AX Ceramics
Conference
Surface Matters
Work by Matt Cripps
Surface Matters is an invitation to linger at the edge of material—where clay stops being form and becomes language. Here, surface is not finish but beginning: a place where fire, hand, air, and time leave their traces. Glaze blooms, breaks, and crawls; textures gather like memory; colour settles like weather across skin.
Across these conversations, artists explore surface as terrain—layered, unstable, alive. Each mark holds evidence of process, place, and intuition, revealing how matter can speak when pushed, coaxed, or allowed to unravel. In this gathering, surface is everything: the record of making, and the space where meaning quietly emerges.
In 2021, AX conducted a survey of potters, ceramists, and other industry professionals in the Atlantic provinces. The results were clear: a need for a tighter, stronger ceramics community. In response, AX is offering the only ceramics conference in Atlantic Canada.
Join us October 1–4, 2026, for the third biennial AX Atlantic Ceramics Conference: Surface Matters. Over four days, the conversation unfolds through the work and ideas of Alex Bevan-Baker, Joan Bruneau, Chris Colwell, Matthew Cripps, Darren Emenau, Jamie Germaine, Maria Guevara, Linda Homenick, and Tim Isaac—each offering a distinct approach to clay, process, and surface.
Your registration includes a welcome kit and access to a full program of talks, discussions, presentations, playful exchanges, networking opportunities, a live music concert featuring Montreal-based Pastel Blank, and a studio tour with Linda Homenick. Light breakfast and lunch are provided on Saturday and Sunday, offering space to gather, pause, and continue the conversations beyond the stage. Optional experiences extend the weekend further: a raku firing workshop with Tim Isaac, and a bus tour through the studios of ceramic artists across Saint John, the Kennebecasis Valley, and the Kingston Peninsula—both available at an additional cost.
Schedule of Events
Thursday, October 1
**Optional**
The Mud Run
9:00am – 5:00pm
Meeting at AX at 8:45am. (12 Maple Ave., Sussex, NB)
Studio Tours and a scenic bus route along Kingston Peninsula, Saint John and Kennebecasis Valley:
- Crimmins Pottery
- Danika Vautour
- MNO Clay by Darren Emenau
- Powning Designs by Peter Powning
Lunch on the beautiful Kingston Peninsula (Not provided, but a reservation has been made at Yip Cider)
Friday,
October 2
10:00 am – 2:00 pm AX Gallery (12 Maple Ave., Sussex, NB)
- Registration opens
- Participating ceramists are asked to bring a handmade mug for a “mug swap” which will be happening before Friday night’s panel discussion. Mugs will be used throughout the conference in lieu of disposable cups
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm AX Parking lot (12 Maple Ave., Sussex, NB)
**Optional Raku workshop with Tim Isaac
Dinner on your own
Evening Activities – Leonard’s Gate (602 Main St., Sussex, NB) Outdoor venue – dress accordingly!
6:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Mug Swap
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Panel Discussion: Masters of the Mud featuring Chris Colwell, Linda Homenick and Tim Isaac, moderated by Matt Cripps.
8:00 pm – 8:45 pm
Ceramics trivia
8:45 pm – 10:00 pm
Social time at Sussex Ale Works
Saturday, October 3
Surface Matters Conference Talks – Sussex Golf & Curling Club (148 Picadilly Road, Picadilly, NB)
8:00 am – 9:00 am
Yoga for Ceramists (optional)
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Continental Breakfast
10:00 am – 10:30 am
Designed to Detach: The Aesthetics of Crawling Glazes with Matt Cripps (NB)
10:30 am – 11:15 am
Panel Discussion: Inspired Surfaces: Atlantic Perspectives featuring Alex Bevan-Baker (PEI), Joan Bruneau (NS), and Maria Guevara (NB) moderated by Jen Pilon (NB)
11:15 am – 12:00 pm
Drawing with Smoke with Jamie Germaine (PEI)
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Lunch supplied by Knocks Cafe
1:00 pm – 1:45 pm
Monofilament & Clay: Expanding the Ceramic Skin with Darren Emenau (NB)
1:45 pm – 2:00 pm
Break
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Activity
3:00 pm – 3:45 pm
The Language of Texture with Heather Waugh Pitts (NS)
3:45 – 5:00pm
Connections Hub – Discover resources, build connections, and explore opportunities for your creative practice.
