Spring Studio Tour Season Begins

This Mother's Day weekend, May 9th and 10th from 10am to 4:00pm, grab your Mom and let her pick out her own "Handmade in Hamilton" gift from one of the 20 artists participating in the 10th Annual Southwest Hamilton Artists' Studio Tour in the Locke/Aberdeen/Queen District of Hamilton. I will be at my studio with some great new work. I will be hosting stained glass designer Siobhan Lynch (www.sio2creations.com). All of the artists will be giving you a sneak peek at their work at our Preview Show at the Bold Gallery from April 20 to May 3rd with the opening party on April 24th from 7 - 10pm. Information on the tour and the preview show and maps can be found on the tour website at www.southwesthamiltonstudiotour.com. Feel free to contact me as well at info@taralynnefranco.com if you would like a map mailed to you.

Prior to this tour I will be at the Spring Sale of the Potters' Guild of Hamilton and Region on May 1 -3. See www.hamiltonpotters.ca for details. At the end of the month I will be a guest at Richard Fisher's studio for the Beyond the Valley Studio Tour. For details see www.beyondthevalley.ca. For details on all my upcoming events, how to contact me at my studio and where you can purchase my work, please visit my website at www.taralynnefranco.com

Online Profile of Hands on History Tile for Archives of Ontario

Tara Lynne Franco, Bertram's Legacy

I was so pleased to see a great profile of the tile commission I completed for the Archives of Ontario on their online database. My tile, Bertram's Legacy was inspired by the Bertram family of Dundas who was an important family in Dundas' history. This tile, along with 7 other fantastic large-scale tiles by Canadian ceramacists Keith Campbell, Ying-Yeuh Chuang, Nicole DeBrabandere, Hugh Douglas-Murray, Richard Gill, Thomas Aitken and Kate Hyde, and Robin Tieu will be installed on the first floor of the Archives of Ontario's new building on the York University Campus. Here are a few of the other tiles. For details on these and the other tiles please visit the website at http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/hands-on-history/index.html

Robin Tieu, Urban Archaeology

Ying-Yueh Chuang, Memories of Osgoode Hall

Thomas Aitken and Kate Hyde, Material Memories, Peterborough County

More Photos

Here are a few more photos of my work which are now on exhibition at the Katherine Butler Gallery in Sarasota Florida.

Ruth Dwyer and Tara Lynne Franco at the Katherine Butler Gallery Opens Tonight

I am pleased to present a selection of new pieces that were created specifically for this exhibition at the Katherine Butler Gallery. To create this new body of work I built upon some designs and themes I had been working on as well as taking some ideas I have been pondering for some time and bringing these concepts and drawings into reality.
This work continues to explore my interest and concern about our impact on the environment in which we live. I have also reached back into the pool of ceramic history for inspiration for some of the new forms. There are three major themes in the work that is in this collection – the ceramic pillows, the window garden and the Reflection Series.

For images of the work in the show and directions to the gallery visit www.kbutlergallery.com/Templates/featured-exhib.html. The artist reception is tonight, Friday January 16th from 6 to 10pm.

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Holiday Sales Continue through to Christmas

Thank you to all that came out to my Holiday Open House and Sale. It was a great weekend, a chance to reconnect with friends and share some holiday cheer and help people find the perfect handmade gifts for friends, colleagues and loved ones. My studio will be open up until Christmas for sales and I will be hard at work in the studio finishing up some orders and making work for my show at the Katherine Butler Gallery in Sarasota Florida that starts on January 14, 2009. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and the best of the season to all of you.
Tara