COLUMBIA

2010 Canadian Clay Symposium

The View from Boyond ope

By Lesley Lloyd & Connie Haeussler

Four of us from Williams Lake (Lesley
Lloyd, Buff Carnes, Judy Prevost and Lisa
Christie) left on Friday morning for the Big
Smoke. Connie Haeussler joined us later at
the symposium. After driving through about
three hours of snowy, slushy conditions we
stopped in Hope for some sushi then on to
Greenbarn for supplies. We found the show
Out of the Ombu in Maple Ridge after much
manoeuvring, only to discover it had closed
thirty minutes earlier at 4 p.m., so all we
could do was drool through the glass doors.
After checking into our hotel, the next stop
was back to the Place des Arts in Coquitlam
to view the Sculptural Figures display before
supper. What a great start to our clay/art
weekend!

‘The next morning, we were at the Shadbolt
Centre bright and early—too early to even
check in. We begged a cup of coffee from the
concession, then went in to check out the Mug
Wall. Sales didn't officially start until 9 a.m.
but volunteers conceded defeat and opened
sales earlier and we weren't able to be there to
scoop our choices. (At NCECA, people line
up outside on sale day for two hours!)

When things officially got underway, we all
went to various presenters. Lesley started with
D’Arcy Margesson, and found him to be very
informative, knowledgeable and engaging.
He obviously teaches on a regular basis. The
only problem was that the session wasn't long
enough. He could have easily done two or
even three hours to handle all the questions.
Lesley had brought a glaze she was having
trouble with, as did two or three others, but
D'Arcy didn't get to hers (but has promised to
email—hint, hint.)

Lesley stayed in the same room to watch
Joan Bruneau's slide show of her pottery and
her home. Wonderful pictures and great pots!

Others watched the

Barron demonstrate how he throws his large

Australian Robert

wood fired pots, adding and throwing coils as
the pots harden.

After a wonderful lunch, Lesley hung
around to listen to Les Manning critique the
Roadshow for a few minutes. So much to see
and do, she opted to stop in to New Brunswick

potter Peter Powning’s raku presentation.
Incredible work but the lack of technical info
was a little frustrating. We did come in late
to the session so he may have covered some
things earlier. That is one of the drawbacks of
the symposium—people coming and going
asking questions that were asked just minutes
before they joined that particular session.

‘The last presenter Lesley visited was Don
Hutchinson, She didn't realize she had come
in on the tail end of the session but, after a
short break, Don re-did his presentation and
it was very inspiring and a great end to an
over-all wonderful day.

After Carol Mayer recognized several long-
time members’ contributions to the ceramic
community, Jack Troy showed slides. Thinking
he was done, most of us prepared. to depart.
He went on to give an inspirational talk that
kept us hanging on his every word. Lesley has
been to every symposium since they began
and normally by the end is over-stimulated
and can hardly take in the final speeches. We
had no trouble listening to Jack and would
love to have a copy of his talk. He quoted
several potters, talked about his experiences
and his students and over-all gave a very up-
lifting talk.

Our weekend wasn't over yet as on Sunday
we visited Granville Island and the Museum
of Vancouver's three craft-related shows
featuring outstanding pieces from British
Columbia, other parts of Canada and Korea.
Ending the day at the ceramics collection in
UBC's Museum of Anthropology, we were in
major over-load by 4 p.m.

On our way home Monday we dropped
in on Don Hutchinson's show of wildlife-
inspired pots at Douglas College. And our
last, but definitely not least, stop was Holly
McKeen's studio in Chilliwack. Even though
her studio was officially closed, she generously
gave us a tour and shared her knowledge of
crystalline glazes. And we just couldn't resist
buying a couple of things.

All in all, a wonderful weekend was had by
all. For those of us living beyond Hope, an
opportunity like the symposium is like water
to a parched man.

Gailan Ngan threw porcelain tea bowls off
the hump, and then used her fingers to
personalize the bowls by pinching dots
and ribs thin enough to be translucent after
firing.

shadbolt centres
spring & summer
ceramic arts workshops

me a :

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Gesture & Expression in Clay:
Understanding Body Language
and Figurative Sculpture

with Elaine Brewer-White

$149, 2 sessions Barcode 218386
Sundays, April 11 & 25

Coloured Clays: Form & Surface
Vince Pitelka, head of the Clay Program at
Tennessee Technological University’s
Appalachian Center for Crafts, introduces
patterned-loaf coloured clay techniques.
$350, 5 sessions Barcode 218053
W/Th/F/Sa/Su, starts July 14

Taxes not included.

Call Shadbolt Centre at 604-291-6864

or register online: burnaby.ca/webreg
City of

pee

shadboltcentre.com

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - April 2010

Photo by Tanis Saxby