[ad_1]
The gold rush wouldn’t have lasted long if the prospectors only had clay bowls to swish the gravel with, but one Quesnel artisanship is striking some glitter with Gold Pan Potters.
Ian Grant and David Bianchi are the creative proprietors, and while some local shops and companies were up for Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards, this year, Gold Pan Potters had a hand – ok, all hands on deck – in every single category. It was Gold Pan Potters who handmade each trophy.
“The people who make these awards are themselves small businesses within our community,” said Chamber executive director Kathy Somerville. Each year she sources a different artisan to make the trophies, ranging from elements of wood, metal, photography, and now clay.
“I took inspiration from the Cariboo,” said Bianchi who was there at the awards show to personally meet the city’s business community with the coveted oval plates. He and Grant only hung their shingle out three years ago. While they have sold their wares to customers in Brazil, Germany, the U.S., and across Canada it was still a surprise to hear from Somerville when she tested their interest in crafting the trophies.
“I invited Kathy to my studio to brainstorm some ideas,” Bianchi said. “We went through some sketches and finally came to the conclusion we should do some sort of plaque to showcase nature. Then Kathy left the creativity aspect to me. I thought about it for a while and came up with the idea of Cariboo’s landscape.”
The scene was built using layers of clay to give depth and well-defined rolling hills, valleys, and the confluence of Quesnel’s two definitive downtown rivers. Each plaque was hand-painted and glazed.
“I had to do a couple of test pieces first to see how the glaze colours would come out after being fired in the kiln to 2,232 degrees Fahrenheit. After a few adjustments, I came up with the final product,” Bianchi said. Some of the test subjects cracked in the heat, but Bianchi was able to produce the 12 trophies required for the event.
“This whole process really made me feel proud to be a part of the Quesnel community,” he said. “I was honoured that Kathy even thought of me in the first place, and that she gave me the creative freedom to express my form of artwork that hopefully the recipients will enjoy for years to come.”
READ MORE: A trail of artnerships with Quesnel businesses
READ MORE: The faces of nature now watch from the Quesnel friendship centre
[ad_2]
Source link