The first few loads of finished pottery

The first pieces are always a delight but these even moreso. I had wanted to produce pottery and other art here for some twenty years and this was something never done before.

First Firings

The kiln went right into production after the approval in August of 08.

Kiln passes inspection

The Kiln was put up in only a few days built on a 2.5x.25inch welded angle iron steel frame. The interior was K26 insulating fire brick with two 1" layers of 1800º block insulation that comes in 1'x2'x1" pieces. The outer protection layer is .25" hardiebacker cement board. the stack is a combination of insulating and hard brick about 14" tall.  The above is the drying of the kiln bricks.

Kiln Construction

This propane kiln was designed in the 1970's and was altered only slightly to fire at this location using propane. The setup is unique in that I am on an island and have only small portable tanks to work with. So the set up is like that of a roofer 4 tanks strung together for each two burners wth 4 burners in total. The tanks a 20' apart and connected by high pressure hoses.

Now for the Kiln

The construction took one spring and summer. Then we could build the kiln which has been waiting 15 years under the beloved orange tarps.

The last of the roof

Adding the last part of the roof.

Nailing

The air nailer is a must have fro one handed nailing.

Up to the roof

Her we are roofing the studio. Sara was here for the week end working all the time. We got the roof on before rain.

Studio Construction

The Ayhus Arts Studio was constructed over three years as a summer worksite for Martin H. Place a painter, potter, jewelry maker and print maker. Martin is widely known as an art teacher of over thirty three years with experience in all levels of art education. Since his retirement from teaching he has been very prolific producing paintings and pottery of various kinds. This spring Ayus Arts hosted its first workshop a great group of students from Keith Lynn Alternate Secondary School worked on watercolors and raku pottery for four days. Excellent!!!

Ayhus Arts Location

Ayhus Arts is a small working studio at 1182 Tennyson Road on Savary Island a small Island in the Salish sea between the Georgia Straight and The Malaspina straight between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada.

The name Ayhus is the traditional native name for Savary Island used by the Sliammon Nation. It was chosen to honor these people who have a rich history here and have many artists in the west coast traditions. The name Ayhus means a double headed serpent and this image carries with it a great heritage which is used in the logo, chop and signage of the studio.

The studio is for creating of "Art" (a well made object). The definition of "Art" is from a friend and Master artist Bill Reid. This more open definition of art better represents the art made here. Pottery, Oil Painting, Watercolours, Jewelry and Printmaking to mention a few. The small facility also hosts workshops and events. some will be added to this site.