Spotlighting some of the talents of people who receive support services through the CLS, as well as some of the people who are employed by the CLS.
Isabelle Boley - Receives CLS support.
Amy Chan - Receives CLS support.
Darlene Jeff - Receives CLS support.
Jamie Lash - Receives CLS support.
Lisa Cameron - Employee with the CLS.
Mark Pacey - Receives CLS support.
Sheri-Lyn Seitz - Receives CLS support.
Tom Mackie - Receives CLS support.
Harry Mander - Receives CLS support.
Dan Tell - Receives CLS support.
Kathy Woods - Receives CLS support.
If you take the images of rock videos, Egyptology, motorcycles, Lord of the rings and chanel them through Picasso, you have Harry's world.
In both pottery and paintings, Harry's work is unique and expressive.
Harry has an infectous joy for creating, and the most difficult part of instructing him is convincing him that the class is over.
Mark likes working on the Potter's wheel and painting landscapes and Christmas cards. During the November 2006 Christmas craft fair, Mark's mom got to view all the wonderful work that Mark has done. Mark sold his paintings and two of his bowls at the fair and he said it made him feel very good.
Dan has been receiving residential support through the CLS for a long time, but his day program has been with the Burnaby Association. Last winder Dan moved from the Burnaby Assoc. day program to the CLS Burnaby Initiatives Centre.
It quickly became apparent that Dan had a natural ability and a passion for being creative. Dan started producing tiles with a unique incised design. When Marlee, a staff member from his old day program came to visit him she ordered tiles to incoporate in a landscaping project at her home.
Dan's tiles were not only used in Marlee's patio design but also in her patio furniture.
Dan also does pottery. 
Pottery works was orginally modelled on production pottery where many artists work on each piece, each artist contributing their special skill. In that spirit, it wouild be impossible to profile Isabelle without including Inthirani Arul, Isabelle's support worker.
They have been a team in the studio, always the first to arrive and anxious to start creating. Isabelle has learned to paint background washes and to glaze. Together Isabelle and Inthirani have developed a beautiful and unique design. Dee provides them with wheel-thrown pottery which they decorate in their distinctive floral style.
In April 2006 the CLS Admin. Office display case was filled with their work and every piece sold within two weeks. (Below: Inthirani with Isabelle)
The power of collaboration, that's Isabelle and Inthirani.
Jamie is a man of few words but with multiple talents. He is a painter and potter with his own unique sense of form and colour. In Burnaby Initiatives Centre studio, crammed with the works of many individuals, Jamie's work stands out.
At a Christmas party Jamie's sister, Susan, mentioned that her earliest memory of Jamie was of him drawing all day. A staff member at Jamie's home reported hearing noises from his room in the middle of the night. When they investigated, they found Jamie admiring a collecting of his own pottery. At the Initiative Centre, Jamie quietly slips into the studio to study his paintings.
Jamie is a man with the soul of an artist,
whose accomplishments continue to delight us all.
I have only been coming to Pottery for 3 months. I find when I am at Pottery I am able to express myself in a way that is hard to explain. I initially started going to Pottery Works to make gifts for my friends and family.
I really enjoy hand-building, glazing and all that pottery has to offer. I am really happy with the beautiful products I've made myself. I've even had people offer me money for the products I've made.
I am so happy that the CLS provides this servcie for us. I love pottery and the people there. Dee, the pottery instructor is wonderful.
Pottery rocks my world! ... Amy Chan
A sample of Amy's pottery.
Amy creates her own designs when hand-painting her pottery.
The mystery of Tom is how a man so small in stature has such a huge spirit. Tom fills a room and approaches life with passion. He brings to Pottery Works this passion and a focus that any artist would envy. With complete concentration Tom can produce three large pieces in a day.
No one is more proud of their work or more skilled at self promotion and sales than Tom. Once when Mr. Ted Wiens of the Royal Bank was visiting Pottery Works, Tom showed him a mask that he had made. When Mr. Wiens responded favourably Tom signed, "Give me money". Mr. Wiens did give us money - to buy a new kiln and Tom happily accepted the cheque from him.
Tom throwing on the wheel.
Sheri-Lyn was asked what pottery gives her, how it has changed her and how she feels about it. She answered with, "I think pottery gives me enjoyment and I feel better about myself becasue I'm good at it. When I'm doing it I'm in a different place."
Sheri-Lyn comes to Pottery works every Tuesday and makes what she calls her "experiments". On Thursdays, she is a teaching assistant and she teaches the other individuals to make her "experiments". Sheri-Lyn's confidence is obvious to all of us at Pottery Works.
During the past 5 years Darlene has become a major force at Pottery Works. There is such a contrast with the shy and unsure woman who did not want to get clay on her hands and the artist that Darlene has become.
Darlene is eager to learn every technique that clay has to offer. She hand-builds and throws on the wheel and she also attends our Tuesday pottery painting class where she has developed her own floral design.
For me, the most rewarding aspect of watching Darlene's development at Pottery Works is when she runs in the door full of energy and ideas. Darlene thinks about her work between classes and always comes in with something new to try.
When Darlene threw her first pot on the wheel, she started to cry and then so did the rest of us. All of the staff at Pottery Works are full of pride in Darlene's accomplishments.
Darlene's work has been sold at the Burnaby General Hospital, Granville Island and now at Divine Design on Robson Street in Vancouver.
Lisa is one of the many talented employees at the CLS. Lisa did a beautiful painting of an underwater scene on one of the bathroom walls for Allison, Fayanne and Shane at their home in Ladner.
Periodically throughout her life, Lisa has taken up watercolour painting, charcoal and sketching classes. At one time she was a member of the artist guild and has sold several of her works. She mostly draws and paints for her own pleasure and has recently become interested in mural and Trompe L'oeil painting.
One day when the setup for art class was taking too long, Kathy said that if she didn't get to paint soon she would cry. Kathy was born to paint and she is a most prolifc artist. She produces a steady stream of paintings, cards and pottery. Kathy has even drawn on her napkin during her lunch break.
Kathy paints hand thrown bowls, that are given to her, with festoons of flowers. They are always popular at our shows.
Kathy loves to take her work home with her.
One of Kathy's paintings
