The Potters Guild of B.C.
NEWSLETTER

is published 10 mesa year. Sub-
missions are welcome, anc should
be in the Guild office by the last
Friday of the month. Material may
be edited for publication.

Managing Editor: Jan Kidnie.

Contributing Editor: Mary Anne
Kingsmill.

Editorial Committee: Bob
Kingsmill, Laure] McGregor. Hiro
Urakami, Nathan Rafla, Anne
Fleetham.

Mailing: Rosemary Amon. Jobst
Frohberg, Savita Kshatrija.

Desktop Publishing: CPH Ltd.
Printed: Printing House.
Advertising rates: $75.00 full
page: $40.00 half page; $25.00
quarter page; business card
$15.00; classified $5.00 for 3 lines:
additional lines $2.00 each. All ads
must be prepald.

The Potters Guild of B.C. mem-
bership is $20.00-individuals,
$30.00—-groups, January to Janu-
ary. See application form elsewhere
in this issue.

Board of Directors: Tam Irving- |
President, D'Arcy Margesson-Vice |
President. Kathryn Youngs-Treas- |
urer, June MacDonald-Secretary, |
Heather Chapman, Bob Kingsmill, |
Carol Klasen, Elwin Lowe, Donna

Schamis, Laura Taylor.

Nabata, Nathan Rafla, “_
|

UPDATE ON 1991 EXHIBITION: CHOOSING CLAY

We are pleased to announce that a grant
of #2,000.00 was received from the
Koerner Foundation as a contribution
toward costs of this exhibition. Unfortu-
nately we were turned down by Canada
Council, Works will be arriving on No-
vember 1 for photographing and a
number of catalogue designs are cur-
rently being consiceredi,

Page 2

NOTES FROM BOB KINGSMILL

One of the pleasant and ironic surprises of this last summer at my Granville Island
Studio has been the number of pots and potential objets d'art I've sold to Japanese
visitors. The greal majority were sold to young people here studying English. They
were invariably shy and excited. easily breaking into laughter at their English
utterances.

The very idea, however, of sending pots to Japan is simply preposterous. | mean,
they have a ceramic history of 7,000 years, And [ haven't even been to a bleeding
art school. The whole thing seems like some kind of obscure silliness.

My favourite sale was to an architect from Kyote. [t is one thing te send a pot to
Japan, but of even more relevance if it goes to Kyoto—the ancient. revered city of
temples, the capital for 1,000 years, a city of sophisticated lovers of Japan's arts;
the home of Kanjiro Kawal.

And it wasn't just a pot. It was one of my raku tea bowls!

So this was indeed a sale of great potential significance—if you go in for that kind
of thing.

As the architect handed me the bow! he asked if | might do him a favour. Ewer the
humble potter shopkeeper | said. “Of course,” thinking that he might want lt boxed
or wrapped. He was looking at the bowl. | was looking at him. And he said, “would
you grind ome quarter inch off the foot? In Japan, the foot js a little sherter than this.”

At that point, ever composed. | suggested he visit Daniel Materna’s studbo or the
Potter's Guild. To my relief, he thanked me and disappeared.

Twenty minutes later he returned and requested again that | take my plece to the
grinder. So, of course, being a man of principle, I did it.

And we bowed our goodbyes,

Meg Bunyess

As mentioned in the June Newsletter,
the catalogue text will include state:
ments by the seven sponsors about the
reasons for their choices. Gary Merkel

The exhibilion will travel and has al-
ready been requested by the Art Gallery
of South West Manitoba, Brandon; West
Kootenay National Exhibition Centre,
Castlegar; Prince George Art Gallery
and the Kelowna Art Gallery.

October, 1960