His work has been described as breathtaking and at the Atlantic Craft Trade Show in Halifax he was named the 2010 Emerging Artist of the Year, yet Leigh Merritt didn't set out to be a potter.
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the daily gleaner/lori gallagher
In his work with pottery, Merritt uses crystalline glazes.
"I'd seen pictures in a book, but my first introduction to it came from Juliette Scheffers, a potter down in Harvey."
A graduate of the NBCCD, Scheffers came to do a workshop with the students at the college.
"That was my first hands-on introduction to it and I've been working with it ever since," says Merritt.
What he likes about it is the effect he gets, as well as the technical challenge it offers.
"One of the first things that struck me about it is that basically you're recreating a natural process in a kiln," he explains.
"I had taken an introduction to prospecting course through DNR and they had talked some during that about how different minerals formed different shaped crystals."
The crystals that appear in these glazes are really close to the natural occurring mineral called willemite, which is a combination of zinc and silica, he says.
How the process works is that the potter fires up the kiln to peak temperature, which is 1205 degrees Celsius.
"It's cooled back down to 1093 degrees and is held for an hour and this starts the crystals growing. Then you cool it down by another 50 degrees and hold it for another three or four hours and that gives the crystals time to fill out."
Basically you're holding the glaze in a state where it remains fluid enough for the particles to move together, he says.
"Zinc has a negative charge and silica has a positive charge, and so given the proper environment they can migrate together and actually grow the crystals."
Though he is interested in the science involved in this process, that isn't Merritt's background.
"I was at St. Thomas University. I graduated with my BA in 2005. I studied English language and literature and intended on doing some writing."
He went to NBCCD, thinking photography would be a good addition to that.
"I took photography for a couple of years and eventually decided I would much rather do clay."
He actually discovered his passion for pottery his first year at the school.
"It's changed since I've been through, but our first year we had to pick three studios," he says. "Our first semester, I chose photography, ceramics and metals. We worked in those three studios until December and I almost switched at that point to ceramics, but I figured no, I came for photography, I should do that."
He kept with photography for another two years, then finally decided he wanted to work with clay.
"I actually graduated from the college in 2008 with a certificate in photography, graduated again in 2010 with a diploma in fine craft - ceramics and will be graduating this year from the advanced studies visual arts program."
This wasn't the path he was expecting to take when he was growing up.
"I'm from Tay Creek and I know when we were younger we used to find veins of clay alongside of the river there. We could easily spend an afternoon playing with the clay, making different things and leaving them on the rocks. But they weren't fired, so the first time it rained, they were gone."
The first few years at the college, he says, you do design and history classes, as well as some drawing classes as electives.
"I'd always take clay electives any time I got the chance when I was studying photography full time," he says.
Merritt's work in clay is inspired by the Tang dynasty in China, with its more traditional vase and bottle forms.
"There are a lot of current people working in crystalline glaze, just not around here," he says. "Kris Frederich is one who does amazing work; Ginny Conrow is another one."
He is also grateful to Scheffers for the help she has given him when working with crystalline glazes.
"Having someone I can call when needed and who has experience and knowledge they are willing to share has been great."
Merritt says he enjoys the technical aspects of this glaze.
"I try to be very precise in my work. You try and control as much as you can with it, but in the end you're still sticking it in the kiln and after that it's out of your hands, pretty well."
He admits he can be a harsh critic when it comes to his own work, though isn't as bad as he used to be.
"I guess I can see a big evolution in my work, even between this year and last year. The forms I'm making now are a lot better."
He's hoping his work will give him the opportunity to travel.
"I know there are artists residencies available in different countries around the world. I did one last June in Medicine Hat, Alberta for a month."
That was at the Shaw International Ceramic Centre.
"In Medicine Hat they have what they call the historic clay district, which is a bunch of old factories."
Merritt was one of 14 potters working in various mediums who were part of the residency there.
"I got the chance to try salt firing and wood firing and soda firing," he says. "It really gives you that exposure to the different ways people are working and the different forms they're making and what their inspiration is."
Seeing what others are doing helped him reflect on what drives him to create.
"One of the attractions to ceramics, and pottery in general, is how wide and varied the field is ... and every one has a different esthetic to it."
Currently, Merritt is looking into starting a co-op with some of the other students who are graduating.
"What we're looking for is to reduce the cost of studio space, maybe split the cost of travelling to different shows and sales."
Getting your work out there is a big part of this business.
"You like to spend as much time as you can in the studio, but you still have to get your work out there for people to see it. You can use computers and social media sites and websites and that, but it's not the same as actually being there to show yourself."
Reaction to his work has been really good, at least among the limited audience that has had a chance to see it.
"I've had work in the Christmas sale (at the NBCCD) last fall and I took a trip with the school in 2010, down to the Halifax ACT Show, which is the regional trade show. That's where I received the emerging artist of the year award," he says.
"We had an open house and I got a lot of really positive feedback from people there, which is nice because it's people that are totally removed from you and have never seen your work before."
Currently his pottery is on display in the gallery at the NBCCD. That show, called Feats of Clay, is up until June 3.
"After that, the advanced studies class will be getting ready to put their show up here and that will be on June 17," he says.
The public is welcome to drop by the gallery to see any of the shows held there.
Because Merritt uses the equipment at the school to work, he's there pretty much seven days a week.
"I try to keep it down to a few hours a day on the weekends," he says. "Until you have your own studio, there isn't much you can do at home."
When he does have free time, he likes to garden and read. He doesn't watch TV.
His family has been supportive as he's worked to discover his passion.
"I didn't go right into university after high school. I was a labourer for several years.
"I think I was 23 when I went to St. Thomas," he says.
He didn't know what he wanted to do, so he began eliminating the things he knew he didn't want to do.
"The joke now is that I'm going to be a student for life because I've been in post-secondary education for eight maybe nine years now."
His parents are a big influence on the person he's become. They taught him that hard work will pay off in the end.
Not that what he's doing feels like work.
"I enjoy the process of it. There are some parts of the process that I enjoy a lot more than others," he says. "One of my instructors said that clay will teach you discipline and it certainly has."
What's important in Merritt's life are the people he's met and his family, he says.
"And having the freedom to pursue what interests me, and to hopefully make a living doing something I really enjoy."
That hasn't always been the case. He has no regrets for the path he has followed, though, noting, "If I changed any one thing, I wouldn't be here."
Life has taught him that if you don't try, you'll never know.
His advice to anyone who still hasn't found their passion is simple.
"I think in order to find it, you have to be willing to go out and look for it and expose yourself to new ideas and new things," he says. "If you're not actively seeking it, chances are it's not going to come and find you."
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>> Full name: R. Leigh Merritt
>> Birthday: Dec. 28, 1977
>> Favourite food: Chocolate
>> Favourite music: Enjoys a wide variety - depends on my mood
>> Favourite book: The Biology of Belief by Bruce H. Lipton
>> Favourite movie: What the Bleep Do We Know!?: Down the Rabbit Hole
>> Favourite movie snack: Potato chips
>> Do you prefer phone or email: Phone
>> Favourite place you've visited so far: Banff and Jasper, Alberta
>> Trait you most admire in another person: Honesty
>> The person you'd most like to meet, living or dead: Cleopatra
