With all the millions of glazes out there, it’s the natural, earthy finishes that I am most drawn to. Sand, bone, granite, terracotta. Micah Blyckert’s ceramic vessels are inspired by California’s desert palette. His forms are classic, and his surfaces have a warm, earthy texture. It’s Blyckert’s lamps that I adore, two-toned, and mushroom like in appearance, with hints of brass for the mechanics. His pieces are all wheel thrown in his L.A. studio.

It’s amazing to me, that over a few short weeks, our city has turned from grey to green. “Where the grey light meets the green air.” What a difference it makes to look out and up and see a canopy of emeralds, sages, olives and mints. The huge Oak tree in my neighbour’s garden turned green overnight –– a shining emblem of what can be achieved in a day.

There is a wisp, often much more than a wisp, of everyone we know in us all. The sour faced neighbour who sweeps her porch six times a day, the fastidious co-worker who corrects everyone’s grammar, the flamboyantly theatrical uncle, the self-absorbed brother-in-law, the critic, the complainer, the over-achiever. If you dive deep enough, they’re all swimming in our waters. We’re drawn to people who are like us, share our values, beliefs and experiences because there’s comfort in the familiar. Our choices are validated when we see them mirrored in others. We’re also drawn to our opposites –– the yin to our yang –– because in them we find parts of ourselves that we rarely connect with. The safety girl loves a daredevil. Even people we think we don’t like, whose values and standards contradict our own, speak volumes about what lies beneath the water’s surface. In them, we find ways of being that we don’t allow in ourselves, character traits that we’ve all together squashed. A messy eater is the bête noire of a prissy one. But does some part of the latter wish she could devour a sloppy joe in one bite? We are multitudes, all of us. Arrogant and humble. Effusive and measured. Kind and callus. Sophisticated and base. Human.

“I consider it my life’s mission to convey the urgency of climate change through my work,” says artist, Zaria Foreman. Foreman travels to remote regions of the world –– Antartica, Nasara and  Svalbard –– to collect images and inspiration for her large scale pastel drawings. “My drawings explore moments of transition, turbulence and tranquility in the landscape allowing viewers to emotionally connect with a place that they may never have the chance to visit. I choose to convey the beauty as oppose to the devastation. If you can experience the sublimity of these landscape perhaps you’ll be inspired to protect and preserve them.” Art communicates in a way that statistics cannot. “My drawings celebrate the beauty of what we all stand to lose.”

In this lovely short film, we watch Annemarie O’Sullivan cut down rods of willow and turn them into baskets. O’Sullivan pays homage to her craft’s roots by infusing ancient techniques into contemporary designs. “When I made a willow basket –– that very first evening –– I went to bed and was dreaming of the willow, moving in arches and tight turns. It reminded me of how I feel when I swim, which is the same kind of movement. It’s a really lovely fluid feeling, one I experience deep in my body.” O’Sullivan’s studio is in the South East of England where she grows and harvests local materials to make pieces ranging from functional bowls and linen baskets to large scale woven sculptures. “Our work is shaped by a strong design sensibility and a desire to live lightly on the land.”