If we feel that way - too unsure of the value or the quality of the work, if
we get a little bit under the envelope, or under the umbrella of function -
that helps. Then you can establish the quality on a purely mundane,
functional level. You can defend your work. If anyone says "Is this

good ?"' you can say "Of course it's good - it's a plate - you can feed the
cat with it". You don't have to state whether it has art, or whether it has
spirit or whether it has beauty or anything like that. So in those terms
there's no good or bad - it's just what happened. You can say "Well, I
don't know whether it's good or not, that's just the way it came out, but
it works, in a functional way". And that is a comfort, isn't it?

A fine artist has no such thing to fall back on. If someone asks him
"Is this good?" he just has to say, "Well, I don't know, I guess not -
they didn't say it was good." It's hard to work under those conditions.

JUDGES' COMMENTS - CANADIAN CERAMICS 67

Jury duty of any type is difficult and onerous, and the task before the
jury for Canadian Ceramics '67 certainly was not an easy one.

It is possible that many Canadian potters will feel that the pieces chosen
by the jury are not truly representative of the work done in Canada.
However, each entry that qualified for the show was considered and
appraised by the jury as a group, after individual jurors had

evaluated them.

Gradually, as the judging went on, it was noted that even the better type
of ware that is seen in the good gift shops, began dropping away. There
was nothing wrong with these pots; all were well-thrown, were well-
made, and glazed with soft, silky matt glazes. However, what began

to emerge was a type of ware in which the character of the pot seemed
to predeminate. Perhaps they could be described as approaching

'the ideal pot', if there ever is such a creation.

If the pot is the reflection of the potter, then these pieces exhibited the
characteristics that we most admire in people. They were bold,
vigorous, possessing an earthy quality, completely honest and unpre-
tentious, and showing the plastic nature of the clay. aL;