Natalie Waddell

Natalie Waddell’s enthusiasm for clay is infectious. A ceramicist who makes tableware, such as bowls and plates, that are sold at the Gardiner Museum, she also teaches private classes in her studio at Akin Collective on King St. in Toronto, at Toronto Potter’s Studio and the Mississauga Potter’s Guild. “It’s really a rewarding activity for me. Spreading the joy of making in my favourite medium is just the best thing ever. I call it being a clay cheerleader because there is lot of encouragement that needs to happen … hopefully someone who is taking a class will have that little ember, spark.”

After graduating from Sheridan College’s ceramic craft and design program in 2003 she studied under leading ceramic artists including Robin Hopper and Susan Low-Beer. She has been a member of the Akin Collective, a Toronto-based arts organization, for the past six years and was a recipient of a Craft Ontario Award in 2018.

Waddell says she doesn’t work exclusively on the wheel, she splits her time between hand-built work, wheel work and slip casting. Hand-built work includes coils, pinching and slabs. Slip-cast work is a technique where an artist makes or uses a model of an object and then makes a mould. Liquid clay is then poured into the mould and is left until it’s leather-hard and then removed. Waddell uses a mixture of handmade plaster moulds and repurposed commercial moulds, such as vintage toys that she uses to create porcelain cars. She likes to experiment and her work has a nostalgic, playful feel.