(4 bc potters

POTTERS
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of BRITISH

COLUMBIA
a
NEWSLETTER

April 2006 Volume 42 No. 4

Progress from Sturt, Australia

As I write this (7th March), I'm almost one-third through my residency at Sturt. I have
to say that it was quite hot today. I was in a singlet and shorts which is about what I
have been wearing since I got here. I rolled 5/8th thick slabs for several smaller pieces,
made them into slings and took them outside. They were dry enough for work in a few
hours.

I have several large pieces ready to bisque and have my first smaller test pieces through.
It is interesting how being somewhere new without distractions like the phone ringing
allows one to focus on a new direction. When I worked in Japan five years ago, I moved
from practical uses of my pyramids to an abstract use of them as sculptural units. This
began a whole series.

I began here with the first piece of of that series and I brought with me a maquette that
had been on the shelf in my studio for over two years with the idea well before that.
This has been the new departure point at Sturt. I am currently working on the next
piece in the new series and already have interested purchasers . . .

I have done more new pieces using my familiar, formal geometry though the latest one
uses pyramids as a direct metaphor for the jumble of white peaks you see as you come
into Vancouver over the Coast Range. However, I think the essential essence of a resi-
dency is to move from where you were. The accommodation, “Ainsworth,” where I live,
is full of Svend Bayer pots. He was here for a residency and produced prodigious
amounts of Svend Bayer pots.

As I write at 9 p.m. the lights are still on in the
Woodshop where students are making the most of their
course here. I will be doing a four day workshop after
Easter and a wood firing of the Noborigama kiln here
before that. There is also an Anagama and a small Ogama
for Shino and Oribe. There will be a Woodfire

Conference here at Easter in 2007 so put it on your calen-

dar.

The Shiraz - you get 10% off at Woolies if you buy six
bottles - is very good but the Kookaburras are noisy in the
mornings.

Keith Rice-Jones in Australia

Photo courtesy Keith Rice-Jones