Canadian Ceramics named Rosaline Delisle

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Canadian ceramics-Rosaline Delisle
Rosaline Delisle was born in Rimouski, Quebec to a family that valued the creativity. Her mother often worked on clay as a hobby while her father sculpted wood in his free time. In an interview she said that her earliest memories are filled with the rhythmic sound of her father chipping away wood with his chisel and the fine strips of wood that littered his working table. Initially, Delisle thought her future was in the sciences of physics and chemistry just like her elder brother who was grounded in the same. These plans however got shelved for eternity when she decided to enroll in the nearby Art school after paying them a visit.
Delisle’s entry into the world of Ceramics
The school’s name was the Institute of Applied Arts, Montreal. In this institution she studied from 1969 to 1973. Being based on the old-model of education, she was subjected to a strict academic schedule that demanded she study for 40 hours a week. In this system, she was exposed to the use of a variety of materials. After experience in the different techniques of creating art work, Rosaline Delisle opted to specialize in ceramics since this is where her passion lied. Initially she worked with coarse Stone ware but didn’t find fulfillment owing to the lack of smoothness and consistency of colors in the finished product. A major turning point was when a fellow ceramist who happened to be her friend introduced her to porcelain. The fine nature and consistency of this type of clay was exactly what she wanted in a raw material for throwing since it allowed her to push her creativity to the limits both structurally and aesthetically.
Apprenticeship and independence
After graduating, Delisle took up an apprenticeship under little-known ceramist Enid LeGros. This was in the Gaspe Peninsula. By now, Rosaline LeGros was in her early twenties and was working and living in relative isolation in a log cabin. Here she used to construct fine stripped porcelain bowls from which she made small margins by selling in Montreal. She however didn’t stay here for long owing to the loneliness and unbearable winters. By and by, her friends persuaded her to join them in their studio which was in the South. Here they used to make a living from the sale of finely stripped and banded pots which they sold in pairs (Frank Lloyd Gallery 4).
Life in the studio was not financially sustainable and she soon found herself in serious insolvency. Because of this she took a bold move by joining a group of male friends who had gone to seek employment in Alberta as Lumberjacks. While here, she didn’t let stereotypes about women put her down. She took on every challenge as it came and she was exceptionally skilled with the chainsaw despite having a petit frame herself. The ease with which she adjusted to the nature of this job can be owed to early experiences she had with her father while they built the family summer house. With the pay she got in Alberta, she managed to pay off the debts she had incurred and once again gained solvency.
Her first studio and Development of her unique style
In the following year, 1978, she moved to California where she set up her first ceramics studio to showcase her works. The location for her studio was in Venice. Here Rosaline Delisle quickly became known for hosting a number of small studio sales (Smith 24). It is during this period that she began to develop her signature ceramic pieces of art. Perhaps the independence and the change of environment promoted this. She began by experimenting through inverting her models and stacking them up together to see what the end result could be. The concept of banding colors on her ceramics stayed with her and she continued doing the same albeit in a more refined way. It should be noted that later in life, one of her goals was to create a large scale ceramic sculpture. She also used to experiment with more precarious bases that would support her artworks.
Challenges in coming up with the perfect design
The challenge with this was that the heavier the ceramics she made, the stronger the base that was required. How on earth was she supposed to come up with a structurally strong base that maintained unity with the design. It would have been bad if the bases she made were strong yet ruined the aesthetic value of her art works. Likewise it would also have been retrogressive if the bases maintained aesthetic integrity yet failed to hold the entire structure in place. Another challenge she faced was that of ensuring her uniquely shaped and decorated pots withstood the high temperatures that they were subjected to in the kilns. To overcome this, she added a small amount of gum to the pots while they were rotating at high speeds on the potter’s wheel. After firing them in the kiln, she polished the pots with turpentine and her main reason for doing this was the fact that this volatile chemical left a thin layer of wax on the surface of the pot leaving a smooth and shiny finish. Since she added molten beeswax to the turpentine, the final process she achieved a protective film which also helped to protect her pots from the elements. She often claimed that this tenacity she had gotten from her experiences in the unbearable winters of Quebec (Smith 23).
Transition from porcelain to earthenware
Despite these efforts, she still at times had to endure the deformities to the porcelain that resulted from the heat being too much. When the losses due to the brittle nature of porcelain became too much for her to bear, she decided to change to earthenware as her material of choice. This marked another milestone in her artistic life. The versatility of this new found material, clay opened up new horizons for Delisle. From this point onwards, the ceramist with her fell in love with clay. A fellow ceramist, Peter Volukos also shared in these feelings regarding the choice of clay as a preferred raw material for pottery (Frank Lloyd Gallery 3).
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