Joan Bruneau
Nova Terra Cotta
10 Dufferin St, PO Box 1135
Lunenburg, NS B0J 2C0
My pots function as decorative objects activated through use. Containment, delivery or presentation of food, flowers completes their aesthetic potential.
Function, symbolism, technique and composition drive the evolution of new forms, patterns and glazes. My pottery forms and surfaces take cues from various cultures and periods in ceramics history, natural phenomena and ornament. Shape and surface compositions may evoke a season, landscape, architectural detail, or flower. The possibilities of form and surface offer the potential to layer meanings and influences.
Using Nova Scotia's native red earthenware, I wheel-throw and reconstruct using “cut and paste” technique characterized by gestural throwing lines, dynamic volumes and structural seams. Surfaces are treated with brushed white slip, sgraffito, underglazes and polychrome food-safe glazes.
I earned my BFA from NSCAD in 1988 and an MFA from the University of Minnesota in 1993.
In 2009 I received the Established Artist Recognition Award from the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership. In 2005 the Winifred Shantz Award funded my tenure at La Meridiana Ceramics Residency in Italy.
Phone: (902) 634-8902
Email: joanbruneau@ns.sympatico.ca
Website: http://www.JoanBruneau.com
I have taught wheel-throwing as regular part-time faculty in the NSCAD University Ceramics Department since 1995. I have taught in the Distance Ceramics Diploma Programs at Red Deer College, the Australia National University and Glasgow School of Art. I give workshops and lectures across Canada and the US including Peter’s Valley Craft Center, New Jersey, 2009, and the Triennial Canadian Clay Symposium in Vancouver and Fusion Conference in Ottawa in 2010.
NSCAD University Ceramics Department • Lunenburg School of the Arts
Galleries
My work is available exclusively through my studio/gallery, Nova Terra Cotta, in Lunenburg, and through my website.
My work appears in exhibitions across Canada and the U.S. and is in public collections including the AGNS, Canada; Sykes Gallery, USA; and Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute, China.