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Sarah Hamelin is the artist behind the guise of CABOOSE.
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I first discovered clay while working as a production potter at a local studio in Kingston, Ontario. This experience led me to seek formal training in Fine Ceramics from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, turning clay into both a lifelong teacher and my primary vehicle for art-making. Clay gives me endless solutions to all of my technical and conceptual ideas that arise in my art practice.
I strive to create art that always considers form, function and craftsmanship.
Born and raised in Southwestern Ontario, I now live and work in Eastern Ontario. I acknowledge that I have always lived, learned and continue to grow on traditional homelands of indigenous people and their long history of caring for this shared land.
process
My studio is a converted greenhouse in rural Eastern Ontario. With enough voltage to run my electric wheel and a rain barrel for water collection, I'm in production from March - November. This allows me to be in rhythm with the changing seasons, and follows the similar repetitive cycle of creating ceramics.
Every piece is formed by hand from wet clay, either on the potter's wheel or by slab. It gets fired twice: First time in a 950 degree Celsius "bisque" firing to harden the clay. Then it is removed from the kiln, cooled, and dipped in a handmade glaze that gets fired again to 1250 degrees Celsius to form a thin layer of glass over the clay. This makes it water-tight, food-safe, and durable enough to last another 10,000+ years.
Every piece takes approximately 3 weeks to make.
