ItB次元官网网址檚 a dirty job but Belle Leon loves to do it.

Using a spinning wheel, with muddy clay splashing about and her hands caked in the stuff, Leon said she is drawn to the hands-on nature of the art of pottery.

B次元官网网址淔or me itB次元官网网址檚 very meditative. IB次元官网网址檓 alone a lot of the time when IB次元官网网址檓 working,B次元官网网址� Leon said. B次元官网网址淚 tend to like touching things, IB次元官网网址檓 a textile person.B次元官网网址�

Leon, who works out of Coast Collective in Colwood, is one of seven West Shore artists participating in Clay Connects, the South Vancouver Island Potters Guild show and sale on Saturday, June 16 at the Moss Street Market.

Pottery has been a passion of LeonB次元官网网址檚 for years. She works primarily with porcelaneous stoneware, a midrange temperature (about 2,200 F) medium, and sees her painting style on the pottery as something of a trademark. She has also lately been branching out into raku pottery, an alternative pottery medium which is fired at relatively low temperature and cooled in open air.

No two pieces are ever the same and the variety of what can be done in terms of medium, texture, design, colour and a myriad of other factors makes pottery an ever evolving passion for Leon.

B次元官网网址淵ou can learn forever,B次元官网网址� Leon said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 fun, itB次元官网网址檚 exploratory.B次元官网网址�

The event has been running every year since the guild formed in 1999. This will be the second year the show has been at the Moss Street Market. Previously the guild held the event at St. MichaelB次元官网网址檚 and All Angels Anglican Church on West Saanich Road.

B次元官网网址淚t went very well last year, we had an absolute full complement of potters and a lot of traffic,B次元官网网址� said organizing member Rosemary Neering. B次元官网网址淧eople were just really interested in what we were doing, so that was great.B次元官网网址�

Mugs are always the biggest seller, Leon said, likely because they are affordable and practical.

More ornamental pieces will also be for sale.

B次元官网网址淚 like seeing what other peopleB次元官网网址檚 work is like, thatB次元官网网址檚 a really nice thing. You meet all these people at the guild, at the meetings, but you donB次元官网网址檛 really know what their work is like.B次元官网网址�

Clay Connects will be in the Gerry Oak Room as well as outside Fairfield Gonzales Community Place, next to the Moss Street Market, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, visit victoriapotters.ca.

news@goldstreamgazette.com

West Shore artists taking part:

B次元官网网址� Roger Champagne and Dainel Casey from View Royal.

B次元官网网址� Belle Leon and Maria Green from Colwood.

B次元官网网址� Pamela Truscott White from Metchosin.

B次元官网网址� Kris Jeffrey and Muriel Sibley from Highlands.

B次元官网网址� All will all be exhibiting and selling their creations at the event, among 32 artisans from around Greater Victoria and beyond.