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North Delta Studio Stomp opens artists’ process to the public

The fifth annual Studio Stomp is meant to ‘generate enthusiam for the arts,’ local potter says
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Artist Bev Mason will showcase some of her pottery during the 2017 Studio Stomp. (Grace Kennedy photo)

Bev Mason, a retired Delta teacher and long-time potter, can often be found in North Delta Potters’ Guild studio at the North Delta Recreation Centre.

Her silver hair tinted in a pastel rainbow, she stands between five-gallon buckets of fancifully-named glazes — Readers Digest Red, for example — and Tupperware filled with powdered chemicals.

“It’s a science in itself,” she said about pottery glaze-making, looking up at the boxes of borax, iron oxide and silica.

“Many of our really nice glazes we can never make again because we don’t know the recipe.”

Mason has been making pottery for 15 years, creating practical teapots and cookie jars, along with fanciful sculptures and artwork. On Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24, she’ll be one of 10 artists showcasing their passions at the fifth annual North Delta Studio Stomp.

“They’re fun,” Mason said about past Studio Stomps, which has artists stationed in different studios around North Delta. “People are looking, and they’re wondering about the process.”

“It generates enthusiasm for the arts, and that’s the main thing,” she added. “We’re not looking for sales. We’re looking to share our art with the community.”

The Stomp, as it’s affectionately known, started back in 2012, when local artists got together to arrange a studio tour.

“We wanted to have a cultural crawl, kind of thing,” Mason said. “And little North Delta, we’ve got quite a bit of art going on.”

During this year’s Studio Stomp, residents will be able to visit any of the seven locations for a tour and an introduction to each artist’s work. The art will include pottery, of course, but also a variety of paintings and photography.

“These artists are, you know, they’re not professional. But their work is excellent,” Mason said. “Nobody makes a living at doing this — it’s out of love of the artwork.”

At each location, visitors will be able to purchase work produced by artists at the studio, and a portion of all artist sales over the weekend will be donated to the Delta Hospital Foundation. As well, visitors will be able to tour the artists spaces and watch demonstrations of the artistic process, but there’s no guarantee of what else will be going on.

“It varies from site to site,” Mason said. For “some people it’s more of a party. You’ve got food and coffee and stuff like that.

“It’s an art experience more than an art gallery.”

This year, the seven studio locations are:

6599 Knight Drive, featuring mixed-media artist Barbara Roden;

11184 Bridlington Avenue, featuring digital printmaker Wayne Turner and painter Katlyn Twidle;

8062 112B Street, with retired teacher and painter Cathey Tyler;

North Delta Recreation Centre, with potters June Bergen-Holt and Bev Mason, as well as other artists from the Watershed Artworks association;

11035 Patricia Drive, with painter Rita Chaplinsky;

and 9340 115A Street, with naturalist painter Dave Stevens, photographer Murray Klassen and experimental painter Kassandra Klassen.

Each studio will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 23 and 24.

“I love talking to the community about what I do — they don’t have to buy stuff,” Mason said, then laughed.

“It’s fun to share.”

For more info on the Stomp, visit deltastudiostomp.com.