Ten years ago, Lori and Paul Elphick discovered pottery. Today, their craft has grown into an annual tour of Campbell River artists and artisans.
On a dark and stormy night about ten years ago, we were looking for an activity to keep us busy through the rainy months. We signed up for six evening classes with Laura Gosnell from Trembling Aspen Pottery, and enjoyed it so much that we ended up signing up for six more. We had found a new creative hobby!
We went all in and bought some equipment and a kiln—even then, we sensed pottery was to become a long-term passion and Shelter Bay Designs was formed. We chose a modern kiln with a computerized controller, which means we can basically “press it and forget it” when firing pottery.
Creating hand-built pottery and unique designs
All of our products are hand-built without the use of a wheel. We frequently use a slab roller to create thin, even sheets of clay, and then build from there.
Paul enjoys making functional pieces, especially West Coast-inspired mugs. He has designed and carved many of the stamps that he uses to decorate them. Interestingly, his wooden stamps are created out of a piece of teak that he found on a local beach.
Lori creates diverse shapes, including porcelain jewellery, ornaments, and figurines. Many of them are small, cute characters that spark a smile and tug at people’s heartstrings. We love to hear customers exclaim, “Awwwwww!” People seem to be drawn to miniature houses, animals, pumpkins, ghosts, and owls on driftwood branches.
Lori has some stock in stores across Vancouver Island, and we participate in a few outdoor markets each year where we enjoy chatting with people and visiting with repeat customers. Rather than travelling and setting up at multi-day Christmas markets, we love to display our products at home.
“We call this event the Campbell River Craft Crawl, and all of the products are handmade in town.”
Creating a community craft crawl
Two years ago, this evolved into us inviting other artisans in the south end of Campbell River to set up in their homes and join the event at no charge. We decided to promote local talent and provide more variety for our patrons with lots of unique products. Adding more vendors has allowed for an increase in word-of-mouth advertising that supports local makers, too.
We call this event the Campbell River Craft Crawl, and all of the products are handmade in town. We have found lots of amazing talent, including bakers, painters, glass artists, potters, woodworkers, candle makers, and soap and lotion makers. Customers enjoy meeting the vendors in person and directly learning about their products and art practice.
The Campbell River Craft Crawl has a Facebook page where we showcase photos of individual pieces from October until the event at the beginning of December. The Crawl provides a digital map of the various locations, and we invite you to join us on a fun, self-driven tour from Willow Point to Oyster River.
Our creative pursuits keep life interesting. Dark and stormy nights can eventually lead to sunny, rewarding pastimes!
