A recreational 10 week pottery class over a decade ago began Charlene’s obsession with clay. Numerous workshops and seminars didn’t quench her enthusiasm and she enrolled in the ceramics intensive program at the Haliburton School of the Arts, graduating in 2005 and opening the Purple Door Pottery Studio in Eagle Lake in 2014. Working in stoneware and porcelain to create fun and functional items, Charlene uses the potter’s wheel, slabs and extrusions in her designs. Influenced by the magnificence and enormity of the Haliburton landscape, her forms are fluid and voluminous with graceful curves and understated elegance. Often incorporating real leaves and collected materials from woodland hikes to enhance the visual narrative, Charlene views her work with clay as an elaborate and exhilarating dance. A successful creation begins with the twirl of the potter’s wheel, through the heat of the kiln and the patron, after viewing the piece and embracing it for themselves, signals the consummation of the waltz.
705-754-3536
