Name: Rebecca Shorten

Usually found: When I’m not at school learning how to be a Social Studies teacher, I’m either at home in my office/studio in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Hometown: I was born and raised in Burnaby.

Age: 32

Occupation: Student, soon-to-be teacher and part-time potter. My occupation is a work-in-progress, really.

Tell us about your craft/art: I am a potter and artist. I have always drawn and painted, and I did a little ceramic art in high school, but I really got into pottery a few years ago while I was doing my MA in history. I really needed the creative outlet, to be doing something with my hands. I took some classes at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby and eventually joined the Burnaby Potters’ Guild. I love working with the clay, turning it into something useful and beautiful. It’s become an obsession in my life. Still, I enjoy working in other mediums as well, mainly acrylic paints and oil pastels.

How long have you been crafting: For longer than I can even remember. My mother was a crafter-extraordinaire and my father was always at his desk writing or painting. I was usually found either sitting at the dining room table with my mom sewing – we were “sewing buddies” – or sitting with my dad at his desk painting with watercolours. My grandma thought my mom was nuts letting me use a sewing needle at the age of 3 or 4, let alone her sewing machine! But my mom supervised everything and nothing bad happened – except the one time a needle got lost in our shag carpet and I stepped on it. After that, my mom counted every single needle every day and she knew exactly where each one was at all times. She kept the needle I stepped on in her sewing kit as a reminder. You used to be able to buy toy sewing machines, but after I wore out three or four of them, I got my very own sewing machine for Christmas when I was six. I was speechless, I remember very well. It was second hand and about fifty years old by the time I got it, but it was beautiful – baby blue and old-fashioned looking. My mom figured she wouldn’t need to compete with me anymore for her own sewing machine. Hers was always better, though, because it could do all the fancy stitches. Anyway, that is how I started being creative. I was really lucky to have parents who encouraged me to explore my creative side.

Art inspiration: My inspiration comes from many different places. When I was little I loved to watch Bob Ross on PBS, and every summer there are artists who set up an outdoor show at Stanley Park in Vancouver. I loved going down to look at the art – one year when I was about five or six, I sat down under a tree and set up a few of my own paintings. I’m sure the people passing by were really amused! But I was very serious about it. Now, with my pottery, my inspiration comes from everyday objects. I love poking through antique shops (combining my love of history with my love of pottery) and take note of forms of different vases, teapots, even galvanized buckets. I also pick up metal components that I can incorporate into my pottery. I am really intrigued by the combination of metal and clay. A couple of years ago I started taking blacksmithing workshops at Burnaby Village Museum (a 1920s themed village with heritage Burnaby buildings that have been moved to the site), but access to a forge is extremely limited so, exploring that inspiration has been slow.

Where can people find your craft/art? My pottery can be found at the Burnaby Potters’ Guild bi-annual sales. I’d like to expand to other venues, but becoming a teacher has been the priority in my life the last few months.

What craft tool would you love to have: I’d love to have my own potter’s wheel. And a place to put it. And a kiln to fire all my work. Someday.

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