CS. After the mould form is replaced, plaster section 3 is
poured. The conical plugs are removed and the assembly
iS again tured over,

D. Once all sections have been cried, the mould can be
assembled fer casting. It is filled with slip and left for
enough time for the plate walls to become solid but not

long enough for the foot to become solid. The assembly is

then tumed on its side to allow drainage and liquid slip is
forced out of the hollow foot through the bottom filler cav-
ity by air forced in through the top cavity.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE APRIL
JURY ARE BEING ACCEPTED
UNTIL APRIL 15

NEOPHYTE MUSINGS

-Jan Krueger-

A couple of months ago, June MacDonald brought an arti-
cle by Ruth M. Home to my attention, The article, 'Pottery
in Canada‘, was published in the “Canadian Geographical
Journal” in February 1944. | read over the article and siot-
ted it away in the newsletter file thinking that, because this
is the Guild's fortieth anniversary year, it might be used as
a backdrop to an article covering the first forty years of
Guild history.

This month | brought the article out again . The article
contains information on a number of B.C. Potters active in
the 1940's. The list includes Gertrude Weir, Molly Carter,
M. Grote, Marion McCrea, who was the first secretary of
the Potters Guild, Grace Melvin, Mrs. Burchett, Marjorie
Robertson, Doris Lecog, Axel Ebring and Emily Carr.
Thanks to Bob Kingsmill"s 1977, itish
Columbia Potters, some further information is available
on Axel Ebring and mountains of material exist on Emily
Carr, though not seein: about her ceramics.

"EMILY CARR PLATE, HOME, 1946

\What happened to the rest of these B.C. potters between
1944 and 1954 when the Potters Guild of B..C. came into
being? Were more of them than Marion McCrea involved
in the Guild's formation? Did they leave some legacy be-
hind? Were they the progenitors of a recognizable style
in B.C. pottery? Is there a demonstrable continuity of de-
velopment within the B.C. pottery community? If so, does
it have a British Cotumbia character. If not, what kind of
character, if any, typifies the B.C. pottery community that
has developed since 19447 These and a host of other
Questions arose as | reviewed Ruth Home's article.

Home considers pottery to be a handicraft , *...[A] n object
may be classed as handicraft when it is the result of a
need for self-expression by its creator who personally
must carry through all stages the processes of creation.
As a corollary it must be distinguished by its character
from the manufactured ware." (p.65) Fifty years after it
was created this definition seems to fall squarely into the
lap of debate surrounding the question, “Is it art or is it
craft?”. Having never asked this question of myself, my
initial response was to ask in tum, “Does the answer really
matter?”. Indeed, the current, and obviously past,
debate, bears all the characteristics of the intemecine.
The potter's navel has been so thoroughly examined that
it should be possible to reproduce the entity without the
aid of sight, Unfortunately, Home does not explain why