His admiration for its versatility as a material of “infinite possibilities” comes from years of studying the material and working with it.
The 41-year-old father of two received his doctorate in ceramics studio research from the Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria and has been teaching and practising ceramics since 2011.
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Artist Toluwalope Toludare explains that he designed his work Dudu Oson with African fabrics in mind, to showcase the colorful nature of African culture.
He is currently the resident artist at the Edge Gallery where he spends his days either making art on his potter’s wheel or mentoring other artists and members of the gallery.
“My interests have always been in the arts,” he says. “For me, coming from a science background I can see that ceramics can be applied in all phases of life, in science, in art, in engineering, in the medical field.
“But ceramics was born from art; it was literally from making aesthetics that we discovered what ceramics can do. This is the most fascinating part for me.”
Toludare creates daily and has made so many pieces he’s trying to reduce his output as he no longer has the space to store his work.
“I create every day of the week,” he says. “As soon as I have anything in my mind, I pick up my clay and bring it to life. People know me to make big work, that is almost like my trademark. I usually make three-foot-tall sized big pots, but I can make things in all sizes. I can make the smallest thing you can imagine.”
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Dudu Osun, the title of Toludare’s work, translates to Black and Shine.
His day usually begins at 9 a.m. when he enters his studio. He starts wedging his clay on the wedging table, preferring to work with a certain type of clay. Currently it’s the M340 from Plainsman Clays.
“For me, the most challenging part of creating a sculpture is the type of clay used. There are different types of clay out there with different qualities and properties. To make a large piece on the wheel your clay must be able to withstand the pressure and the weight of upcoming clay. Temperature also affects the clay — another reason a potter must understand the qualities of his clay before use.”
One of the pieces Toludare is currently working on is a project with the Ethnocultural Council of Manitoba. He describes his creations as “African-Asian”, striving to make his work look aesthetically balanced between that of African and Asian masterpieces.
He takes his inspiration from many sources, confidently converting abstract ideas to tangible works of art with his mastery of clay. Concepts are sketched out before the drawing is transformed into reality.
Whilst Toludare loves turning the big pots he is known for, he would like to reconnect with his technical ceramics research and hopes to begin work on a line of commercially available ceramic glazes, an extension of his science background.
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‘It’s always so much fun to celebrate the work of our members and see the incredible work coming out of their studios,’ says Manitoba Craft Council program and outreach co-ordinator Katrina Craig.
While his work can be found at potterybytolu.com and on Instagram @potterybytolu, he is currently part of Craft in Colour, the Manitoba Craft Council (MCC) bienniel showcase, which includes art by 70 MCC members.
His featured piece is called Dudu Osun, a terracotta vessel designed with African fabrics to showcase the colourful nature of African culture.
“As a community arts organization, it’s always so much fun to celebrate the work of our members and see the incredible work coming out of their studios. Everyone has one work on display which was made in the last three years,” says Katrina Craig, MCC program and outreach co-ordinator.
“There is a huge variety of works on display in a variety of craft mediums. You can find work made with textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, metal, and glass. There is a mix of more traditional and contemporary craft works on display from artists of all backgrounds,” she continues.
The MCC Craft in Colour show runs until Thursday, Feb. 23 at the C2 Centre for Craft at 1-329 Cumberland Ave.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
