Pillow Talk, Canadian Marble, 2024

Our new studio has electricity issues which means I have not been able to use my kilns. This break has given me the chance to sculpt in ways I haven’t visited for a while and given me the nudge to carve my first large rock after assisting my partner (Michael Belmore- in life and love!) for the past 7 years. I chose to work with Canadian Marble, the rock I found is from East of Ottawa- Canadian Marble is not your easy to carve marble which suited me well as Michael and I are used to carving granite boulder’s with diamond grinders.

It was really interesting to come home from Pilchuck Glass School where I was learning to work with hot glass to rock carving. With hot glass you need teamwork and the hot shop floor is bubbling with music and bopping about, I made some wonderful friends and had a blast! I am also someone that enjoys quiet which is good because rock carving provides lots of that! (Ok maybe not so quiet with grinders going and operating heavy grinders lol.) It has given me the opportunity to think about how the materials we work with shape us as much as we to them. The rock I was carving formed over millions of years required me to slow down to a pace and head space where I could effectively work-with. Pillow Talk took me almost a month of carving and probably some 100s of hours of carving. Once it was carved I put it out behind our house in a fav spot so I could observe it over the summer until the exhibition in the fall.

I did carve another piece after which initially started as a test piece but came together with various rocks and rubble on hand in the studio. In August we had the opportunity to visit friends that work as Dominion Carvers in Ottawa and tour the renovations happening on Capital Hill. It was very cool to see the work they do preserving existing carvings and stewarding this specific skill into the future. Huge thanks to Frank Shebageget and John-Philippe Smith for the tour. The red sandstone piece from this sculpture is a remnant of Queen’s Park in Toronto and generously gifted from John-Philippe.

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