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POTTERS
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COLUMBIA
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A Life in the Day Exhibition By Dianna Waggoner

As a longtime fan of Celia and Keith Rice-
Jones I was eager to see A Life in the Day in
Wildrice Studio at Maple Ridge Art Gallery
where almost 100 pieces of their work are on
display until June 1. This is a rare opportunity
to see their work side by side—Celia’s
beautiful and useful cups, teapots, plates,
platters alongside Keith’s sculptures, flower
vases, stylized reliquaries, and wall pieces.
It's a chance to appreciate the similarities
and differences in the scale and style of their
work that comes from shared clay, kiln, and
modernist sensibilities.

Celia has said, “My aim is for each piece I
make to have a presence of its own, to invite
being picked up and handled, and to stand
quietly while waiting for use.” Irs difficult
to resist picking up her bowls, turning them
over in your hands, or resting a goblet on your
fingers. And it’s impossible not to imagine
how they would look on your own table.

Over the years, Keith’s pieces have become
more assertive and though remaining in the
vessel tradition, whether coil built and carved
or structured from slabs, are less concerned
with function. “Earlier work with stylized
functional vessels and containers continues,
though my current focus is with large
sculptural work,” he says. His work invites
you to touch their textured surfaces, to peek
inside and through, to walk around and let
your imagination roam,

This exhibition is about the nature of
their collaboration, the product of working
together in their home studio for the last 25
years. An excellent example of their similar
ethos is a large (5°x3.5’) textured. wall piece,
a stylized landscape “map” in gentle shades
of brown, grey and blue. Swirling around the
rivers and mountains are rearranged words
from Al Purdy’s poem Say the Names. In a
gallery talk, Keith explained that after he and
Celia decided to create a major wall piece
using lines from that poem, each one sketched
his and her idea on paper. Their independent
drawings were remarkably similar and Say the
Names was created by four hands and two
minds working in harmony.

The delight of this show is the light and
air which allow each piece—whether a
delicate porcelain bowl or shoulder height
sculpture—a place of its own, room to
breathe. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing many
of these works in the past but walking through
the spacious room, its light diffused through
translucent banners that divide the space, I

Keith Rice-Jones discusses the work Say fhe Names with gallery visitors. Photo by Michael

Alexander.

felt I was truly seeing, genuinely appreciating
many of them for the first time.

The five-minute film by Rene Terlinden
which documents Wildrice Studio and how
seamlessly Celia and Keith’s work fits into

their lives is a perfect conclusion to the gallery

visit. It brings another level of appreciation
to see the artists creating the works which are
nearby and listen to the jazz background of
the film as the sun warms your shoulders.

The details: Tuesday through Saturday, 11
a.m. to 4 p.m. Exhibition closes June 1.

Discovery
Art_Travel

2013-15 CERAMICS EXCURSIONS

Sicily

Sept. 28-Oct. 16/13

Morocco Burma

Oct. 28-Nov. 18/13

Jan. 21-Feb. 6/15

www.denysjames.com TEL: 1-250-537-4906

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - May 2043