COLUMBIA

Beaudoin / Continued from Page 7

L - Any advice for potters new to the
gallery?

B - | like to look at our relationship
to all of the potters as a partnership.
We try to listen and learn from the
potters and they should be sensitive
to listen to the staff when they ask
for more work of a specific type.
New potters need to start a market
base, so listening to the staffs
suggestions can be helpful.

L - What about advice to more senior
potters, those who have been in the
gallery for a while?

B - We try not to interfere or push
too hard with existing potters but
really the suggestions are the same.
Listen to the staff's suggestions and
don’t be afraid to ask about how your
work is doing. Look at the work
that was juried in, see what is selling
and create more. Some potters create

a wide spectrum of work. Others
focus on only one or two forms, but
if the work is not selling then the
customers are making a statement
and the potters should at least listen
to the reaction. Look at what sells
and make sure that the gallery is
always well stocked. It seems simple,
but sometimes it is hard to see. The
gallery exists because of sales; if
work doesn’t sell, the gallery will not
survive. ‘The gallery is a business
and needs to survive based on the
business reality of sales.

L - What is your greatest frustration?

B - The fact that I don’t get enough
time to really focus on the art, to
learn how it was made, how it came
about; speak to the potters for more
that just a few minutes. ‘The day-
to-day reality of keeping the gallery
alive, dealing with power surges that
take out all the computers, the rat
problem on the Island, the leaky
roof, things like this take up more of
my time than I like.

L - What is your greatest enjoyment?

B - Waking up in the morning and
realizing that I get to go to work at
the Gallery of BC Ceramics; that the
staff is great and the work that comes
in is always amazing.

L - What is your definition of success?
B - Success for me is being happy
with your surroundings and the
people that you work with. Here in
the gallery the quality of the people

that we work with is excellent.

L - What didn’t | ask you that you would
like to add?

B - I take pride in my work; I strive
for the success of the gallery, staff, and
potters even when very difficult deci-
sions and tasks need to be implement-
ed or undertaken. That’s the hardest
part of my work, being the person

to say no to an artist or an idea or
collaboration, often due to lack of
funding. Although sometimes difficult
to juggle budget restrictions and
priorities with artistic integrity, I
relish every day nonetheless. Basically,
Tam a glass-half-full type of person. @

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Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - March 2008