Endurance rider turned ceramist: Monika Smith.

If there's a common theme between working with horses and working with ceramics, says Monika Smith, it has to be the need for a sense of humour.

The Calgary-based designer was one of the ACAD students whose work was shown at the Grad Exhibition - and her piece "Fountainheads" drew much attention not only for its creativity but for the obvious challenge of building such a piece in porcelain.

SHEER SIZE

Much like working with the real animals, creating an impressionistic sculpture of two horses in this size demanded the patience of a saint. The combination of high fire clay, soda firing, and sheer size raised quite a few challenges, says Monika, but the satisfaction of seeing it complete made all the creative frustrations worthwhile.

The piece, which is hollow, still weighs about eighty-five pounds - and presented a constant physical challenge. The striking surface results from a painstaking process through which the glaze was not applied before firing but deposited in the final stages through the additional of various types of soda-caustic and bicarbonate- applied judiciously for special effect.

There was a reason, explains its creator: "While the clay is a Cone 10 stoneware - high fire - it's got a slip of white porcelain a coating which gives it the black colour in the firing!

For ceramists, there's always a wonderful magic happening in the kiln, which, while it can always be explained technically, never fails to surprise. For example, the white speckles are coarse sand and greeny glassy bits are 'soda' that has formed into dripping glass for a pleasing effect."

WHAT'S NEXT?

What's next for the Calgary designer?

"Conceptually, I'm still working out what I want to say about the horse. I've been involved in the horse world as a competitor, judge, rider and owner.

Now, as an artist. I'm examining the horse as an agent of change in human history; as an aesthetic object, as a physiological and emotional creature that we have manipulated for our benefit.

And, of course, there are times I just want to do the romantic and sentimental thing -create realistic horses that show all the beauty and power that artists have loved for centuries. Who knows? I still might!"