Judith Miller07 Nov 2011, 4:29 PM
I’ve decided to talk about my US/Canada tour in two separate blogs because so much happened over the course of a very busy week.
Canada: 16th-18th October
I was in Toronto for about three days (give or take), and had a wonderful time.
It was great to re-visit the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), as it plays host to a fantastic collection, which I always enjoy seeing. My ‘Treasure ID event went very well and it was especially nice to spend time with some very good friends of mine Conrad Biernacki and Brian Musselwhite. Afterwards I had the great pleasure of being taken back to their fabulous home, which is– well! I know I’m a compulsive collector (particularly of chairs, which are very difficult to hide from my husband), but Brian and Conrad are much worse. I find it very reassuring that these two people have amassed so many large and varied collections of – more things than it would be possible to name, and I very much enjoyed looking at as much as I could while I was there.
I was surprised and delighted to receive a porcelain pot that Conrad had specially commissioned for me from one of Canada’s most exciting potters, Steve Smith of Talking Earth Pottery. It’s an incredibly beautiful and special piece, full of symbolism that the artist explains in the text that accompanies it. I’m having difficulty working out where to place it in my house as it’s totally unlike anything I have. It’s definitely going somewhere prominent, though (and somewhere out of Vlad’s reach, if possible!). I haven’t got a photograph of it with me now, but I will take one tonight and post it to the blog tomorrow, as it’s something you really have to see. And make sure to watch out for Talking Earth Pottery. They’re going to be big.
The next day I had several interviews with Country Living, VIVA, and Style at Home magazine, and had lunch with my cousins, Ian and Mary. The day after that I was lucky enough to take part on my favourite early morning breakfast show, before going onto a coffee morning at Cynthia Findlay’s shop, Antiques of King’s Street. She had been kind enough to lend me several quirky and interesting pieces to take onto the breakfast show and I was delighted to go to the shop itself.

Images (the left of me and Cynthia) taken from Cynthia’s blog article about the event.
I had a great time at the event, which included a book signing, an interview, and an ‘identification clinic’. I saw some great things from the public, and of course some great things in the shop!
One thing I hadn’t expected to see there was former Miller’s employee, Jessamy Johnson, who emigrated to Canada some years ago and is now working as a journalist. She was covering the event and I was absolutely delighted to see her. We both hope she can work for Miller’s again in the future, and we’ll definitely catch up again soon.
My trips to Canada are always exciting and memorable, and this was no different. Tomorrow’s blog will be all about my days in Dallas!