In 2019, Ellen van der Woude, a ceramic artist, received a De Mains De Maîtres fellowship.
In 2022, she went to the Maison des Métiers de Québec to further her training. (The residency was originally scheduled for 2019 but was postponed several times due to the health crisis.)
The MMAQ is a cultural organization dedicated to contemporary practices in the arts and crafts. Located in the heart of Quebec City, it features 25 studios for ceramics, textiles, and sculpture, spread across seven floors. Its mission includes training, research, and creation, as well as the development and promotion of the arts and crafts. The MMAQ promotes the development and dissemination of knowledge and offers, among other things, residencies dedicated to the arts and crafts.
Seeking to enrich and deepen her technical knowledge of ceramics, Ellen conducted research for four weeks:
- Compilation of glazes and study of the results obtained when firing at different temperatures and by modifying the percentages of raw materials.
- Adapting to a new type of clay whose plasticity, strength, firing shrinkage, etc., she was unfamiliar with.
- Research on the development of textured surfaces
- Connection to one of the MMAQ’s other disciplines: textiles.
Result: a ceramic and wool sculpture.
Bubbly by Ellen van der Woude