CENTENNIAL CRAFT SHOW
New Design Gallery, June 7 - July 2. 3
Reviewed by Tam Irving o

The New Design Gallery made a brave attempt to organize a compre-
hensive craft show in June. Works included pots by Michael Henry,
Glen Lewis and Tam Irving; woven constructions by Sharon Hassell;
batiks by Elaine Hinchcliffe; jewellery by Phil Morgan and sand cast
candies by Sheila and Cuyler Page.

The gallery suffers from somewhat cramped quarters in its present
location in an old house on Burrard Street, and under these circum-
stances it simply was not possible to display such a wide variety of

works to advantage. A smaller selection of more carefully chosen

items would have provided much greater visual impact.

The pottery by Michael Henry and Glen Lewis re-stated the concern
with strength, simplicity and directness of execution which we have
observed in previous exhibitions. Tam Irving emphasized richness
of glaze and decoration.

Sharon Hassell provided interesting, though somewhat "old hat"'
attempts to push weaving into the area of sculpture. Perhaps the time
has come to experiment with other media - metal or plastic ribbon
suggest themselves. Fine craftsmanship evident in batiks by Elaine
Hinchcliffe might have been better served by more imaginative design
Phil Morgan would do well to spend more thought on the display of his
jewellery. Iwas uncomfortably aware of the oversize price tags and
felt that a more colourful backdrop would have provided better con-
trast. Furthermore, the use of dead bracches for hanging jewellery
is becoming tiresomely repetitive, As a result of these irritations,
my study of the work was cursory. Candles by Sheila and Cuyler Page
showed much potential but we were presented with far too much of

'the same'. Less of the 'cake decorating technique’ and more concern
with form and material would have been welcome. This couple also
showed a large combination wood and ceramic casserole. Such
combinations are difficult at the best of times and in this case proved
unsuccessful to the point of vulgarity.

Unfortunately there appeared to be no press coverage =