Dinner on your own
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Leonard’s Gate (602 Main St., Sussex, NB)
The Surface Social: An Oktoberfest Celebration in partnership with Sussex Ale Works outdoor event with performance from Montreal-based, Pastel Blank.
Sunday,
October 4
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Continental breakfast
10:00 am – 11:45 am
Ceramics fun! Group handbuilding competition
11:45 am – 12:00 pm
Closing Remarks
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Lunch (provided)
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Optional visit/studio tour of Linda Homenicks Studio
Guest Speakers
Chris Colwell
Panel Discussion: Masters of the Mud – Saturday, October 3 | 10am
Potter and teacher, Chris Colwell came to clay in mid-life, graduating with honours in Ceramics from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in 1995. He owned and operated Colwell Pottery for eleven years, producing a well-received line of functional and decorative items. During this time Chris supplemented his income by teaching ceramics privately at his studio and for credit at the University of Maine in Presque Isle.
Circumstances forced the closure of his business, and Chris sought other work. He landed back at the College, working first as ceramics studio technician and teaching non-credit night and summer courses. Eventually Chris was given the opportunity to teach in the Ceramics program and is now a full-time instructor there. Chris still loves to make pots, but in a more experimental fashion.
Linda Homenick
Panel Discussion: Masters of the Mud – Saturday, October 3 | 10am
Many years ago, I was gifted a perfectly handcrafted pottery mug that stirred my interest in ceramics. That interest has stayed with me, and now, I make functional pottery in my studio” Pottery on the Pond”, located just a few minutes drive from the heart of downtown Sussex. My formal training consists of a ceramics major, in the Fine Arts program, at the University of Saskatchewan, many courses at the NBCCD, numerous workshops and online study. Finally, after many years of research and observation, I realize, how much there is to learn about clay and it’s endless possibilities, and how very little I know.
Tim Isaac
Panel Discussion: Masters of the Mud – Saturday, October 3 | 10am
Making pottery and raku firing have been the core of my life for almost 40 years. While I got my start in Winnipeg and had studios in Ontario for 6 years, it’s in rural New Brunswick I chose to root myself in 1992.
There’s no shortage of inspiration and freedom to live a creative life living on the Bay of Fundy! My artistic career in both clay and music has thrived here. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to flow easily between producing functional pottery, making raku wares and sculptural art and commissions, and most recently opening my studio for raku, pottery wheel, and mosaic
workshops. I also welcome student and fellow ceramicists to fire and collaborate with me
regularly.
New doors continue to open. These include creating large community mosaics with many
‘helping hands’ and taking both the pottery and mosaic experience to school classrooms and special events.
My studio space and practice is entwined with my home and yard. I’ve cobbled together a
place that functions well for me and is comfortable to visit. Nothing fancy, but a labyrinth of quirky rooms and sheds used for different steps of my creative process and storing my ‘aspirational clutter’. It’s the right place for me as I strive to lead an authentic and creative life.
Matthew Cripps
Panel Discussion: Masters of the Mud (Moderator) – Saturday, October 3 | 10am
Designed to Detach: The Aesthetics of Crawling Glazes – Saturday, October 3 | 10am
Matt Cripps is the owner and maker behind Cripps Pottery. He holds a BA in Fine Arts from St. Thomas University, a two-year diploma in Fine Craft: Ceramics from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design (NBCCD), and a Certificate in Advanced Studio Practice from NBCCD.
Matt has worked as a gallery assistant at Gallery 78 in Fredericton, as the Ceramics Centre Coordinator at AX: The Arts and Culture Centre of Sussex, and served as Board President of CraftNB. His practice has been shaped through artist residencies, internships, mentorships, and exhibitions, alongside years of hands-on studio experience.
He currently works as a technician in the ceramics studio at NBCCD, and continues to create both functional and sculptural ceramic work. The defining features of his pieces are tactile surfaces, in particular crawling glazes, and organic forms, reflecting his interest in materiality, texture, and the unpredictable beauty of high-fire ceramics.
