Colour and Ceramics

This week on Colour and Ceramics, Bob Acton is joined by Sarah Pike, one of Canada’s top ceramic artists. Sarah is a full-time potter based in Fernie, British Columbia, where she makes functional slab-built pottery from her home studio. Her work carries a wonderful sense of movement and personality, shaped by the mountain landscape around her and inspired by antique tinware, textured metal, and old handmade objects. Sarah studied ceramics at ACAD in Calgary, and also studied at the University of Colorado and the University of Minnesota. It was a real pleasure to talk with her about clay, making, and the ideas that continue to shape her distinctive body of work.
Find her website and Instagram page here:
https://www.sarahpikepottery.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sarahpikepottery/

In this episode of the Colour and Ceramics Podcast @colourandceramics I @bobacton speak with Calgary potter Teresa Wyss @teresawysspottery about her striking functional ceramics, made with porcelain stoneware and decorated using hand-carved sgraffito. Inspired by wildlife, landscape, and the vivid colours of nature, her work has a bold, graphic presence that really stands out.We also talked about something many artists wrestle with: the business side of art making. From delegation to managing time and energy, Teresa shared thoughtful insights into what it takes to sustain a creative practice beyond the studio bench.
See her work on her website at https://twpottery.ca and her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/teresawysspottery/

Today on the Colour and Ceramics Podcast, host Bob Acton shares his interview with Robbin Harris.
Robbin Harris is a crystalline ceramic artist based in Calgary, Alberta, whose creative path reflects both resilience and reinvention. A former jazz musician, Robbin turned to clay after a life-changing accident ended his drumming career, discovering ceramics in 2017 under the mentorship of Dave Settles at Fairview Studios.
His artistic direction shifted again in 2020 when he encountered crystalline glazes, a discovery that opened a deep exploration into their unpredictable beauty and technical complexity. Through a practice rooted in experimentation, Robbin creates work that balances cosmic imagery with organic decay, revealing the delicate tension between creation and destruction. Each firing becomes an act of discovery, inviting viewers into a conversation about fragility, transformation, and the unexpected beauty that emerges when control meets chance.
You can find Robin here on his website https://robbinharrisceramics.com/ or on his Instagram page here https://www.instagram.com/robbin.harris.ceramics/

This week Bob Acton @bobacton joined by ceramic and installation artist Heidi McKenzie, whose work uses clay and image as archive—exploring ancestry, migration, race, and belonging through powerful abstract portraiture.
From Reclaimed: Indo-Caribbean HerStories to the Indian Ceramics Triennale in Delhi, Heidi’s work reminds us that ceramics can hold memory, heal, and tell the stories history forgets.
Check out her work at https://www.heidimckenzie.ca/

I’m thrilled to welcome Gillian Boon to the podcast, an Alberta-based ceramic artist whose work carries the pulse of the ocean, even from the heart of the prairies.
Inspired by coral reefs, tide pools, and the intense blues and greens of Grassi Lakes, Gillian’s ceramics explore movement, surface, and a deep sense of place. We talk about making ocean-driven work far from the sea, the role of teaching and community in a studio life, and how landscape leaves its mark on clay.
🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
#ColourAndCeramics #CanadianCeramics #CeramicArtists #OceanInspired #SurfaceAsNarrative #CalgaryArtists
You can find her work at https://www.gillianmitchellceramics.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/gmitchellceramics/