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October 200]

Volume 37 Number 9

KATHRYN OVREGAN
One Artist’s Journey

Kathryn (Regan Surfacing f, bluefpreen lichen, terra
cotta! multifired, diameter; 914 cm. height: 76.2 om

Twenty years ago, | was introduced to pottery mak-
ing al Algonquin College in Ouawa, My first in-
siructor threw beautifully thin pieces of functional
ware. She had appren-
heed with a master pat
ter in Awstraiia. | recall
her saying thal she was
required to weigh each
clay ball before throw-
ing and cach piece after
it was thrown in order to
judge the wastage of the
clay. Under Cynthia
Hussey's cuidance, we
made sure that mo mest
pols reached the kiln.
She reminded us that
those ugly litth: pots would come back to haunt us in
later years when we had become professional!
Economy of buln space was alwys an issue at the
College. ] must say that to this day, 7 am rather
ruthless ahout which pieces actually reach the kiln.

At Alponguin [also studied under Mimi Cabri.
Many of the more traditional potters in our Guild
thought her methods and attitude to be quite sacrile:

Kathryn O'Regan (/niiiled, 15.2 0 40.6 cm metal mount
faltered surface), with Tf *% 305 cm tile (blue, green,
purple, brome) multifired

gous or perhaps unpure. Truc potters of the day did
not extrude! She worked with combinations of
stoneware and porcelain claysusing flat matt glazes.
Mimi extruded, gouged amd punched her thrown
ware giving her pieces new personalities and life.

A move to Vancouver provided an opportunity for
ma to study at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and
Design(EClAD). There, | hexda pivotal expenence.
lenrolled ina handbuilding class taught by Sadashi
inuzuka. This expericnee opened the proverbial
doors to freedom. His assignments offered an op-
portunity for broad interpretation. We were ad-
monished to go with the clay. Sadashi was receptive
to all approaches and i was here that | began to
work freely and ona mech larger scale. [discowered
clay! By beginning io listen tothe clay, play with it,
and push the medium, [learned to take the formes to
their limits and de-
veloped an intimacy
with the clay baxty,
Handbuilding al-
lowed me an in-
creased freedom of
form and T continue
Lo se i,

At Emily Carr, !
studied glaze chem-
istry with Darcy
Margesson. Darcy
emphasized thal we
experiment with glazes constantly, and that we
should purchase new materials whenever possible
toadd te curinventony. He insisted that we broaden
our palette. He encouraged us not to becorne com-
placent and limit ourselves to several glazes. After
his program I developed five glaxes that form the
hasis of my palette, adding cahers as time passes.
The glazes | work with are volatile. They frequently

see Regan page &