Alex Bevan-Baker
Panel Discussion: Inspired Surfaces: Atlantic Perspectives – Saturday, October 3 | 10:30am
Alex Bevan-Baker is a potter and instructor based in Prince Edward Island, Epekwitk. He specializes in crystalline ceramics, a unique & demanding process that produces snowflake or flower like crystals in the glaze.
Alex has been working with clay for over a decade. He was a long-term member of the P.E.I. Potters Studio, a graduate of the ceramics program at Haliburton School of Art and Design, and currently teaches at Alley Street Clay Club. His work has been featured in magazines, fine dining restaurants, and local art exhibits.
He will now be selling his work in person at his studio in Bonshaw, online with newly released work, and across the province in various fine craft stores. You can also find him at local markets & fairs during the Holiday season.
Every piece is made in small batches in his wee studio — thrown, trimmed, glazed, and fired by hand. It is a labour of love, and one that can still surprise you when the kiln lid is propped open. Due to the random location of the crystal growth, each piece is truly one of a kind.
Joan Bruneau
Panel Discussion: Inspired Surfaces: Atlantic Perspectives – Saturday, October 3 | 10:30am
Joan Bruneau is a studio potter and educator based near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She owned and operated studio/storefront, Nova Terra Cotta Pottery in Lunenburg from 1995-2022 and was a Regular Part-Time Ceramics Faculty at NSCAD University from 1995 – 2019. She’s an instructor at the Lunenburg School of the Arts and teaches workshops across Canada and beyond, from Fogo Island to the Distance Ceramics Diploma Programs at the Australia National University and the Glasgow School of Art.
Her love of travel and food sparked her desire to become a studio potter, when she discovered the cuisines and pottery traditions of Europe on a hitch hiking adventure in the early 1980s. Bruneau completed a BFA at NSCAD University (1988) and MFA at the University of Minnesota (1993). She was Assistant Professor at Emily Carr Institute of Art from 1998-2002. Joan was Demonstrating Artist at NCECA in Pittsburgh,2018. Her work is featured in Ceramics Monthly (2014) and Ben Carter’s books, Low-Fire Glazes for Potters and Sculptors (2024) Mastering The Potter’s Wheel (2016).
Maria Guevara
Panel Discussion: Inspired Surfaces: Atlantic Perspectives – Saturday, October 3 | 10:30am
Based in New Maryland, NB, Maria Guevara is a ceramic artist who draws inspiration from her Mexican heritage, her academic background in conservation and archaeology, and the local landscapes. She particularly enjoys the creative process of depicting animals from the region and cityscapes. After graduating with a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Ceramics from NBCCD in 2013, she has focused on decorative ceramic techniques, particularly Sgraffito and Mishima in porcelain. She employs both wheel throwing and slab work to create her forms, which are then decorated with intricate carvings and vibrant engobes, slips, and glazes.
Jen Pilon
Panel Discussion: Inspired Surfaces: Atlantic Perspectives (Moderator) – Saturday, October 3 | 10:30am
Jen Pilon is a ceramic artist and educator based in Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. Through the combination of wheel-thrown forms and tactile carvings, Jen expresses her reverence for ecology. In addition to her sculptural practice, Pilon maintains a production line of functional ceramics and is committed to expanding access to the medium through community-based education. Jen is an active advocate for craft in Canada, currently serving on the Board of Directors for both Craft New Brunswick and the Canadian Craft Federation.
Jamie Germaine
Drawing with Smoke – Saturday, October 3 | 11:15am
Working in a studio next to her rural home on Prince Edward Island, Canada, Jamie Germaine produces both wheel thrown and hand built pieces with distinctive texturing that has become characteristic of her work. Her surrounding environment of woodland and sea is reflected in the organic nature of the surfaces she creates on clay. A workshop in Italy in 2003 introduced her to the primitive technique of smoke firing.
Since that time she has been exploring the many facets of this alternative firing method.
Primarily self taught, Germaine has attended workshops and courses in New York, Vermont, Newfoundland, Mexico, Italy and Spain. On Prince Edward Island her work has been exhibited at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Eptek Centre, the Arts Guild and the PEI Art Bank. Currently her work is shown at Details Fine Art Gallery and The Dunes, PEI.
