COLUMBIA

D own to Ea rt h C | aywo rks By Melany Hallam & Brenda Neall

The road to becoming a professional potter is often not a direct
one. Many of us start off taking short workshops or joining a club
and spending many years trying to fit our clay time in between
other commitments. The dedicated and fortunate among us
manage to transition to full-time potter. I always find myself
wanting to ask these potters: How exactly did you do that? I got
the chance last month at the grand opening of guild member
Brenda Nealls Down to Earth Clayworks Studio and Showroom
just south of Powell River. —Melany Hallam

MH - How did you get started in clay?

BN - I've always loved pottery and was a collector for many years.
In the 1990’s, I discovered beginner pottery classes at our local Art
Centre in Surrey and throwing pots became my weekly therapy and
hobby for almost 10 years.

MH - What kind of clay education have you had?

BN - In 2006, I was fortunate enough to be able to take early
retirement from a corporate career. I had already decided that

I wanted to open a pottery studio and seriously pursue life as a

potter when I retired, so I saw this as an opportunity to advance the
timeline. I applied to the Fine Arts program at Kwantlen University
where I spent a year and half. Most of my instruction during that
time was with ceramics instructor, David Lloyd. David is a wonderful
teacher who spends a lot of time with his students and generously
shares his wealth of knowledge about all aspects of the ceramic world.
During this time, I also attended as many ceramic workshops as I

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Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - March 2009

Down to Earth
Clayworks
show room.

Brenda and some of her work in
progress.

could, including sessions at the Metchosin International Summer

School of the Arts.

MH - When did you decide to start your own clay business and why?
BN - In 2002, I spent time with a career coach, who was helping me
map out my next steps up the corporate ladder. Interestingly, the
conclusion we both came to was that the career I really wanted was
that of a ceramic artist. Sheesh, I wish I had come to that decision

30 years earlier! This revelation started me seriously considering a
post-retirement career as a potter (at that point I knew I would be
eligible to retire in 2010) and what that might look like. My husband
and I knew we wanted to live outside of the Lower Mainland and
near the water when we retired so we began looking for a place on
the Sunshine Coast. Powell River is my hometown, so naturally it
was on our list of places to check out. We found our new home here
in 2006 in an area that has a lot of family history. I had spent my
childhood summers roaming the beach around the corner at Douglas
Bay where my grandparents had a cottage and my great-grandparents
had homesteaded many years ago, so I really felt like I was coming
home. Further investigation validated our decision as I came to
realize that Powell River had a burgeoning artist community and was
undergoing an evolution from a mill town to a retirement and tourist
destination...a perfect place to set up an artist studio.

MH - What process did you go through in setting up your studio?
BN - Yikes! How to describe the process! Discussions with fellow
potters who had their own studios was the starting point—what
worked for them, what type of studio setup did they have, etc.

Then planning the studio layout and a subsequent renovation to the
house we had purchased here so as to accommodate a studio and
showroom. I wanted to have my own showroom, as being able to
interact with people purchasing my work is important to me. We
started the house renovation six months prior to our move—that in

Continued on Page 6, Studio Planning