“I was mesmerized”

The first time the artist saw someone throw a pot began a life-long fascination with, and dedication to, working with clay. “I was mesmerized by it and wanted to try it. I still have the first pot that I threw on the wheel thirty years ago, because it actually worked out. I think it was beginner’s luck, but I was hooked.” The process, the aesthetic, the tactile medium spoke to him from the very start and in turn, he uses this medium as a way of helping people (re)discover and explore their own creativity, both personally and professionally. 

Ed’s ceramic works take inspiration from numerous sources, including the canyonlands of the American southwest, historical sites in Europe and elsewhere, the legacies of “lost” or ancient cultures, and the shapes and colours of the natural world, to name a few. 

His sculptural pieces embrace the textural qualities of clay and its capacity to reflect the natural world.  They sometimes allude to function, while remaining firmly in non-functional territory.  He has often used paperclay as one medium of choice.  In this process, paper pulp is added to the chosen clay body.  Cellulose fibres in the paper serve to make the clay more resistant to cracking and allow more risk-taking in creating the forms. Metallic oxides and low-temperature glazes are frequently used to animate the surfaces, with firings taking place in electric, raku and soda kilns.

In addition to his personal work, Ed has lectured and conducted ceramic workshops in Canada, the US, Mexico, Greece and Korea. He has also participated in international ceramics symposia in the US, Mexico and Greece.  In addition, he has travelled extensively and done personal research in Central America, the Four Corners area of the American Southwest and a number of European sites.  Ed has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions, both nationally and internationally.  He is represented in public collections in Canada and Mexico, and in private collections in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, and several countries in Europe.   

Ed is the Ceramics Facilitator with the Visual Arts Program at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, in Banff, AB.  His responsibilities include overseeing all the facilities of the Ceramics studio as well as consulting with and assisting resident artists from around the world in successfully meeting their project goals.  

                Ed has also had a long affiliation with the Leadership Department at Banff Centre in both public and private sector programs, using clay as a vehicle to explore personal and organizational creativity.   

Statement:

Rock; fire; eroded earth; the patina of time on old buildings; the "knowing" of things which can't be defined - this is inspiration for me.  I respond to the texture of clay, its plasticity, its ability to act as historical document.  

Some of the current work references ongoing themes of landscape, the undulating forms in nature.  Platters and bowl forms embrace a more diverse and vibrant use of colour, which gives me great pleasure.  I want more. The figures in the Dreamers are new, simple and unpretentious, but for me, feeling at once very personal and very expansive in their presence.  I look forward to discovering more.