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POTTERS
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COLUMBIA
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Contd from Page 5

When I look at the many pieces of pottery
in our home, I realize that the fame and
reputation of their makers — or lack thereof
— make no difference to my feelings about a
piece, or to how, or how much, I use it. What
does make a difference is having had some
personal contact with the potter. Knowing
who made the things I use every day adds a
dimension to their use.

When I reach for Margaret Dickinson's
perfectly proportioned small beige and brown
bowl, a gift from an old friend, or one of Walter
Dexter's pieces, the long-time workhorses of
my kitchen, I think of the people who made
them, whose faces and voices and gestures
I fondly envision. So intensely does each
potter’s personality inhere in each piece that
often the potter comes to mind as the dish
comes to hand. Sometimes, it seems that the
potter comes to the table with the dish.

In a similar way, cooked food mirrors the
temperament, personality, and sheer hard
work of the cook. (Old Chinese recipes
sometimes suggested the mood necessary for
the preparation of a certain dish.) Perhaps
most significant is that in concert, food and
pottery foster a sense of community among
those with whom we share what we make
with our hands,

Sharon H. Nelson is the author of
“Making Cabbage Rolls, Making Culture”
(http://www3.sympatico.ca/sharon.nelson/
cabbage.htm). She is married to
sciences maven and photographer Peter Grogono,

computer

who has spent many hours choosing and washing
up their pots.

Something to think
about...

I recently went ona trip to exotic places
that required a number of immunizations.
Among these was a tetanus shot. When I
was at the clinic to get this(free of charge
to BC residents) shot, I mentioned that I
was a potter. The nurse remarked that all
potters should keep up their tetanus shots.
Tetanus microbes live in organic material
found in soil and clay. The microbes can
enter the skin through abrasions or cuts.
Tetanus is a terrible thing. Get your shots

up to date folks!

—Joan Barnet, PGBC member

ARCH-BC News By Debra Sloan

In September 2013, we will be launching
the ARCH-BC (Archival Records of Ceramic
History — British Columbia) website which
will provide online access to the guild archives.
In order to get these records online, all of the
PGBC newsletters going back to 1965 will be
scanned, digitized and a researchable database
of created. The Archival Committee is proud
to have been awarded a grant from the BC
History Digitization Project pioneered by the
Irving K Barber Learning Centre, at the UBC
Library (with generous supporting grants
from the PGBC and the NWCF!), making
this project possible.

Linda Lewis is in charge of formatting and
uploading the newsletters as well as creating
the ARCH-BC site. Jinny Whitehead and
Debra Sloan go the guild each week and read
through the newsletters and fill in a meta
data base of names, exhibitions, companies,
galleries, awards—anything of interest for
future research, or interested browsers. The
newsletters are packed with fascinating
information and articles, and Jinny and I
often get waylaid as we start reading.

‘The great news is that Linda has just started

the upload, and we invite you to go to www.

arch-be.org and type in “Western Potter’, and
you will find the first uploads of newsletters
from 1965. We are so pleased that at last this is
coming to fruition. When we launch ARCH-
BC in September 2013, it will be open to any
and all interested readers or researchers.

The newsletters will be the foundation of
ARCH-BC, After the launch of ARCH-BC,
we will turn our attention to The BC Ceramic
Marks Registry [BCCCMR].

T have collected over 300 marks, with many
more to come I hope.

Phyllis Schwartz and Linda are in the
process of formatting BC Ceramic Marks
Registry Forms. Linda Lewis has managed to
find the time to put up some of the marks
already sent to us on http://www.bepotters.
com/Guild/chops.php. When the Mark
Registry is properly formatted and uploaded
in 2014, you will be able to search either by
name or by image.

Remember, if you are going to the
Symposium on March 23, this is an
opportunity to drop off a CD of your mark(s)
and fill in a Mark Registry Form at the PGBC
Table. Please consider participating!

nan

Greenbarn’s catalogue 1s
now available online.

(oa)
effort to be move exwixonmentally

eee ae

www.geeenbarn.com

9548 192 Street,
Surrey, B.C. V4N 3R9
Phone: 604.888.3411
Fax: 604.888.4247

Grech pxalaal

POTTERS SUPPLY LTD.

Tuesday-Friday 9-5
Saturday 9-1

Closed Long Weekends
greenbarmn@telus.net

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - March 2013