Smoking baby doll. Yep, crazy. This was such a fun episode, but it wasn’t the normal format. I had my questions ready for Canadian ceramics artist Susannah Montague, but she had a list for me too! Why the shake-up? Well, I was not in my pillow fort studio for this one… we were LIVE at Club Kwench in Victoria, BC {photos below}. So, we talked about everything – from her movie-prop-making days to her beautiful twins who were the wonderful miracle of IVF… hence the baby dolls and blastocyst bubbles! Listen right up there under that “sweet” baby, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First, those beautiful baby bubbles I was just mentioning:

Stunning. Susannah’s level of detail blows my mind. Flowers, skulls, and … belugas:

I was so happy to finally have a chance to ask her what all of these tiny tidbits are about, and of course, I should have known the answer. Susannah is inspired by the Dutch Vanitas … beauty through decay and the inevitability of death… so enjoy the now!

Speaking of death, how about a couple of beautiful porcelain ghosts connected by their life-breath, as if to say “we are all one, we are all connected”:

See? This is why I said “crazy” so many times! CRAZY. Look at that bunnicorn on the left!

And of course, I have to show the process for these ghostly beauties. FYI, people who cast their children in the name of art, well, you know they mean business:

Love, love, love! Don’t you want to spend a day in her gorgeous Bowen Island studio? Be careful though… she might cast you!

Ok, and then it was my turn. The first question Susannah asked me was about my new book… and yes, I could talk about it FOREVER:

A BIG IMPORTANT ART BOOK… Now with Women! Seriously, I could not be more proud of this project. I hope there are many more volumes to come! {It will be on shelves on Oct 2, but you can preorder it now if you wanna.} So, those last two photos above are my “book nook”, both the interior and exterior view : )

Next, just a few of my mixed media collages:

The top-most image was the first piece I ever did in this series {that I started just over two years ago}, and the final piece is the one that Susannah owns! It is titled, “BARB AND CANDICE WERE LIKE TOTALLY NAILING THIS WHOLE LIFE / BALANCE THING.”

And here we are – recording live – at the sun-filled, dreamy, creative space that is Club Kwench:

HA! That’s me, Susannah, and Tessa {the dynamo behind Kwench}, chugging a little Creative Juice XXX! Can you believe Susannah made those for us a few days before the event!? I didn’t make anything for anyone. Oh, and I had to include a shot of the lovely little Liz-inspired bud vase that she made for me last year. Isn’t it gorgeous? Now I have two pieces by Susannah, so I guess that means I owe her one of mine! Thank you so much to Susannah, her super sweet twins, Tessa at Club Kwench, our fabulous audio guys Andrew Lloyd and Nick Francis, and the lovely live audience. Without that giant list of people, this sunny Sunday event wouldn’t have happened. AND, this podcast wouldn’t happen without the support of Saatchi Art, Thrive Mastermind, and YOU. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Emily Carr University of Art & Design
2. Thrive Mastermind
3. Club Kwench, Victoria 
4. Sound by: Andrew Lloyd and Nick Francis
5. Seymour Gallery, Vancouver {her show is up until Apr 14}
6. Susannah on Instagram
7. Madrona Gallery, Victoria
8. Amanda Smith, episode no.6
9. Wayne White, episode no. 30
10. Tina Berning, episode no.68
11. My art site / My art Instagram feed
12. Running Press {preorder the book today!}