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Editor's Notes

***T've been teaching a few pottery courses

lately, For those of you who are aware of

my lamencable lack of wheel skills, you may

stop choking right now! During may own
beginning pottery classes, the professor
rather optimistically telling the class char if
we only sac down and threw a hundred
cylinders -and cut them open down che
middle- we would find cur throwing much
improved, and many of the undesirable
characteristics we were finding in our pots
would vanish. [f memory servew, only one
class-mate actually performed this task.
The rest of us did much whining about ic,
and might have averaged 20 or cylinders
each, The woman who did do the work is
now a full-time production porter, whose
sturdy and beautiful work graces thousands
of tables across North America.

Asa teacher, [ now suggest this method to
my own studenes, and chose who do ic are
always amazed at how such a seemingly
simple exercise produces such vast

improvements. Whacl am leading up to, is

that ] recently took on a commission to
produce 400 beakers. Amd I had to finish
them within a very short time. 5o [ finally

gat down and performed my long ago school

task, oo the tune of 100 cylinders per day.
And my throwing has indeed progressed by
leaps and bounds. If only, oh great amd
wise former professor, | had listened to you
then!

*** Thinking of school, combined with
functional pottery, has led to mee thoughts
about the lack of teaching resources our
there for a student whose desire is to
become a production potter. It can be
argued thar che best way to do this is
simply to start making pots, and lors of
them, but that leaves out the most
important element that good schooling
includes; the abilicy to critically analyze
your own work. Again, there are
certainly people who have mot gone
through the school system and have chis
abilicy, but if is much easier co develop
this faculty within the atmosphere and
guidance that articraft colleges provide.

The last cwenty years in educational
inscirutions has seen much emphasis on
the so-called “Gallery Vessel”. There is
nothing wrong with this (much right, in
face), but che cole of production potrery
has been dismissed. The conceptual idea
behind a mug ora plate may not be as
flashy or exciting as that of a Gallery
Vessel, but if one takes the cme to
ponder, there is a vast well of human
history, culture and choughe behind even
the most basic clay drinking cup. There
are relationships chat che pocter must
define, berween their own idea of a
perfect cup and the realicies of che human
body. Ever fallen victim to a slip-cast tea
mug with a hollow handle? The
manufacourer of thac cup failed to include
the idea of the cup's user in its making.

Back to that lack of educational
Opportunities for the aspiring production
potter. We have at least four colleges
within the Lower Mainland that offer
good ceramic factlities and instruction.
What if one of them were to specialize,
become the place to go if you eventually
wanted to make a living as a potrer!

Give scudents a couple of years with
intensive glaze technology, a solid
grounding in a variecy of firing methods,
clay making and developing, and, of
course, the production techniques of
throwing, self-created molds, slab work,
etc.. Include small business courses,
marketing workshops, induserial design -
how to build a booth for craft fairs that
functions as an attractive display space,
storage for transporting pots and is easy to
dismantle and assemble, and so forth.
These are chings thac we currently learn
by trial and expensive, time consuming
error, A program like chis would attract
students from around the world! Any
takers!

Karen Opas

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co)

: Potter’s Guild of B.C. Newsletter Website: www margaretdesign.com/pguild/

: The Newsletter is published 10 times yearly as an information link for members. Submissions of articles, letters and
anything else of interest are happily received and should be submitted by the 2nd Wednesday of any month. Unclassifieds and
articles may be edited for space needs. The fax number is 604/669 - 5627.

Editer: Karen Qpas General Manager: Jane Matthews Editorial Board: Rosemary Amen, Heather Cairns, Gillian McMillan, Frank Tueco
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a

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