THE MUG THAT WAS

In twenty-five years I've made an
awesome number of pots. Their
making has given me immense
pleasure, but through some quirk of
personality | forget about their
existence once they're in the public
domain.

I can make measure of their quality or
the time of their making when I see
them in friends' homes. Some carry
sume grace and some are inventive;
some should be destroyed and some
should continue their life untouched.

A few weeks ago a neighbour showed
me her favourite coffee cup, one she
had bought ata shop in Winfield in the
late 60's, At first glance, it wasn't a
cup that had much, if any, appeal. It
was hand made, maybe as an early
robetic experiment. It may have been
made at a workshop for the profoundly
disoriented.

Before I get rude, may I tell you why it
was bad? It was a cylinder but done by
someone only vaguely aware of the
horizon. The handle had obviously
been made by pulling a bent wire
through a block of clay. The little
burrs were left on to cause tortuous
ripping of the skin of the index finger.
It sat too close to the cup lip and would
only be of comfort to a hand that had
been deformed in some obscure
industrial accident, The lip was not
amooth and inviting to the touch but
looked like it might bloody the lower
facial appendage with each breakfast
cup of tea or coffee, The cup's sides
rose unconvincingly from an untrimmed
base, The bottom had been mildly
abused by some blunt instrument,
leaving it looking abandoned and

uneared for.

Tt was, in short, ugly. This is not to
suggest it was not functional. My
friend had consumed two cups full of
coffee in it every day for 25 years. She
hed absorbed 108,000 ounces or 670
gallons of coffee with this littl delivery
device,

pee. 7

So it was a functional object. And
unfortunately I had signed it, bo, those
many years ago. I was just beginning,
was thoroughly untrained, and was
unaware of what I didn't know.

That aside, could I remind young
potters to examine the quality of even
their simplest objects. There is a lot of
great work in this province; use it as
an example to make the best stuff you
can. And when you see your old stuf,

you'll be pleased.
Bob Kingstnill

POTTER’S TIP OF THE MONTH

From the studio of Don Hutchinson
comes yet another (already discovered)
hint to make the thrower's life a little
easier. Don has made a bat that takes
commercial unglazed 6" tiles as surfaces
on which to throw mugs or bowls. The
holder for the tiles are 1 1/2" wide
strips of wood into which the tile easily
slips, resting flush with one another.
Once the pot is thrown on the tile, it
can be eaaily slipped out of its slot by
prying it up and out at the small

SALES AND EXHIBITIONS

"Made by Hand: The Pleasure of
Making", CABC’s juried exhibition of
BC craft is on display at the Canadian
Craft Museum, 639 Hornby St,
Vancouver, until July 18th.

"Best of Circle Craft", with Trudi
Bergstrom and Sylvia Ohrn, potters
and Lea Vennix, textiles, opening at
Circle Craft, Granville Island, on July
lat, G6 to 8 pm, until August drd.

The Burnaby Potters Guild holds its
annual show and sale, on August lat
and 2nd, from 10 to 4 pm. at the
Burnaby Arts Centre, Mather House,
(450 Deer Lake Ave.

The Ganges Community Arts
Council presents Arteraft "93, one of
the longest running sales in BC, and
offers craft work by 200 Saltspring
Island artists daily until Sept, Gth, from
ll am to 5 pm in Mahon Hall, Ganges,
B.C.

opening on one aide. The tiles are
easier to clean and store than wowxden
batta, and the need for continwous
centreing of the batt is removed,
Thanks, Don, and whoever else hos
come up with it in the past!