Edmonton-born artist, Sheila A Kelba-Warawa, captures the essence of Alberta in her unique hand-built pottery

07 Wednesday Sep 2011

Posted by Delena Rose in buy local, handmade, Pigeon Lake

Tags

Blue Heron Gallery, hand-built pottery, local artist, Pigeon Lake artist, potter, pottery, pottery animals, pottery knobs, Sheila A Kelba-Warawa, tiles

A few days ago, Lucy and I were fortunate to spend an afternoon with Sheila at her beautiful home in Bentley, Alberta. We shared a delicious lunch and then got busy touring her studio, interviewing her and photographing her unique and beautiful work.

Sheila A Kelba-Warawa creates works of art that are funky, fresh and beautiful. Originally from Edmonton, Sheila studied art at the Alberta College of Art and Design. She then moved to the Queen Charlotte Islands where she lived for ten years before moving to Vancouver Island for the next seven years. The west coast influence and inspiration for some of her pieces is easy to see. For example, in the variety of colorful fish she creates.

Eight years ago, Sheila moved back ‘east’ and settled in central Alberta. From her home at the very edge of town in Bentley, you can see the rolling hills and fields of the surrounding farms. She explains how it was the beauty of the rural Albertan landscape that inspired her to start creating funky and unique farm animals, including cows, goats, chickens, and animal women. (Note: for you gardeners, the second photograph of a goat was designed to fit over a square fence post. Also note: the pieces that have cracks in the pottery are from the firing process and now hang in Sheila’s home.)

Another inspiration for Sheila’s work is her beautiful garden. “I love the vibrant colors in the garden… Color is so important to me. In anything that I do, I need to deal with color. I find that it changes my mood… Texture is also very important… I find seed pods very interesting and I use them for shapes.”

Other inspirations of Sheila’s work include works by Hundertwasser. “I think he’s always looking at nature and really trying to incorporate nature into his work and into architecture…”

…and designer Tricia Guild, whose organic work and use of color and form inspired the creation of ‘Poppies’, the chicken women who also function as a vase to hold flowers.

Sheila has a keen sense of interior design, which is very evident in her warm and colorful eclectic home. She loves working with her hands and likes to make her own things for her home wherever possible, whether it’s maintaining and designing her garden, building a bench with wood from scratch, or making clay cupboard knobs and handmade tiles for her bathroom.

Here are a few more photographs to show a little more of the wide range of Sheila’s work. These include butter dishes, jugs, candlesticks, mugs, bowls, and a range of other tile designs.

If you would like to view more of Sheila’s inspiring work, you can:

visit the Blue Heron Artists and Artisans Gallery at the Village at Pigeon Lake
find her at the Lacombe Art Show every April
make an appointment via email (mudhenstu@hotmail.com) to visit her studio in Bentley just off of highway 2 (just an hour and a half from Edmonton or two and a half hours from Calgary)
if you ever find yourself on the Queen Charlotte Islands, you can find her work at Funk It

I hope this post has provided you with a good sampling Shiela’s work!

Introducing Sheila A Kelba-Warawa of Mud Hen Clay Studios (Part One)

17 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by Delena Rose in art, buy local, handmade, Pigeon Lake, pottery

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blue Heron Gallery, buying handmade, hand-built pottery, Kelba-Warawa, Pigeon Lake gallery, Pigeon Lake local art, pottery, pottery fish, pottery mirror, pottery tile, Sheila A Kelba-Warawa

I stopped at the Village at Pigeon Lake today to get groceries and more jars for canning. As I was walking back to my vehicle, I passed right by a shop that I had never seen before. Looking in through the open door, I was immediately drawn in by the color and uniqueness of the merchandise. I had arrived at Blue Heron Artists and Artisans Gallery.

I went in and was pleasantly greeted by a woman who welcomed me and informed me that the most of the pieces feature local artists from around the lake as well as central Alberta. I thought this was wonderful as not only can one buy handmade, but can support local artists at the same time. I was in the right place as I had recently taken the Handmade Pledge online:

Although it is usually more expensive, buying handmade is better for the environment, better for people and communities and makes for better gift-giving. Buying handmade often means that you are getting a unique, one-of-a kind item. As my tastes tend toward the unusual, I get a lot of satisfaction in finding interesting things are are both useful and beautiful. With the money I save from ‘making do’, ‘repurposing’ and ‘thrifting’, I can afford handmade when I need it or want it. Like many of you, I also hand-make most of the cards and gifts that I personally give away.

I really enjoyed my time at Blue Heron. They have so much to choose from:

We carry quilts, stained glass, fused glass, 3 different types of pottery, gold, silver and precious stone jewellery, knitted socks, touques and children’s sweaters, soapstone carvings, embroidered bags, weaving, porcelain dolls, rustic furniture, rustic birdhouses and feeders, paintings in oil, acrylic and watercolour as well as numbered prints, photography from around the lake, sewn plush dolls, candles and soaps, fibre art, felted items and casual quilted jackets.

I fell in love with four pieces of pottery: a small square mirror, a tile, a fish dish on three legs and a large funky chicken-woman vase. I bought the first three items but will have to save a little for the chicken-woman. I got chatting with the woman who greeted me earlier and it turned out that this was Sheila A Kelba-Warawa herself, the local artist who made all four of the pieces that I had chosen! When I asked her to describe her work, she told me:

My work has a funky edge. Although I enjoy throwing pots, my passion is hand-building, where I have the freedom to create slightly off the wall animals and animal women.

I love the organic shapes and especially the colors that glaze Sheila’s pieces (lime green, ocean blue, orange copper undersides, purple, pale yellow). Along with pots, candlesticks and tiles, she hand-builds fish and chickens in her own distinct style. Some of the edges are left bare, which makes the piece feel like it is a hundred years old and already full of stories. I was regretting that I did not bring my camera as I could have shown you more of Sheila’s work. Instead, I will visit her studio in Bentley, Alberta in a few weeks and do a more in depth interview and show you a wider range of her work (in Part Two). Until then, if you would like to contact Sheila, you can reach her through Blue Heron or through her personal email at mudhenstu@hotmail.com. You can also take a look at her biography on the Blue Heron website.

I look forward to many more visits to Blue Heron Artists and Artisans and supporting a wonderful local business here on Pigeon Lake while at the same time supporting local artisans from central Alberta. Next time you visit the Village at Pigeon Lake, be sure to stop in at 40 Village Drive and have a look around. Or click on the links provided and view their gallery online. I am sure you will find that perfect handmade item that you haven’t found anywhere else!

In the meantime, I will enjoy my new pieces! On the Blue Heron website, it says that “Sheila’s intention is to bring whimsy and joy to the viewer.” These pieces will surely do just that! The tile will sit on my desk to hold my tea as I work on this blog each day; the mirror will hang just outside the washroom and will be one of the first things that I see in the morning (adding a splash of lime green to an otherwise dull corner), and the whimsical fish dish will hold my handmade gardeners’ soap beside the kitchen sink and will make me smile every time I use it.