"The Many Faces of Fire"
Group Show

organized by the PEI Crafts Council @ The Guild
Dates: May 12 - May 24
Opening: May 12, 7:00pm-9:00pm
Photo: Pieces made by Robert McMillan Pottery

Come feel the heat, these artists express their passion through fire in glass, clay and wood. You may be familiar with Trudy Gilbertson's carved bone, now she gives carved wood with a fired finish. Glass artists Dean Smith and Cathy Krolikowski are further exploring glass work through stained & fused glass while Robert McMillan is experimenting with reconstructed shapes and unexpected layers of colours. Jamie Germaine will be exhibiting her newest pieces that are smoke fired and always intriguing.

Trudy Gilbertson - Whale Sculptures, created from carved and charred plywood. 
Trudy’s love of all things marine has been with her all her life.  Her fascination with whales began more than 30 years ago, when she saw her first humpback whale.  About the same time as she began to carving.   Whales have been a constant theme in her work ever since, sculpted  in any of her mediums of bone, antler or wood.
Drawing inspiration from shousugiban, the Japanese technique of wood preservation, these whales are carved from plywood and then charred with a propane torch. The burnt residue is then removed, a process that highlights the distinctive patterns and textures of the grains of the plywood, and adds to the sense movement to each piece. The natural imperfections in the plywood reflect the scars and markings found on real whales,  born of their long and sometimes difficult lives in the oceans.