Margaret J.E. Bailly

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artist statement

I’ve studied both clay and painting during a double major at NSCAD University and lessons from both mediums are equally important in my studio practice. I prefer to work with clay but I am not a functional potter. My interest is in designing and hand building one of a kind objects. The closest I get to functional forms are vessels that hold plants and flowers. I am interested in the techniques used in crafting an object well and also my improvisation with clay during hand building. This intuitive response to form and expressive surface was influenced by Arthur Handy, Linda Sormin and John Pierre Larocque. The surfaces of my ceramics can become like a canvas where marks are made from textures pressed into clay, made by plaster press moulds or found objects like a toy truck wheel. A combination of my background as a painter, my love of experimentation and a summer class with Ying-Yueh Chuang has informed my glaze palette in both glaze textures and their colors.

selected biography

Margaret J. E. Bailly was awarded the Harrison McCain scholarship in memory of Marion McCain upon entrance to NSCAD University. She received the Dune Studio scholarship once she reached studio levels. Over the course of six years she completed a Bachelor of Fine Art with a Double Major in Fine Art and Ceramics. Her first solo exhibition was a collection of large scale ceramic sculpture, shown under the title industrial R Devolution at the Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She has also exhibited her ceramic work in group shows in Toronto, London, and Waterloo, Ontario. She was artist in residence for two months at the Craft Council Clay Studio in St. John’s, Newfoundland and a solo exhibition was held in the Craft Council Gallery. She has exhibited ceramics at the Argyle Fine Art Gallery, in Halifax.