Artistic bear visited pottery shop

A bear took some artistic liberties with several unfinished pots after breaking into a pottery shop in Canada. In a spin on the "bull in a china shop" theme, the bear broke into Kirk Creed Pottery, near Gimli, Manitoba, late on Monday night or early Tuesday morning, and made its impression on a month's worth of work.





When Mr Creed got to his studio, the first thing he noticed was things in the wrong place. "At first I thought… 'Oh, maybe I left a cat in here or something." It was when he noticed that the window was broken that, he said, "I surmised that a small bear had broken in and walked all over my pots and broke a bunch of stuff."



He thinks the bear entered through the door, which he says may not have been properly latched. Once the bear stepped inside the pottery shop, it may have got stuck inside, says Mr Creed, forcing it to break through a window to escape. Although this is his very first "studio visit" by a bear, he said that he spotted a bear in a tree next to the building about a year ago. Ultimately, though, Mr Creed says "we live in their neighbourhood, and so, they own it, too."





The potter estimates the bear left its mark on about two dozen pots that were awaiting a kiln firing and still somewhat malleable. He still plans to fire them. "We try to work with nature," he said. "A number of my friends have said that they would like to have one," he said. "I'm thinking I may have an auction." Other pieces were completely destroyed, but Creed said that "wasn't as heartbreaking as you would think." That clay will be recycled and used in future projects.