About Jill
I am, as a ceramic artist, a late bloomer. I was educated in England. I have a BA honours in History from Exeter University. In 1967 I was chosen as one of the 20 hostesses for the British Pavilion at Expo 67. I met my first husband in the pavilion and decided to move to Canada. For more than 40 years I have acted on stages across Canada including SHAW and STRATFORD Festivals and appeared in numerous movies and TV shows. I have been featured in countless radio dramas and provided the voice of an animated cat (Luna in SAILOR MOON), French mice, a pig, little teddy bear and a frog.
I have had my own drama school for children and teens called DRAGONTRAILS DRAMA for 20 years. I love working with young people, however about 6 years ago I began to feel the need to sketch during rehearsals. I knew I needed to express myself in some tangible lasting manner. I remembered how much I used to enjoy drawing as a teenager. I decided it was time to do some things I had been promising myself for years:- pottery, stained glass and yoga. It turns out I am hopeless at cutting stained glass and was covered in band aids every week but I still attend yoga classes 3 times a week and I am passionate about pottery. In fact I have closed my drama school and sold my studio so that I can focus full time on creating my ceramic “objets”.
About three or four years ago I found that I had produced so much pottery that there was no more room in our house. I felt compelled to sell some of it. I was delighted to find that people liked it.I work at my rental space at the Clay Design studio several days every week. Most of my work (except for my sculptures) begins on the wheel. Once I have made a bowl, mug or vase I let it dry to “leather hard” then trim it. Then I add a thick coat of my base slip usually aqua, teal or chartreuse green. I let this dry a bit and then I daub on thick lumps and swathes of various coloured slips usually white, coral, peach and green. I let this dry to “leather hard” and then I carve the slip with a wooden shish kebab stick ,using the various lumps and bumps to help create a low relief effect. I usually make floral or leafy, organic designs.
I have taken classes from Dennise Buckley at Clay Design and from Nancy Solway at her own studio. I purchased my own wheel about five years ago and started renting space in the basement of Clay Design, on the corner of Brunswick and Harbord here in Toronto. My income is considerably reduced but the satisfaction and blissful moments I gain from my ceramic adventures are priceless. There is something enormously rejuvenating about discovering a new skill at any age.About three or four years ago I found that I had produced so much pottery that there was no more room in our house. I felt compelled to sell some of it. I was delighted to find that people liked it.I work at my rental space at the Clay Design studio several days every week. Most of my work (except for my sculptures) begins on the wheel. Once I have made a bowl, mug or vase I let it dry to “leather hard” then trim it. Then I add a thick coat of my base slip usually aqua, teal or chartreuse green. I let this dry a bit and then I daub on thick lumps and swathes of various coloured slips usually white, coral, peach and green. I let this dry to “leather hard” and then I carve the slip with a wooden shish kebab stick ,using the various lumps and bumps to help create a low relief effect. I usually make floral or leafy, organic designs. Sometimes when I am creating a vase, I like to add sculptured leaves to the basic cylinder structure. I aim to make them seem as organic as possible and not stuck on additions. After bisque firing my pieces I add some walnut brown under glaze to delineate my carving more clearly. Then I dip my “objets” in clear glaze so that all the decoration comes through. Sometimes I only clear glaze the intricately carved areas leaving the rest of the piece unglazed.