strong shapes. While the wood is fresh and wet with sap, it is easiest to carve. Spoons are roughed out with axe and adze, looking for graceful, practical and durable shapes that work with the grain of the wood. Rough spoons are then trimmed and smoothed with straight and hooked knives, and set aside in a pile of shavings to dry. When I find them again (a few months later) they get final cuts: shape refinement and surface smoothing. Then they are burnished with rocks and wiped with food-grade flax seed oil.

Spoons made with axe and knife, by humans, by hand.

Trish has had a lifelong passion for art, and a majority of her work has been inspired by the landscapes in and around the west coast of British Columbia. Her abstract realism style has been featured in art illustrations, magazines, and children’s books. She currently lives and creates in Campbell River, British Columbia.

Website: www.trishlafrance.com