Jacqueline Chamberland

My journey into ceramics started when I lived in Winnipeg many years ago. I pursued this art form as a hobby at first, taking pottery classes and workshops at the Stoneware Gallery and Studio, where I had the opportunity to learn my craft from a very accomplished ceramist, Kathy Koop. I was influenced by her skills in altering shapes and creating interesting surfaces, which transformed her pieces into beautiful artwork.

When I moved to the west coast of Vancouver Island, I became the Pacific Rim Arts Society’s first Executive Director which allowed me to meet and work with many artists in my everyday life. From them, I learned to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings and incorporate it into my art.

The vivid contrast of the ocean waves crashing against black rock before reaching the sandy shores is a daily scene on Ucluelet beaches. The wild and rugged pacific coast is softened here and there by a variety of beautiful flowers. This is the effect I like to achieve in a lot of my work, leaving some raw natural clay untouched by the glazing process. In others, I choose glazes that best reflect the colours found in nature where the ocean meets the cedar-lined shores of the Pacific west coast.