Posted by Kimberly Collins on Sun, Jun 27, 2010 @ 08:19 PM
Jack Olive writes;
Growing up in Thunder Bay, Ontario in the 40′s and 50′s, I spend much of my time drawing, painting and photographing the images around me. 
In the early 60′s, I took some arts course while completing a degree in chemistry and mathematics at Moorhead College in Minnesota. Art came into my life as a full-time study and career, when I arrived back at Moorhead College only to finds that the masters program in Biochemistry into which I hade been accepted had been canceled.
I registered for drawing and graphic design instead, and when the instructor for ceramics called out the door of the pottery studio that he now had an opening for me, I found my life’s work.
In 1971 I moved to Vancouver and became a founding member and director of the Vancouver Clayworks Society, a 12-member cooperative ceramics studio.
In this creative atmosphere I worked with other members of the group to develop methods of applying imagery through drawing, painting and photographic images to ceramic sculpture and pottery.
The optical effect of stretching graphic images around a circular from fascinates me. Peripheral vision bends what the observer sees at the edges. Ceramic glazes with their richness and capacity for layering and depth of imagery, give the opportunity to create a mirror of that peripheral view as images bend around the surface of a pot.
My work in clay is both functional and decorative. I work with wheel thrown and slab built form, all fired to cone 1 with over and under glazes. All pieces are food safe and the wheel thrown ones are oven and microwave proof. I have formulated my clay and glazes to fit with a slight compression that prevents crazing, and creates a very durable and chip resistant surface. My casseroles with an apple design have proved very popular.
I now work out of my own studio on the beautiful Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and you can see my work at Side Street Studio, a long established Victoria based arts & crafts studio and web store – www.sidestreetstudio.com