I spent all yesterday unwrapping pots
sent in for the BC-Tajimi show, photo-
graphing them to go into the database
that Jinny has put together from sub-
mitted material, repacking them into
the wooden boxes and then into the
styrofoam-lined shipping boxes. I got
through 32 of the 50 pieces. It was
quite a long job. Don’t get me wrong,
that’s fine, it just needs to be done.
However we still have to chase a few
people for missing information, which
sort of brings me to why I sat down to
write this.

I just got the latest newsletter from the
Fraser Valley Potters Guild, my “home
group’, and the Editor, Jim Gunson,
expressed a little peevishness about
time wasted at meetings on questions
that had clear answers in the last
newsletter. You wouldn't believe how
much I could write about that from
being involved in the organization of
so much with the 50th.

T always tell my students at SFU that
the only dumb question is the one you

don’t ask, but I do add the rider that

Wrapping up the 50th

there is a lot of difference between,
“Do I do this next?” and “ What do I
do next?” The first one shows you are
actively involved in the process, and
paying attention to what was asked for.
The latter puts you into the “high
maintenance” camp.

The day before yesterday I wrote a
50th Anniversary report for the AGM
and as I wrote, became impressed with
the remarkable amount of “stuff” that
the Guild has got together and done to
celebrate our 50 years. A small group
of dedicated members have spearhead-
ed this and there has been tremendous
response and involvement. We have
more members than we have ever had
and I hope this wave of positive energy
will continue and the Guild will get
even better in the second half of our
first century!

At the last “wrap” meeting of the 50th
Committee we went over details for
the Source Books and CD that will
give a picture of the Guild at 50 and
be part of the TransFormations show.

What a remarkable document it will be

and when it comes out there will be a
few sore bums when people stop kick-
ing themselves for not being part of
it........ Al Sather has put a staggering
amount of work into this and Al is
part of this new energy in the Guild.
Al came recently from Newfoundland
and wanted to get to know other pot-
ters. He says that he should be thank-
ing us for the opportunity for doing all
this work as it has given him a remark-
able insight into the Guild and its

members.

So, eyes on the ball for the rest of it.
TransFormations at Burnaby Art
Gallery this summer, look for news of
the BC-Tajimi show in Sept. and there
will be a final “wrap party” in
December when we have a double
opening for the Members show and a
Gallery Managers show which will cel-
ebrate the services of all our past man-
agers through their selections, and the
20th Anniversary of the Gallery as part
of the Guild’s 50th.

Keith Rice-Jones

The Cracked Pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each
hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across
her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the
other pot was perfect and always delivered a full por-
tion of water. At the end of the long walk from the
stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half

full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the
woman bringing home only one and a half pots of
water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its
accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own
imperfection, and miserable that it could only do

half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it
spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am
ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side caus-
es water to leak out all the way back to your house."

JulylAugust2005

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there
are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the
other pot's side?

That's because I have always known about your flaw,
so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path,
and every day while we walk back, you water them.
For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful
flowers to decorate the table.

Without you being just the way you are, there would
not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the
cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives
together so very interesting and rewarding. You've

just got to take people for what they are and look for
the good in them.

Submitted by Holly McKeen

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

21