When local artist Cindilla Trent invited John Yellowlees to share her exhibition space at the Olde Courthouse Arts Centre, he jumped at the chance.

"I gave it about 30 seconds of thought," he recalls.

Yellowlees, whose chosen media is sculptural ceramics, and Trent, a multimedia artist who works with clay, cloth, and more, unveiled their joint exhibition at a reception at the Olde Courthouse last Friday. The show runs until the end of October.

Although Trent has displayed her art in the past, the show was Yellowlees' debut.

He says that knowing the public would eventually view his work pressured him to produce.

"When you put yourself out there, you don't want to make a total fool of yourself."

Last May, Yellowlees spent a month as the artist-in-residence at Medalta's Shaw International Centre for Contemporary Ceramics. Medalta is a historical district in Medicine Hat, Alta., devoted to clay.

In Alberta, he created many of the sculptures on display at the Olde Courthouse.

Yellowlees says he has worked seriously with sculptural ceramics for the last four or five years.
He first experimented with ceramics at a friend's studio in Victoria. Yellowlees remembers commuting to Vancouver Island and working on pieces over weeks in between his day job in the Lower Mainland.

Yellowlees says he then decided that sculptural ceramics was the art he wanted to pursue seriously.
He studied under Tony Marsh, an American ceramic artist who teaches at California State University. Yellowlees also studied under two prominent Canadian artists, Brendan Tang of Kamloops, and Les Manning, of Medicine Hat.

"If he was living in Japan, he'd be a national treasure," Yellowlees says of Manning.
When he moved from Vancouver to the Nicola Valley, Yellowlees incorporated a studio into his new home.

He notes that his body of work is somewhat unusual compared to other Olde Courthouse shows. "None of my work is functional. It was taking a bit of a chance."

However, Yellowlees says public reaction to the exhibit has inspired him to create anew.
"It's certainly motivated me to the point that I'll be spending more time in the studio this winter."