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

Amy Crook is a textile artist located in Courtenay, the owner of Getting Fleeced by A. Crook, and a founding member of the Vancouver Island Fibreshed. Amy delights in sourcing fleece directly from our island farmers and thrifting fabrics to upcycle into knitted and woven goods. Amy forages for mushrooms and natural botanical to use as dyes and is happiest when spending time creating magic on her spinning wheel and loom. Amy’s career as an aquatic toxicologist gave her a deep understanding of the environmental damage caused by the textile industry. Her passion is to create textiles that support local farms and ecosystems and to learn and pass on traditional making skills.

Beba was born in Vancouver but moved to Campbell River in 1964. After retiring in 1999, she began exploring new hobbies and joined the local rock club. She enjoyed rockhounding around Vancouver Island and started turning her finds into jewelry by cutting, polishing, and wire-wrapping the stones. Beba has been creating jewelry for over 20 years, and many of her pieces feature stones native to Vancouver Island, such as the distinctive flower stone.

Forest Purls is a small, family-run business created by a husband-and-wife team right here on Vancouver Island. Deeply inspired by the natural beauty of the West Coast, we handcraft each piece using locally sourced Burls , letting the character of the grain guide the design.

What started as a shared passion for creating and working with our hands has grown into something truly meaningful. We take pride in every step from carefully shaping each piece to finishing it with our signature mineral dipping process bringing out the depth, texture, and individuality of the wood.

No two pieces are ever the same, and that’s what we love most. Each one tells its own story, shaped by nature and finished by hand.

The Getting Fleeced Collective is a group of artists who are part of the Vancouver Island Fibre Shed. A variety of spinners, dyers, weavers and knitters who come together with a love of fibre arts and want to help create markets for locally grown and handcrafted wool, yarn, and finished products.

Website: vancouverislandfibreshed.ca
Facebook: vanislefibreshed
Instagram: @vanislefibreshed

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

Handbuilding with clay has been a part of my life for over 20 years. My interest is the environment and the impact humans have had on it. Living on the prairies I was influenced by cattle, coyotes, birds nests, old bones and antlers near my house; since moving to the Island my influences are sea life, shells, beach rocks, driftwood, fungi and forests. I continue to explore figurative sculpture, questioning our journey with all our frailties, triumphs and its many unknowns.

Kira is a Vancouver Island artist with a love for creating functional and beautiful pieces.

I was drawn to pottery as part of a journey to get out of my head and into my body. This art is meditation to me and it is constantly so so special when others connect with what I have made. You will see spiral themes, thoughts of the moon, dreams of the sea, and a sense of blooming in my current collection.

Instagram: @ktxpots

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

I started playing with clay very young.  Digging it out of the banks around my house and creating small things.

I was shown how to use a wheel in grade 11 and after that I knew it would always be a part of my life. I took as many lessons as I could afford.

I took some years off and had to pack up my pottery things up. I moved a lot and worked too much. But I never sold my kiln and wheel. I bought a Shimpo Whisper and just saved it in its box till I had a plan.

I moved to Campbell River in 2015 and became a mother in 2016 and 2018. I loved being a stay at home mom. But I missed doing art.

I met Nadia the owner of The Crows Nest and I started helping her. We started a summer market and then we moved The Crows Nest to a bigger location I got my wheels out of storage, started looking for more wheels and started teaching.

I enjoy making pottery and sharing it with others.

Website: https://www.studio7pottery.com/
Instagram: @noella.studio7

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.

Susan Coupland moved to Willow Point in Campbell River in 2018 from North Vancouver. You may have seen her on the Seawalk with her beloved rescue greyhounds.

A lifelong creative, Susan finds watercolour inspiration in the quaintness of local heritage buildings and our colourful coastline.

Instagram: @susanjoyart

TaraLee is a community based artist on Vancouver Island. In the studio and in life, her creative process is about exploring connections. Whether it's making connections with a concept, materials, herself, others in the community or the environment, art and life become one when these connections intersect.

She was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan and currently lives and works in the Comox Valley where she makes connections by making art with others in the community. TaraLee facilitates art therapy with seniors, creates art experiences with families, works on arts based projects with local community based organizations and has a studio practice. TaraLee is ultimately inspired by connections and the biodiversity of Vancouver Island and enjoys exploring environmental concepts through art.

She has dedicated herself to serving the community as a volunteer and an employee for over 20 years working with children and families. TaraLee facilitates community based art programs for all ages. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. She also has a Diploma in Fine Art from North Island College, and certificates in Early Childhood Education and Community Leadership.

Facebook: TaraLee Houston Art With Heart
Instagram: @tlhoustonartwithheart

Born and raised in Victoria, B.C., Yolanda has called Courtenay home for the past 25 years. A dedicated musician and educator in the Comox Valley, she has directed and played in numerous ensembles and taught in schools across the region. Creativity runs deep in Yolanda’s family of artists and craftspeople, so becoming a maker was a natural path for her.

Yolanda currently explores several creative mediums including stained glass, wire and glass jewelry, and aromatherapy. She is especially drawn to working with glass for its unique blend of creativity, science, risk, and beauty. Many of her pieces are one-of-a-kind, incorporating repurposed materials such as antique window glass or thrifted dishes—each with its own story and charm.

What began as a way to practice decorative wirework for her stained glass art led to a passion for jewelry making. Now, Yolanda creates handcrafted earrings using wire, glass, and semi-precious stones, offering a delicate counterbalance to the structured nature of stained glass work.

Every piece Yolanda creates comes from the heart. Under her label, Heartcraft & Glass, she shares this love and artistry with others—crafting beautiful, meaningful items designed to be treasured.