Gallery of BC Ceramics

Exhibitions
April 4-29

EXPLORATIONS in Saggar Firing recent work by Jill Waterfall

Forthe past three years I have been explor-
ing the surface effects obtainable by low
firing in sagpars.

After just over 20 years of producing
mainly high-fired stoneware I was ready
toembrace a way of working with clay that
was more relaxed and manageable. On a
course with Denys James our group was
introduced to a variety of low-tech, low-
temperature firing techniques. Saggur fir-
ing held exciting potential. | was also
reacquainted with the pinch pot. The mak-
ing and firing of small pots has become the
most enjoyable part of what I do.

Call for Entry

deadline March 10

Silk Road is an exhibition to celebrate
Asian Heritage Month. It is a juried show.
The criteria for submission are as follows:

* Asian heritage pottery: ceramic work
produced using traditional Asian meth-
ods, e.g. Tozan Kiln

* Ceramic work influenced by Asian
techniques and aesthetics

* produced in 2001 or 2002, and never
previously exhibited
The submissions may be functional or
non-functional, abstract or traditional.

Submit in slide or photo format, it must be
postmarked mo later than March 10,

Please include the title of the piece, the
medium, the dimensions, the price, name,
address and phone number. Send submis-
sions to the Gallery of BC Ceramics.

The Gallery of BC Ceramics
would like to thank Greenbarn
for their generous support of
this exhibition.

March 2002

Opening April 4 6;0(+ 8:00PM

Jill Waterfall pinch potr
7.0 to 17.0 em wide

Some of my thrown forms and pinch pots
receive an application of terra sigillata
priortothe bisque firing. Inside the saggars,
combustible materials leave greys to black
and serve to create a reduction atmos-
phere. Iron and copper, depending on the

May 2- June 3
Silk Road
Opening is Thursday May 2 6:00-8:00PM

proximity to the clay surface, will impart
strong reds, oranges, browns and blacks as
well as softer tones of fumed colour. Non-
combustible materials act a% resists, The
designs and areas of colour on the pots are
a pleasing blend of careful orchestration
before and during saggar packing and
unpredictability.

It has been surprising and exciting to dis-
cover the range of possibilities using the
same few materials in slightly different

wilys.
Ji Warerfall

Silk Road: Asian Influences in BC Pottery

On Thursday May 2, the Gallery of BC
Ceramics premieres Silk Road: Asian In-
fluences in BC Pottery. This exhibition,
part of BC's Asian Heritage Month, high-
lights the many provincial potters whose
work is directly and indirectly inspired by
the potters of Japan, China and Korea.

The first pots from Asia to reach Europe
arrived in bales of silk from China, brought
by horse and camel along the ancient Silk
Road passing through mountains and
desert, Infinitely precious, these pots heay-
ily influenced the potters of the Middle
East and then Europe. Five hundred years
later, the Dutch seafarers brought Chinese
and Japanese porcelain to Europe via sea-
routes, A whole mew craze for Asian pot-
tery resulted in much copying by local
potters, ultimately leading to the factories
of Meissen, Sevres, Delft and others, Dur-
ing the late nineteenth century, Japanese
ceramics and prints permeated the works
of Van Gogh, Manet, Matisse, Whistler
and those in the Art Nouveau movernent.

At the beginning of the twentieth century,
a chance encounter in Japan between two
young men, Shoji Hamada and Bernard

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

Leach, again altered the face of Western
ceramic practice, Ceramists from Europe
and North America apprenticed under
these master potters, absorbing a philoso-
phy of visual simplicity but ideological
complexity in work.

In British Columbia, many potters con-
tinue this tradition of the humble pot. The
past 125 years of Asian immigration to
BC's shores has also brought other streams
of work, the elaborate colour and pattern
of Japanese Imari ware, the sensuous tea-
pots of Yixing and the bold sculptures of
contemporary Asian masters. Artists like
Wayne Ngan, Sam Kwan, Mas Funo, Hiro
Urakami, Gai Lan Ngan, Tam Irving, Les
Beardsley, Cathi Jefferson, Rosemary
Amon, Pat Taddy, Keith Rice-Jones, and
Anita Wong produce marvelous works
germinated in Asian heritage.

In May, Asian Heritage Month, it seems
only fitting that the Gallery of BC Ceram-
ics pays wibute to the debt owed by BC
potters to the arts of Asia.

Karen Onas