Slinging mud Manitobans vying for Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down glory By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:52 PM CST Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024

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This article was published 28/02/2024 (900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of Manitobans are vying for the title of top potter on a new CBC reality series.

Winnipeg’s Kiefer Floreal and Stonewall’s Jen Sonnenberg are among 10 amateur ceramicists cast on the debut season of The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down.

The mild-mannered competition is produced by local company Frantic Films and based on a British show of a similar name. Over eight hour-long episodes, competitors pinch pots and shape sculptures to avoid elimination in themed, timed challenges.

Floreal, 27, was ready to give up ceramics for good when he was approached to apply for the show. The pandemic had not been kind to his pottery business and he was growing envious of friends with consistent paycheques.

“Before I went down for the audition, I had not thrown a pot in, like, three months,” he says. Succeeding in the audition process, however, reignited his love for the artform. “It confirmed that I can’t do anything else; this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

He was also hesitant to apply at first, because he thought being on TV would seem vain. His grandfather offered a different perspective.

“He said, ‘There’s absolutely no harm in going on and showing your skills and showing that it’s OK to be yourself,’” Floreal recalls, adding that he was “viciously trolled” for years after becoming a potter.

“I’d like to pay forward what was paid to me, which was the value of finding something that I was passionate about and a teacher that cared about me. I want to work with students, and young men especially, who might not think (pottery) is the coolest thing.”

Floreal was born in Kenora, Ont., and went to school in the United States before settling in Winnipeg. As a high school football player, he was introduced to pottery-making by an engaging art teacher.

“I just got addicted,” he says. “There’s so much problem-solving; it’s like a Rubik’s Cube you can eat out of later.”

A self-taught artist with a degree from the “You of Tube,” Floreal started selling his wares at craft markets in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.

He specializes in making vessels emblazoned with fish prints — a technique inspired by the Japanese tradition of Gyotaku, which uses the painted bodies of caught fish in printmaking. It’s an homage to a childhood spent fishing with family in Lake of the Woods.

Both Floreal and Sonnenberg have progressed through the first three episodes of Pottery Throw Down and have gained praise for their ashtrays, chess sets and clay portraits from judges Brendan Tang and Natalie Waddell. Actor Jennifer Robertson of Schitt’s Creek hosts the show and executive producer Seth Rogen makes occasional guest-judging appearances, armed with his signature chuckle.

For Sonnenberg, a teacher and mother of two, the show was a chance to give some undivided attention to her craft.

“Getting into the studio now is hard — I’m working full-time, we’re building a house, I coach hockey — so there’s always a time constraint,” she says, adding that her home workflow actually helped prepare her for the timed challenges. “Whenever I’m working, the pressure is on… so it didn’t really add any extra stress.”

Sonnenberg, 39, took up ceramics as a fine arts student in university. She built a wood-fired kiln in Stonewall and specializes in making functional, earthy cups and bowls, which she sells at local markets.

To prepare for filming, she practised different glazing techniques and got reacquainted with firing work in an electric kiln. She also made sure to mark any milestones she would miss while competing in Vancouver last summer for an unspecified amount of time.

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we had to make some changes,” Sonnenberg says. “We celebrated my son’s birthday early just in case I didn’t make it back in time.”

Home was never far from her mind. During the first challenge of the competition, she created a sculpture of a barn and ice rink in honour of her rural Manitoba hometown.

Later on, she made a self-portrait featuring both of her kids.

“I just wanted them to know that even though I was away, I was constantly thinking about them,” she says. “Being able to watch (the show) with them of me making things dedicated to them has been amazing. It’s been a very, very special experience.”

Both Manitoba artists returned from filming full of new ideas and with a roster of new potter friends from across the country.

“They’re all such amazing people and we still keep in touch,” Sonnenberg says of the co-contestants.

“I wholeheartedly love these people,” Floreal says. “I cried every time someone goes.”

The fourth episode of The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down airs Thursday on CBC TV at 8 p.m. and is available to stream on CBC Gem. New episodes are released every Thursday.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @evawasney