A Stonewall artist is off to a strong start in a Canada-wide pottery competition that is currently airing on CBC.
Jen Sonnenberg is competing in the CBC series The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down. In this friendly competition, a group of amateur potters from across the country compete in different challenge over eight weeks. Each episode features a main pottery task as well as a skill-testing challenge.
At the end of each episode, one pottery leaves the show until the finale, when the final three will vie to be named the winner of Season 1.
Three episodes have aired to date, and Sonnenberg has earned recognition for her creations.
“So far in the competition, I have had an amazing time and feel like I’ve achieved a few amazing feats. In the first episode, I created an homage to my hometown of Stonewall by replicating our Ice Palace and a barn from our family farm. Also in that episode, I won the second challenge, a throw-down in which my ashtray was judged the best ashtray out of the group of 10 potters,” she said.
“It was absolutely amazing to be the first potter to win a throw-down challenge and to have Seth Rogen, a guest judge for that episode, choose my ashtray to be the winning one. My main make allowed me to continue on to Episode 2, where the main make was to create a chess set. My chess set was inspired by mountains, and when set up on the chess board, two mountain ranges were created with sunset colours.”
Sonnenberg’s success continued into Episode 3, when the throw-down challenge was a spot test. Acclaimed potter Adam Field was a guest artist.
“In the challenge to carve an urn as close to his example as possible, I placed third. The main make of the week was an abstract self-portrait, in which I created a closed form that resembled eroded earth, brightly coloured in rivers of glaze and underglazes,” she said.
“My self-portrait abstract sculpture, which represents me and my two boys, won Potter of the Week and takes me into Episode 4 of The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown, with five more weeks to go in the series.”
Adding to the excitement, Sonnenberg said it’s been an amazing experience to watch the series.
“It takes me back to the moments of tense concentration and camaraderie, and I am constantly thinking how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to be a part of these challenges and make the connections I made with the most amazing people,” she said.
“I also love being able to watch with my boys, who knew I was away doing pottery but are finally actually seeing what I was doing. It’s so surreal that we are watching me on TV. I’m just blown away by it every time I watch an episode.”
The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down airs on CBC and CBCGem on Thursdays at 8 p.m.
To check out some of Sonnenberg’s pottery, follow along on Instagram @jensonnenbergwoodfiredpottery. Pots are also added regularly to her website and online store at www.woodfiredpottery.ca.
Tribune Photos Submitted
After three episodes, Stonewall’s Jen Sonnenberg is still in the running for CBC’s The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down. Sonnenberg won Potter of the Week with her self-portrait abstract sculpture last week
