Stonewall artist Jen Sonnenberg is still in the running in a nationwide pottery competition that’s running on CBC as an eight-week series.
The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down is a friendly competition among a group of amateur potters from across the country. Each week, they compete in a main pottery task as well as a skill-testing challenge.
At the end of each episode, one potter leaves the show until the finale, when the final three will compete to be the winner of Season 1.
Seth Rogan serves as a guest judge and an executive producer for the show, which is based on a British format created and owned by Love Productions. The other judges are Brendan Tang, a Vancouver-based artist and ceramics instructor, and Natalie Waddell, a Toronto-based ceramicist and educator.
Now past the halfway point in the competition, Sonnenberg continues to make her mark with her clay creations.
According to Sonnenberg, Episode 4 was illuminating since the remaining artists were tasked with creating a table lamp.
“The inspiration for my lamp was a dry and cracked earth. This would be achieved by throwing a tall cylinder and adding pieces of clay to the outside, which I would then stretch out using a bit of an unconventional clay tool, but something that my family and I use a lot outside of my studio — a hockey puck. The puck allowed me to push the clay out in a way that clay tools just couldn’t,” she said.
“The lamp base was looking great, even into the glaze decorating stage. During the throw-down, we were asked to throw a double-walled vessel as close to the demo shape that Seth Rogan had thrown as we could.”
To her amazement, the judges chose Sonnenberg’s as the best creation.
“Winning first place in the throw-down was needed in this episode, though, as my lamp had a bit of a hiccup in the glaze kiln,” she said.
“The heat from the firing made the neck slump to the point where a gap opened up and forced the bulb and shade to have a definite tilt.”
Nonetheless, Sonnenberg progressed forward to the next episode, which focused on using a raku technique to create a bottle and cup set. This technique involves taking glazed ceramics red-hot from the kiln and then placing them in a lidded vessel to catch fire. After that, they’re cooled in water to reveal the unique finish.
“Episode 5 was such a milestone. In the British version of the show, raku week was very iconic with the intense firing being so different than previous weeks. Making it to raku week was so amazing to me. I had never fired in a raku kiln; however, as a wood-firing artist, I sort of felt like this was the closest form of firing to my regular practice,” she said.
“My design for the bottle and cup set was inspired by the house that my family has been building, with strips of clay representing rafters and studs and the bulbous form representing the two storeys of our home. The build time always runs away, but I was able to get most of the design added to the pieces that I had intended.”
In the same episode, the throw-down challenge involved a blindfolded test of ability.
“We had to throw three identical pitchers — yes, blindfolded! I was so happily surprised after the 20 minutes, mine came in second place,” she said.
“The episode was a success for me, as I got second place in the main make and will be continuing on into the sixth episode, airing this week at 8 p.m. on CBC or any time starting Thursday on the CBCGem app.”
For Sonnenberg, the throw-downs have created some of the most challenging moments, yet they’ve also resulted in some of her greatest successes — including winning Potter of the Week in Episode 3.
“The crazy timeframes and the surprise of the challenges definitely added some stress, but I just told myself it was all for fun, which I think helped a lot. I’ve had a lot of success in the throw-downs so far, winning two and getting a second and third place as well,” she said.
“The neck cracking on the lamp was definitely a challenge as well, but I loved the surface that I achieved so in the end I was still happy. While the throw-downs have been very challenging, they’ve also been a big part of my successes. Winning Potter of the Week in Episode 3 was a huge achievement as well.”
She’s also been having fun watching the episodes with her family and receiving encouragement from the community.
“It’s been amazing hearing from people that they have been watching and cheering along,” she said. “I’m so grateful.”
