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COLUMBIA
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representation. Not only does ceramic work
need to be seen to encourage engagement,
but artists be identifiable, and their practices
recorded, establishing provenance that would
connect this art Practice to contemporary

expression.
In 2004, Gail Crawford came to B.C.
researching her book - Studio Ceramics

in Canada - she had scheduled a visit in
Vancouver. As it turned out the PGBC was
going through a change in management,
archival materials were not yet organized,
and in the end she spoke with only a handful
of people. Because we were unprepared, an
opportunity was lost to provide B.C. ceramics
a more thorough representation in a major
Canadian publication,

Propelled by the PGBCs 50th Anniversary
in 2005, we finally started to assemble the
archival materials in earnest. Right from
the start Jinny Whitehead became keenly
involved. She made space for archival
materials in the office, and provided essential
support from the board. Our most important
documents were and are the newsletters.
They are the frame-works for the story of
B.C. ceramics. Digital technology is what
has made it possible to preserve and present
this material. We received support through
grants ** and were able to buy the necessary
equipment. However, without Linda Lewis,
who toiled through the research, and taught
herself how to build a researchable database
using our newsletters, none of this would have
been imaginable. I think it is worth noting
that both Australia and Quebec have started
excellent ceramic mark records and archives,
and their ceramics are well supported and
thriving.

‘The next major addition to ARCH-BC will
be the BC Ceramic Mark Registry (BCCMR).
By the end of 2014, we hope to have an active
registry on the ARCH-BC site, and it will be
an ongoing project. We have been soliciting
contemporary marks from ceramicists all
over the province since 2006, and now
have hundreds on file. John Lawrence, of
Do Da Antiques, and Dave Carlin, of The
Vancouver Cantata Singers, both informed
collectors, have provided access to marks and
information about historic ceramicists.

In the 90 years since Axle Ehbring, our
first potter, arrived in B.C., and a century
since the ladies of Victoria were china
painting, a ceramic culture is now rooted in
the province. There are many internationally

Gordon Thorlaksson. Photo by Allen Steele,
from A Catalogue of British Columbia
Potters, by Bob Kingsmill.

and nationally respected artists, dozens of
talented regional potters, making fine ware
for their communities, a range of prestigious
teachers, and many excellent ceramic
facilities. Our local public has become more
involved, supporting the galleries and shops,
when our best customers, the Americans,
stopped coming after 2007. There have been
nine publications since 2005, and there are
several excellent B.C. essayists publishing
internationally. In the UK, a PHD is being
written about the B.C. potters apprenticed
to Leach, by Alex Lambley of Falmouth
University and the Leach Pottery Studio
and Museum. Informed curators have been
starting ceramic collections and exhibiting
ceramics at MOA, Burnaby Art Gallery,
Surrey Art Gallery, Greater Victoria Art
Gallery, Vernon Art Gallery and the Belkin
Gallery. B.C. ceramics are being represented

in the discourse about contemporary art in

B.C. and abroad.

ABOVE: In the December 2012 newsletter,
we asked if you could identify the mark on
these pots, and a detailed answer quickly
arrived from collector Dave Carlin, thrilled to
see these pots by Gordon Thorlaksson:

From the photo you supplied, | can fell
you that you have:

Van{couver] B.C.

[pot#] 147

GTsson fhis signature]
76 [the year he made it]”

END NOTES: ARCH-BC www.arch-
be.org will never be complete. It will be
an ongoing process of adding historic and
keeping up with contemporary information.
‘These wonderful newsletters map our history,
so if you have something to say — write it down
and send it in for publication and become a
part of the history of ceramics in B.C.

** The ARCH-BC Committee would like

to acknowledge the funding and support

provided by:

* The Irving K. Barber Centre for Learning
at UBC, The BC History Digitization

Program.

¢ The Potters Guild of British Columbia

www.bepotters.com
¢ The North-West Ceramics Foundation
www.nwcf.ca

Please see the previous article in this
newsletter, ARCH BC — Capturing the Story of
BC Ceramics (Page 12 & 13), and read about
how to access ARCH-BC,

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter : October 2013

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