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Lori Elling

Ceramics from Burnaby

My work remains driven by functionality, and the desire to connect through delight and the loveof colour.

Lori Elling

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Since the early 1980s as a child on the Canadian prairies, I’ve been making with various media, from wood and fabric to paper and clay. In the spring of 2021, I reconnected with clay through a wheel throwing class and have been making primarily in porcelain since then, exploring forms through handbuilding methods, and various techniques for surface design. While I love to create functional beauty in many areas, my heart’s content is to explore different functional forms related to food – for use in kitchens and at the table. 
While my approach to clay is primarily as a canvas, I always strive to harmonize my surface designs with user-friendly and sometimes multi-functional forms. My work is largely slab built, with a strong focus on surface embellishments – vivid underglazes and textures imprinted on, added to, and carved into theclay. I use negative space as an active design element to provide a kind of structure for the colour compositions to play in, and off of.

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Supporting Artists, Supporting Community

Circle Craft is more than a gallery or a shop. We're a co-operative, owned and run by the artists who make up our membership. That means when you buy from Circle Craft, your purchase goes directly back to the maker behind the work. No middlemen. No corporate margin. Just a community of over 140 B.C. artists building something together, and a place where craft, creativity, and livelihood are all the same thing.

Made in British Columbia, Canada

Circle Craft is rooted in B.C., where 140 artists across the province draw inspiration from some of the most extraordinary landscapes on earth. From the rugged coastline to old-growth forests to the high desert of the interior, our makers are shaped by the place they call home. That connection to this land isn't just inspiration. It shows up in every piece, every medium, and every collection we carry.