“The work that I make is a reflection of my interest in the lives and natural beauty of animals, both domesticated and wild. Living in the countryside amongst both farm and woodland, the lives and stories of the animals and birds are always on the edge of ones’ seeing.
The raven croaking, deer on the edge of the forest and snowshoe hares hiding in the hedgerows. Living closer to us are our domesticated and familiar friends: the donkey and goats, the fox and the hounds.
My rendering of these reflect a historical reference to nineteenth century children’s book illustrations, as well as medieval manuscript illuminations, through the body and rendering of fur, hair and feathered surfaces of the Beings.
They are in static poses like in the medieval book of hours paintings, suggesting that each be considered, or remembered, as a representation of an animal in a folktale for the viewer to recall a narrative and enactment of a loved story, or as part of an allegory.
Ultimately, I would like the viewer to be reminded of a story that they recall with fondness, a happiness and a love of the narrative that the animal represents for them”. -M. Philpott
Mary Philpott is a full-time craft artist whose practice encompasses both sculptural ceramics and bespoke tile design. She is a graduate of the School of Craft and Design, Sheridan College (Ceramics) the University of Guelph (Art History, Medieval Studies) and McMaster University (Archeology, Anthropology).
Mary has worked as an artist in residence at Harbourfront Studios (Toronto) and Air Vallauris (France). Her sculptures and tile work have been exhibited, collected and published internationally, and are in many private and public art collections. She lives and maintains her studio practice in the Uxbridge, Ontario countryside.
To view Mary’s ceramic tiles, click here.
Items for Sale
Mary creates bespoke tiles in a traditional tile-making method. They are all hand-drawn, carved and pressed with unique imagery and subject matter, then multiple fired with layers of transparent glazes.
“My ceramic work is inspired by the landscape, flora, fauna and colours of Provence and the aesthetics of William Morris and the English Arts & Crafts Movement.
The tangling of vines on an oak tree, the stems and leaves in a flower bed, the deer that quietly grazes before a sudden noise makes it leap away for cover, the fox that sits quietly amid the flora admiring a hare that instinct urges him to hunt; these things in nature inspire the carvings on my tile work and vessels. The clay becomes a canvas for an imagined world, with jewel-like deep glazes suggesting a moment frozen in time, as if from a children’s storybook from a century ago.
Those who inspire my sensibilities include William Morris, William Blake, Arthur Rackham, Botticelli, and all those masters of the Books of Hours from the Medieval ages, as well as the stained glass artists, sculptors and Cathedral builders in Medieval France.” -M.Philpott
PLEASE NOTE: Mary Philpott has ceased production of her hand-made tiles.
General Fine Craft 