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Heather Waugh Pitts

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Growing up along the Atlantic coast and living behind the refinery storage tank fields influenced the ways I interpret nature and, ultimately, my work. I was exposed to surfaces of rust and colours of decay. The ocean nearby was rich for foraging along its shores, ever-changing in erosion and tides.

I was a dreamer as a child (I probably inherited that from my dad, who was also a dreamer) and spent much of my free time drawing. At 8, I received my first art award (a free meal for my family!) from a local restaurant after submitting a picture I had colored, then altered by scraping off most of the crayon wax, leaving muted tones.

I ended up earning a degree in human ecology and studied the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary relationships between humans in their natural, social and built environments. This, along with my love of industrial surfaces, gardens and the sea — and 20 years of owning and running a successful interior design business — has informed my work in design. Drawn toward brutalist, baroque, Georgian and modern architecture, I hand build my clay in an abstract or realist form, inspired by these eras and my memory of known environment.

Before interior design and art became my professional focus, I worked at a hospital. When I became pregnant with my second child, I decided to leave the job and focus on the home and time with my family (which evolved into three children: Maggie, Chris and Mike; plus, my husband, Tommy). My creativity flourished and I entered my oil paintings in juried shows and sold work through exhibitions. I also hand-painted furniture, applying techniques I’d learned while spending time in Paris and Germany.

As the children became older, I was able to travel and do work in cathedrals, museums, resorts and restaurants. I was successful in operating my own interior design company, serving clients in Canada and the U.S., while also participating in designer showcases for many years.

My start in ceramics came late, but I was fortunate to be able to explore clay at Findlay Community Centre, a 10-minute walk from my home. It was therapy for me while fully engaged in operating my interior design company. I looked forward to friendships made there and the whole discipline of hand wedging, hand building and sculpting work.

As I grew my body of work, I realized I wanted my ceramics to be chosen by other interior designers. During my design career, I had chosen works of art for my clients, and now I was envisioning where my own work would fit into designs. I found myself contemplating: Where do I want my work to land?

I wanted my work to be my story, one that someone else might feel and enjoy. Though I did not initially market my ceramics (I’m an extreme introvert), I was surprised and excited when a few galleries offered to represent my work, which I believe caught their attention on Instagram.

When COVID hit, I decided to build and carve out a ceramic studio in my basement: a warren of rooms ready to be made into a workspace. Converting the maze of rooms in our 100-year-plus home into a studio merged the home’s storied past with the present. The room where I now hand build and fire work was originally the furnace/coal room. Other rooms are now used for photographing and showcasing work, and they act as a gallery for visitors (by appointment only).

Our home had been a private school for 20 years, and all of the tables and shelving I use are recycled from old fire doors and shelves that existed in the school. My studio is the womb in this old house. We peeled back the ceilings to expose the old beams; placed found glass blocks in the vintage coal chutes; and recycled some old wide boards and painted the concrete. I had a customized kiln built in Ontario, ordered a roller and a ton of various clays, and started
to experiment. I learned everything in those failures and successes through experimentation during COVID.

 

My work is comprised of mostly porcelain clay; for some pieces, I use stoneware clay. I create sculptures or vessels, hand building over a form I make, or coiling the ropes of clay I roll. Depending on the season, I usually work a five-day week in my home studio. When I first enter, I make a coffee, put on music (I have lots of vinyl from the 70s and 80s), and think of experiences that move me. Then I start wedging clay to form a story by hand.

After I wedge a few pounds of it, I then roll it into slabs or make coils, depending on the kind of vessel or sculpture I’m going to create. Incorporating architectural elements and experimenting with glazes is what I love when making. The freedom of hand building is essential to how I create.

It can take many days or weeks to form the piece and then wrap and dry it. Living in the Maritimes by the sea impacts the drying times. The humidity in the summer can mean drying for a month. During the winter, the old steam pipes ping and heat the space beautifully and I dry my work in a wet box or wrapped in plastic. Once dry, the work is bisque-fired and glaze-fired in mid to high firing temperatures — sometimes multiple times.

When designing a new collection, I often find myself researching different periods of history. I create collections for art galleries, fine furniture galleries and exhibitions, as well as for interior designers, chefs and restaurants. Each piece is one of a kind, hand built — a one-off.

I still take on a few interesting interior design projects each year, but focus primarily on ceramics. At some point, I’d love to apply for artist residency programs to continue my creative growth and, ultimately, find American and European galleries to represent my art. In the meantime, I am showing work regularly, including an upcoming interior design show in Toronto and the Collect art fair at Somerset House in London (I never dreamed I’d land there!).

Ceramics has become the language that best expresses my thoughts and feelings. I feel so blessed to be able to make a good living doing what I love.

♦♦♦

From Isabelle Fish | The world of Heather Pitts is deliciously eccentric, an invitation to travel along the shores of Nova Scotia where she finds her inspiration. I always decorate my dining table with her porcelain peas and pods, oyster shells, vases and other treasures — it is impossible to resist such simple beauty.

