Interview with Derryl May

 Could you tell me a little bit about your artistic background?

Growing up I loved art, like most kids do. I did a lot of drawing and I didn’t do much with sculpting until I got to the university level. I was taking art classes through Brandon University and really enjoying them. Lin Xu had a clay class that I took, and I absolutely loved it, it just went from there for me. I was a Geography major at the time and then switched to Fine Arts, majoring in ceramic arts.   

What made you want to make a mug a day?

It was around Christmas time, I was feeling super creative and I had a bunch of ideas for cups on the back burner. I don’t know why I gravitated towards cups, maybe because I was also making them to sell, and it was easy enough to approach the vessel differently every time. I had a few ideas I had sketched out but I was feeling like I didn’t have enough time, and then recognised that I wasn’t taking the time. Leading up to that I was trying to jump into big projects. I love working on a larger scale, but what was happening was that I would spend a few days on a project, and it would be coming along really well, but then life would distract me and I wouldn’t get back to it. By the time I did, the piece would have tried out or start giving me other issues. Doing a mug a day helped me to develop a better studio practice, where I was going into the studio every day. That was the game plan, and doing a piece start to finish also helped me speed up my practice since larger projects can kind of drag on and on.

Are there any challenges you faced, either expected or unexpected, during this process?

Through the process of making the cups I would say no, everything went well. It wasn’t until preparing for the show that I ran into challenges, when I was trying to complete a lot of the works. That’s when my kiln decided to fail, just a couple weeks before I was supposed to be delivering my work for the exhibition. That was unexpected and you’re scrambling trying to troubleshoot and figure out what’s going on, so that’s never fun, the stress of it all.

I dig my own clay sometimes – I call it Manitoba Clay, but I just dig it up close to the riverbed –it’s beautiful stuff but if you don’t sieve it properly it ends up with little impurities, and so on some of the finished works there were imperfections that I wasn’t happy with. Some pieces I wasn’t able to exhibit for that reason, little blow outs and things like that, that I think I could control by refining the clay a little differently in the future.

There’s also a piece in the show called Catastrophe that was kind of an unexpected happening. I had a completely different idea in mind for four camping style mugs, but my cats decided to knock them off the piano when I was in the middle of them. I don’t like throwing things away, I like to try to recreate. So I decided to take some slip, glue them back together and see if I could make them into something. I’m not saying it’s the best piece in the world, but it was fun. It inspired a thought and a reaction, and I think that’s what I like about the piece, it was unexpected and you’re trying to make the most of the situation.

There is quite a range of mugs on display, would you go through phases of different types or would you be looking to do something different every day?

From one day to the next it was always completely different. It was a very reflective process for me over the three months, I wouldn’t hit the studio until the evening and so it gave me the day to consider ideas. Maybe something happened to me that day or there was something I was thinking about, and then the reaction would be coming up with something in the studio. Other days I didn’t necessarily have an idea beforehand, I would start off on the pottery wheel and then be inspired by the form and take it from there. I can’t say that every piece was magical and sculptural, the ones that ended up in the show are the pieces that I loved, they’re more sculptural and fun. There were filler days where I was making a mug, maybe with more of an ornate handle, but not to the point where I spent six hours in the studio trying to create something cool.

Are there certain themes you noticed continually popping up?

I started to notice it was a lot of themes from my childhood. There were a lot of positive experiences, I couldn’t have had a better childhood. We traveled to England and South Africa and spent a lot of time there at the beach. That comes up in a few pieces: Crustacean, Castles in the Sand, Sailing Away, and there’s also the sand bucket. All of it is a reflection of the positive experiences that I had.

I’m also really interested in vehicles, so there’s a couple car related themes in there, like the Little Red Expresso. Sierra Classic looks like my 79 GMC. I had sold it, and so it was a reaction to letting go of the truck I had for 15 or 20 years, going to the studio and making a homage to that. 

Do you have a favourite mug in the exhibition?

I love them all dearly, though I really love the Voyageur. The year previous to creating it I had an experience going to Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg and I loved it. I got a chance to do snow sculpting and learn from other snow sculptors who had been doing it for 20, 30, 40 years. It meant a lot to me and so it was a reaction to that in a sense. I also love the little paddle, it was a fun piece to do, so definitely one of my favourites.

Are there any artists that inspired you during this process?

I think intuitively in a sense, but I try not to look at other people’s artwork while I’m creating because I don’t want to be affected by it, where I’m copying from someone else. There’s no doubt I’m inspired by other artists, but when I go into the studio, I try not to look at other imagery. Unless, if I’m working on something like the Chickadee, I’ll reference photos for that purpose. So, in some ways I’m referencing a photographer and you have to respect that, but as far as other artists I wouldn’t say I was looking at anyone specifically, I was just trying to have some fun.

I always listen to music in the studio and find the music, the melody and lyrics both motivational and inspiring. I listened to a lot of Bahamas, especially his album Earthtones. I also listened to a lot of Andrew Bird, Laura Marling, The Lumineers, and Shakey Graves among others.

Are you still making mugs now or are taking a break from the vessel?

I’m currently just trying to complete what I started. In the show there’s a little less than 40, but I made just under 90 for the series in total and I’m trying to complete those before I get into more work. My goal moving forward is to get the other ones done and then I can continue to show what I have in conjunction with other ones as well. I also have some ambitions for getting into larger sculpture and figurative work again. I’m planning to bring a little more woodworking into clay and joining the two together so I’m looking forward to that in the near future.

As you work in both snow and clay, could you talk about how the two mediums complement one another, or how they’ve affected your sculpture.

It all works together; I’d say most definitely the clay helped me to be a snow sculptor. Typically when I do snow sculpture, I’ll go into the studio first and I’ll make it out of clay. I noticed while working at Festival that other artists were doing the same thing. They had made little maquettes that they brought with them to the exhibition, they would keep the maquettes on a pedestal and work from a 3D model. I think it’s a brilliant way to work, to render down a block of clay and create something out of it. It gives me a better idea of the three-dimensional space when moving into snow sculpting. With clay, if you take a little too much off you can stick it back on and keep moving, but with snow you don’t have that option. It’s a lot of fun moving into snow sculpture, especially since it’s just here for a short period of time. It doesn’t have to end up in a landfill, afterwards it goes off to the ethers. What I love about it is that people respond so well to it. I have a place in Swan River and a lot of school kids and different people pass by every day, and they all react to it, it makes them so happy. It’s nice to see that reaction, and as an artist that’s the best compliment in the world, that someone actually really appreciates what you do.