Down a long and winding driveway off Gillespie Road sits the home of Alice McLean. Her waterfront studio situated amidst moss-covered rocks and trees overlooking Sooke Basin provides her with daily inspiration. The birds and wildlife all contribute towards her creativity.

Pottery is McLean’s medium and she is passionate about the process of creating art.

“I like the functional aspect of it, I like sculptural form, many things,” says McLean as she explains how she started a love affair with clay that has lasted over 40 years. “I went through many phases. My first love was to be able to use what I was making.”

McLean has branched out from the highly functional pottery she first began making. These days raku and the whimsy of the fire hold her attention the most. The vagaries of the flames and smoke create the unexpected — almost as though a higher hand is involved in the final artistic stroke.

McLean is experimenting as well with painting — another artistic medium she will bring into the clay.

Her East Sooke studio is crammed with the tools of the trade. Her potter’s wheel sits high above the floor offering a commanding view of the waters beyond. Dozens of small vessels await glazes and their last firing, while the shelves groan with everything from reading materials to finished work. It is a working potter’s studio.

Born in Montreal, McLean found ceramics filled a second creative niche. Her first was as an animator for the National Film Board. She spent a lot of time in Banff taking classes and found that exposing herself to other people’s experiences was incredibly stimulating. And, in Banff she was able to leave her world behind and concentrate on her love of clay.

“Passion is at the top of any art,” she said. “It fills your inner mind.”

One of her most inspiring ceramic artists is Victoria’s Walter Dexter. She said he has youth and liveliness in his work. Another is Robin Hopper, one of the artists on the tour, and Judy Dyelle his partner.

McLean is one of 20 artists taking part in the Stinking Fish Studio Tour. The tour takes art lovers on a self-guided visit to the various artists’ studios scattered throughout East Sooke and Metchosin.

Running from November 28 to November 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the tour treats visitors to almost every art medium. There are painters and potters, woodworkers, glass blowers, metal and mosaic artists, jewellery makers and fabric artists.

The Stinking Fish artists give McLean good experiences, stimulation and a little pressure — good pressure.

“They are incredible people,” she said. “I benefit from being part of this group, they are very good artists.”

McLean loves visiting the other artists’ studios. She said each studio is so different and there is an association of the artist and their surroundings which is “very exciting.”

Of note is the appearance of a re-surfacing of interest in handmade pottery. McLean said people seem to be discovering, or re-discovering in some cases, the organic uniqueness of functional pottery and art which is not mass-produced. And that can only be a good thing.

For more information on the artists participating in the Stinking Fish Studio Tour and a map of artists’ studios go to: www.stinkingfishstudiotour.

Participating in East Sooke: Alice McLean, Angela Menzies, Katusha Dmitrieva, Bev Petow and Kay Lovett.