Growing up along the Atlantic coast and living behind the refinery storage tank fields influenced the ways I interpret nature and, ultimately, my work. I was exposed to surfaces of rust and colours of decay. The ocean nearby was rich for foraging along its shores, ever-changing in erosion and tides.

I was a dreamer as a child (I probably inherited that from my dad, who was also a dreamer) and spent much of my free time drawing. At 8, I received my first art award (a free meal for my family!) from a local restaurant after submitting a picture I had colored, then altered by scraping off most of the crayon wax, leaving muted tones.

I ended up earning a degree in human ecology and studied the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary relationships between humans in their natural, social and built environments. This, along with my love of industrial surfaces, gardens and the sea — and 20 years of owning and running a successful interior design business — has informed my work in design. Drawn toward brutalist, baroque, Georgian and modern architecture, I hand build my clay in an abstract or realist form, inspired by these eras and my memory of known environment.

Before interior design and art became my professional focus, I worked at a hospital. When I became pregnant with my second child, I decided to leave the job and focus on the home and time with my family (which evolved into three children: Maggie, Chris and Mike; plus, my husband, Tommy). My creativity flourished and I entered my oil paintings in juried shows and sold work through exhibitions. I also hand-painted furniture, applying techniques I’d learned while spending time in Paris and Germany.

As the children became older, I was able to travel and do work in cathedrals, museums, resorts and restaurants. I was successful in operating my own interior design company, serving clients in Canada and the U.S., while also participating in designer showcases for many years.

My start in ceramics came late, but I was fortunate to be able to explore clay at Findlay Community Centre, a 10-minute walk from my home. It was therapy for me while fully engaged in operating my interior design company. I looked forward to friendships made there and the whole discipline of hand wedging, hand building and sculpting work.

As I grew my body of work, I realized I wanted my ceramics to be chosen by other interior designers. During my design career, I had chosen works of art for my clients, and now I was envisioning where my own work would fit into designs. I found myself contemplating: Where do I want my work to land?

I wanted my work to be my story, one that someone else might feel and enjoy. Though I did not initially market my ceramics (I’m an extreme introvert), I was surprised and excited when a few galleries offered to represent my work, which I believe caught their attention on Instagram.

When COVID hit, I decided to build and carve out a ceramic studio in my basement: a warren of rooms ready to be made into a workspace. Converting the maze of rooms in our 100-year-plus home into a studio merged the home’s storied past with the present. The room where I now hand build and fire work was originally the furnace/coal room. Other rooms are now used for photographing and showcasing work, and they act as a gallery for visitors (by appointment only).

Our home had been a private school for 20 years, and all of the tables and shelving I use are recycled from old fire doors and shelves that existed in the school. My studio is the womb in this old house. We peeled back the ceilings to expose the old beams; placed found glass blocks in the vintage coal chutes; and recycled some old wide boards and painted the concrete. I had a customized kiln built in Ontario, ordered a roller and a ton of various clays, and started
to experiment. I learned everything in those failures and successes through experimentation during COVID.

 

My work is comprised of mostly porcelain clay; for some pieces, I use stoneware clay. I create sculptures or vessels, hand building over a form I make, or coiling the ropes of clay I roll. Depending on the season, I usually work a five-day week in my home studio. When I first enter, I make a coffee, put on music (I have lots of vinyl from the 70s and 80s), and think of experiences that move me. Then I start wedging clay to form a story by hand.

After I wedge a few pounds of it, I then roll it into slabs or make coils, depending on the kind of vessel or sculpture I’m going to create. Incorporating architectural elements and experimenting with glazes is what I love when making. The freedom of hand building is essential to how I create.

It can take many days or weeks to form the piece and then wrap and dry it. Living in the Maritimes by the sea impacts the drying times. The humidity in the summer can mean drying for a month. During the winter, the old steam pipes ping and heat the space beautifully and I dry my work in a wet box or wrapped in plastic. Once dry, the work is bisque-fired and glaze-fired in mid to high firing temperatures — sometimes multiple times.

When designing a new collection, I often find myself researching different periods of history. I create collections for art galleries, fine furniture galleries and exhibitions, as well as for interior designers, chefs and restaurants. Each piece is one of a kind, hand built — a one-off.

I still take on a few interesting interior design projects each year, but focus primarily on ceramics. At some point, I’d love to apply for artist residency programs to continue my creative growth and, ultimately, find American and European galleries to represent my art. In the meantime, I am showing work regularly, including an upcoming interior design show in Toronto and the Collect art fair at Somerset House in London (I never dreamed I’d land there!).

Ceramics has become the language that best expresses my thoughts and feelings. I feel so blessed to be able to make a good living doing what I love.

♦♦♦

From Isabelle Fish | The world of Heather Pitts is deliciously eccentric, an invitation to travel along the shores of Nova Scotia where she finds her inspiration. I always decorate my dining table with her porcelain peas and pods, oyster shells, vases and other treasures — it is impossible to resist such simple beauty.

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