SPECIAL EDITION: In this episode of the Colour & Ceramics Podcast, we explore the Surface Stories Collective, https://surfacestoriescollective.lovable.app/, a Toronto-based initiative bringing non-ceramic artists from equity-deserving communities into the world of ceramic surface design.

Through workshops, studio sessions, and a culminating exhibition at Gallery 1065 from July 24 to August 2, participants are expanding their creative practices, experimenting with clay, and building new connections across Toronto’s arts communities.

It is an inspiring conversation with Natalie Waddell https://claygirl.ca and Christina Leslie https://www.christinaleslie.com/ about access, collaboration, and the possibilities that emerge when artists step into unfamiliar creative territory.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

#ColourAndCeramics #SurfaceStoriesCollective #CeramicArt #TorontoArts #ContemporaryCraft

My guest today is British ceramic sculptor Paul Smith, who has worked full-time from his studio in North Derbyshire since 1998. Paul is known for his bold, semi-abstract animal sculptures, combining simplified forms with expressive, richly layered surfaces.

Inspired by ancient sculpture and pottery, Inuit and folk art, and his lifelong fascination with the natural world, Paul is especially drawn to horses, cattle, wolves, bears, and big cats. His recent work uses layers of slips, engobes, oxides, and underglazes to create sculptures that feel like treasured objects, marked by age and history.

Alongside his studio practice, Paul now teaches his distinctive hand-building methods through masterclasses in the UK and internationally.

You can find him here on his website: https://paulsmithsculptures.co.uk/ and on his Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/paulsmithsculptures/

This week we're joined by Mary Fox, a self-taught BC potter who turned a lifetime of "learning at the school of hard knocks" into an acclaimed artistic career. Mary shares her journey from functional pottery to exploratory art, her approach to surface design and colour, and why she created the Legacy Project Apprentice Program — a rare two-year apprenticeship helping young Canadian potters become studio professionals. 🎧 Listen now!

See her work and all about her apprentice program https://maryfoxpottery.ca/

In this episode, Bob Acton joined by interdisciplinary artist Kristine Zingeler.

Kristine works across photography, collage, drawing, painting, and sculpture, creating subtle but powerful work that explores interconnectedness, time, and the constant state of change in both humanity and the natural world.

Her practice begins with close observation and collecting, giving new significance to rocks, feathers, nests, insects, plants, and other overlooked fragments of the everyday. Her recent work moves beautifully between image and object, ancient and immediate, tiny and monumental.

Listen in for a thoughtful conversation about attention, process, material, and the quiet power of noticing.

You can find her work on her website at: https://www.kristine-zingeler.com/ and on her Instagram page at: https://www.instagram.com/kristinezingeler/

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/