Darren Emenau
Monofilament & Clay: Expanding the Ceramic Skin – Saturday, October 3 | 1pm
Darren Emenau is at home in the country and the city, settings he draws on for raw material and inspiration. Working under the phonetic tag MNO, his ceramics reflect the natural and industrial landscapes of his New Brunswick home. MNO experiments with clay and glaze, a magic union of science and art, to create the uncanny textures, vivid colours and signature forms that are his trademark.
Each MNO artwork is imbued with the energy of its sources and the vision of its creator. Material, form and finish are in harmony in these deeply integrated artifacts. Simultaneously contemporary and ageless, MNO works are conduits between people and landscapes.
Heather Waugh Pitts
The Language of Texture – Saturday, October 3 | 3pm
Heather Waugh Pitts is an internationally exhibited ceramicist who grew up in a small village along Nova Scotia’s sea coast. Surrounded by industrial lands that her family worked at for generations, intently shaped Heather’s work into existence and carrying a unique palette, inspired by natural materials and surfaces foraged around her community.
Heather’s sensitive designs express the delicate yet raw features of a world full of meaning, intention and emotion.
Work created by Heather is available through four fine art galleries throughout Canada that represent her work.
Heather has also created ceramic art installations for clients through Interior Designers, has designed one of a kind collections for Elte TO, sold work to Roman and Williams NY, designed porcelain wares for award winning chefs and restaurants such as Mystic Halifax. Created / designed table settings for well known food writers (L. Waverman) Her work is featured in Ceramics Now, an award winners cookbook Rising Tide, tabletop book Where She Creates, as well as magazine features. Lifestyle shops in Vancouver ( The Stylewell),Rye Home Sante Cruz California, Conifer Lunenburg NS. Collectors in Europe, Canada, US and Asia have collected her Ceramics.
Based in Nova Scotia, Pitts, a self taught artist in ceramics, holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology. This led to several studies on inter and trans disciplinary relationships between humans in their natural, social and built relationships.
Rusting tanks, gravel pits, forests, shed antlers, bogs, dried botanicals, driftwood, black slate sea walls, graffiti and bleached bones inform the porcelain vessels she hand builds in her home studio. Though singularly beautiful and tangible, her ceramic works express a myriad of emotions regarding humanity and nature in each curve, hand formed landscape and surface texture in her pieces.
As principal owner and designer of a successful interior design firm, (1999 – 2025) Heather has worked on several projects in various mediums. Residential/ Commercial design (dental clinic (Annapolis Valley) museum (Fredericton), restaurants,(DaMaurizio) Installing murals (Fox Harbour Resort) Cathedrals (St. John). Installing Venetian plaster and Frescoes in private residences, oil paintings that were accepted and sold in juried exhibitions, painted furniture / cabinetry finishes, faux finishes for clients to name a few.
Taking some ceramic classes at her local Findlay community centre, off and on over a few years, Heather found working with clay to be very therapeutic, a medium she loved. Then Covid happened, shutdowns occurred. It was the perfect time for her to pivot and explore porcelain clay, a medium she had come to love.
Having a custom kiln built in Toronto and shipped along with 300 pounds of clay, necessary raw materials for glazes, other equipment needed was the first step. Heather and her husband Tom, gutted the basement and built her own home studio, in a warren of previous coal and furnace rooms in her 1916 home, in 2019.
Two full years were spent experimenting, figuring out firing temperatures, glazes and honing skills intensively during Covid, incorporating all her previous art mediums and life experiences into a ceramic language that best expresses her voice.
The Mud Run
Studio Bus Tour
Crimmins Pottery
Here at Crimmins Pottery we are celebrating our 56th year in business. We are a second-generation family business and have long been a part of the New Brunswick craft community. Allan and Sarah began producing quality handmade pottery in 1970, laying the foundation for quality craftsmanship that continues today. Their daughter Elizabeth joined the business in 1995 and now runs the studio alongside her husband John.
