The Comer Chair

| am going to the opening of an
exhibition. [t ts an exhibition of
work by a former student, She is
still very formal and calls me Mr.
Rice-Janes. Two other studants
from the same class (1990)
recently contacted me -one from
just down the road and one from
Tokyo. Later this year my wife
Celia is sharing an exhibition with
another student of that time

Teaching, like making pots, is
something | rarely take time out to
reflect on and the impact that it is
has. Both, it seems, are
samething that | just do. Just as
| am wrapping up a semester and
praparing to get started on a new
set of classes so | have some
pieces firing that | hope will be in
the galleries soon (never count
your chickens [to mix metaphors]}
and | am worrying my sketchbook
with the pieces for another show.

| move on with my next pieces
(the best pot is always the next
one...) almost while I'm finishing
current ones, Finishing off this
semester is really busy work; my
head is in the potential of new
courses and a new set of
students. However, there's
something of me left with my pots
and my students. Some students
| connect with less (and that is
something | had ta come to terms
with) and | suppose they area like
the more anonymous pieces that
we produce butthat find favour
with some purchaser. Other
pieces have that special
something, perhaps the fire has
bean kind to a piece that

reflected a day of easy grace: a
piece that has, for us, that little
extra that makes it special. A pot
that we can fake by surprise and
say “| wish I'd made that". These
are the pots that we like to know
have gone to a good homes and
will be appreciated. It's like
hearing from a past student and
knowing that what you said had
resonance -in its own time.

| hope that there will be some
fasonance for the guild in the
growth changes that have
happened in my time on the
board. To follow through with
some of my analogies, there have
been some things on the shard
pile (as there will always be when
trying something new) but | feel
that as we move inte this year
there is a sense of optimism and
rightness that was missing
before. As we move on with the
excitement af new pieces or new
students it is important not to
forget the best of what we were
dealing with before. With the
Guild, Darrel and Rosemary are
trying to float a more socially
orientated bi-monthly get together
that we hope will encourage the
sense of community that some
people feel we've lost as we've
grown. Obviously this has a
lower mainiand focus, but if
groupsout of town like the
MacKenzie Potters, who were
featured in the December
Newsletter, can feel supportive of
each other we townies should be
able to do the same. All it takes
ig making the effort to be part of
it. See you there.

Keith Rice-Jones

pe 3

Quotes your editer liked:

“What we play ia fe” Louls
Armstrong

“The purpose of art is mot a rarefled.,
intelectual distillate -it is life,
intenslfied, brilliant life" Alain Arias -
Misson

“T believe that Wit were left to artises
ta choose their awe labels, most
would choose none”

Ben Shahn

Questions for Curtowus George:

“Why, an last months newsletter cover
picture, do the pots that are on the
wheels and the pots that are om the
ware shelves have no resemblance to
each other?”