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POTTERS
GUILD
of BRITISH

COLUMBIA
a

Mary Fox Discussion Group, Ladysmith

It was a beautiful Island afternoon
with the warm, moist air surrounding me as I
checked the tire pressure on my bike and then
went inside to close the plastic sheeting that
surrounds my wet work shelving. I had no
idea what to expect once I got to Ladysmith
and finally met the well-known Mary Fox.

I have been a potter-for-a-living for the last
four-and-a-half years and have run into all
sorts of potters from all walks of life. I have
heard it all: that the club in my area was not
running this year, that they were not accepting
new members, that I couldn't be in the show
because I would have to be a member for a
year first, etc. (pause) So you can understand
my trepidation with the 27 km. bike trip to
meet Mary and a few others with clay under
their proverbial fingernails!

‘The bike ride was perfect, which meant that
I arrived as planned about 15 minutes before
the 1 p.m. discussion was to start. Mary was
alerted to my arrival by a beautiful small, white
dog named Judy who, I soon found out, had
a wonderful little bunk-bed right beside the
wheel close enough to get clay splatter on her!
Mary opened the door and welcomed me in
with a wide smile and assumed I was there for
the clay chat despite my neon yellow cycling
jacket, helmet and gloves. 1 was immediately
put at ease and I knew this afternoon would
be spent among friends.

As I gobbled up the most beautiful studio
space I had ever been in, I bent over to realize
that she actually had so many finished pots
that they filled every carefully-designed
drawer at the bottom of each shelf. Stunned
at the sheer volume of work that was there, I
heard Mary say to the next people who came,
Joe and Pam, that we were going to sit outside
and have a fire with our discussion, so we all
wandered through the throwing area and into
the courtyard in the back to find a tiny fire pit
made out of a few refractory bricks.

‘The preliminary discussions of how we were
all related to clay began straight away and I was
amazed to meet two people who actually share
a studio and work on the same pots! The pots
are thrown by one person and then decorated
by the other. Such teamwork and patience
was a treat to have described to me. Valerie
and Rose-Lynn came in next and we all found
a seat around the fire and started to chat easily
about clay, art, getting an art education, the
current clay work we are seeing in galleries,
the craft and the endless work that is a life in

By Hilary Huntley

Above: Mary Fox and her dog, Judy, await discussion group visitors at
the door to her home studio. /nset: Mary's gallery.

clay. Sharron joined us after a long drive up
Island and brought some photos of her many
wonderful clay works. She also added to the
conversation about an art education having
recently finished her own studies.

‘The major questions about life as a working
potter were fielded by Mary but she is so
comfortable with her life's work that she is
not defensive about being the source of all
information. She has spent a few lifetimes
already learning about her decorative lithium
and copper glaze that, in all its outer beauty,
seems to have been born in a completely
different time and galaxy. In order to work
with it at all she has had to learn a whole
different language just to ask it a question.
Anyone who has made a few glazes from
scratch knows that there is a certain amount
of magic put in the tub with the kaolin, but
the work she has done developing this unique
line of decorative pieces deserves a medal.

‘The special beauty of this discussion group
is that we weren't trying to DO anything. We
weren't planning a show or working out a
teaching or firing schedule, we weren't trying
to jury a new show or gallery hanging—we
were just there to talk. It was an amazing
break from the endless hours that most of us
spend alone in the studio working without
time parameters (except the number of hours
to the kiln finishing) or days of the week
(except for the number of days until our
respective studio sales.) We were able to talk
and listen with respect for each other and the
clay. Everyone seemed to feel safe and open,
the way I would imagine clay workers from

a hundred years ago might have been as they
loaded a huge beehive kiln with the season's
work they had all made together.

I have searched long and far for a safe place
to talk and listen about the life I have chosen,
without commitments towards how many
pieces I will have ready for this event or that
one; just an afternoon out of the studio with
people who share some of my love of (and
possible obsession with) clay. After quite a
few attempts at other venues where I was not
quite able to relate to others, at Mary's I felt
relaxed and at home, as though I could just as
easily have put down that trimming tool and
stood up to answer the door or to go get Girl
Guide cookies for everyone.

As I rode the 27 km. home to Duncan, I am
totally sure that I was glowing with potter's
conviction. I felt that I was truly on the right
track for myself because other people were
able to do this work and survive in today's
world full of mortgage payments and Wal-
Mart.

Now, a few days later 1am on the back porch
of my home with a group of just-the-right-
moisture-to-trim oval baking dishes calling my
name, the bottom of my favourite coffee mug
showing, the sun shining on my hands and it
just struck me: The clay conversation group at
Mary Fox's studio is kind of like plugging in
to a solar charger for your pottery batteries.
Tt was a welcome break from the studio but
also a good charging up that only a common

Continued on Page 9/
Purpose & true kinship

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - November 2010

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