“Much of how and where we live is captured in our work; our life is constantly changing and being influenced by the work we do”. Our studio is situated along the St. John River at Shampers Bluff, just 35km from Saint John, New Brunswick. Visitors are always welcome to watch work in progress and browse through the shop, which is filled with creative, one-of-a-kind pieces, suitable for any setting.
MNO
Clay
Darren Emenau is at home in the country and the city, settings he draws on for raw material and inspiration. Working under the phonetic tag MNO, his ceramics reflect the natural and industrial landscapes of his New Brunswick home. MNO experiments with clay and glaze, a magic union of science and art, to create the uncanny textures, vivid colours and signature forms that are his trademark.
Each MNO artwork is imbued with the energy of its sources and the vision of its creator. Material, form and finish are in harmony in these deeply integrated artifacts. Simultaneously contemporary and ageless, MNO works are conduits between people and landscapes.
Danika
Vautour
Danika Vautour is an Acadian multidisciplinary artist working predominantly in ceramics since 2015.
While her journey may have started in visual arts, she has always had a deep appreciation for interior decor and the way art shapes the spaces around it. Naturally, this passion has woven its way into her work, guiding her toward curating projects that hold creativity and interiors at their core.
Over the years, she has had the privilege of participating in numerous exhibitions and collaborations both nationally and internationally and has been graciously recognised by her peers through various accolades. For a brief period of time, she lived in England where she immersed herself in the local ceramics community, which served as a source of inspiration and a platform for her to refine and teach her craft.
Since returning to New Brunswick, she has continued to establish herself as a full-time artist while remaining actively involved in the local arts community and expanding her curatorial practice. Through her work, she aims to foster artistic growth and community engagement across the province.
Her work often explores abstracted ideas that highlight the simple yet beautiful characteristics found in nature that are often overlooked. By incorporating these elements into her work, she hopes to bring that sense of calmness into the spaces they inhabit.
In a world with many distractions, her practice has long been rooted in nature, minimalism, and a life lived by the sea. A recent journey to the Arctic among a group of artists has deepened her approach, inspiring her to move beyond foraging. She now strives to work exclusively with natural materials that, over time, will return to the earth, embodying a full-circle approach to her creative process. This intention has become a guiding principle in her work and a constant reminder that every decision made today leaves a mark on tomorrow.
When she’s not in the midst of curating projects, she can be found exploring creatively and developing her portfolio.
Peter
Powning
Peter has been active in arts and culture organizations for more than forty years. His work has been exhibited on six continents and he has an active studio practice producing public art commissions and gallery exhibitions. Peter is a founding director of AX, was on the founding board and vice president of ArtsLink (Arts Association of New Brunswick) from 2008 – 2012, on the Advisory Council of the NB College of Craft and Design from 2011 – 2015, as well as the New Brunswick Arts Board as vice-chair 1990 – 1991 and the Premier’s Advisory Committee for the Arts, 1987 – 88.
Peter is the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for High Achievement in the Arts, in 2017, the 2006 Bronfman Governor General’s Award, and an honorary doctorate from UNB in 2014.
Raku Workshop with Tim Isaac
Experience the excitement and unpredictability of raku firing in this hands-on workshop led by ceramic artist Tim Isaac. Combining demonstration with participant firing, this session offers an introduction to one of ceramics’ most dynamic firing techniques.
Participants will glaze a bisque-fired piece before watching it transform through the raku process. Each firing takes approximately 50 minutes, followed by a dramatic reduction in straw that creates the distinctive crackles, smoky patterns, and rich surface effects unique to raku. As the pieces cool, participants will uncover the one-of-a-kind results shaped by fire, smoke, and chance.
Due to the nature of the firing and kiln capacity, space is limited to approximately 30 participants, with one coffee mug-sized piece per person. Participants are encouraged to bring their own bisque-fired piece, or purchase a piece to glaze from Tim for an additional $20 each.
Whether you’re new to raku or looking to experience the thrill of atmospheric firing, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to explore one of ceramics’ most exciting surface techniques.
The weekend is all about fostering community, with opportunities for networking, professional development, and making connections with other artists in the field of ceramics. We look forward to hosting you for the AX Ceramics Conference: Surface Matters, October 1-4, 2026.
Contact Emily at marketing@axartscentre.ca if you have any questions, or call (506) 433-8351.