Bob likes teaching and has done workshops for Emily Carr outreach
program, Kwantlen College and potters guilds in Mission and Richmond.
For the past four summers he has taught in Penticton and this winter
will travel to the Queen Charlotte Islands under the sponsorship

of Emily Carr. He speaks enthusiastically of the travel opportunities
he has received and points to the T shirt he's wearing; a memento

of his workshop in Horsefly, B.C.

The conversation turns to pottery shows. Presently he's exhibiting

works at the White Rock Gallery but explains that shows “are
certainly not to satisfy my ego. I've been rejected by some of the
best shows in Canada". Yet, he is pleased if he can inspire anyone

who sees his work. At the B.C. Potters’ Guild Ceramics ‘82 show,

he was generally dismayed by the "mean and stingy attitude” of the

jurors who chose a mere thirty-four entries from the five hundred
that were entered. Bob strongly believes that such shows should

be used to encourage and promote new potters, not turn them away.

The mural on the floor is almost complete in the hour and a half
we've spent together. Some fifty smal] thrown forms he has applied
to the clay breathe a life of their own in a wonderful synthesis of
texture and design. His work has appeared effortless and throughout
the process he has solicited the advice of his teenage son Colin,
"business manager and advisor" who doesn't hesitate to respond.

Bob looks forward to the future and wants to learn more about his
craft and produce even larger murals. When asked if he prefers
handbuilding to throwing he gives a perfect reply: “I'm schitzophrenic
I like both but I've always had a lot of bad pots to get out of my
system. I'm pleased with a lot of my stuff but the really different
ones don't come out too often, I'm just grateful I can keep doing
it", As for the current economic crisis, he's “floating” through

it and is "lucky" enough to sell all his work. Yet this success

is not based on market research and current buying trends but on an
unyielding resolve to produce what he likes. And it obviously

pays off. Approximately half his income is derived from mural
production. Apparently he trades murals with his dentist in
exchange for dental work! In Vancouver and throughout 8.C. he

has sold murals to restaurants, offices, condominiums and private
individuals. Several people from the United States also have a

Bob Kingsmill on their walls. The price? Sixty dollars a square
foot. I look mournfully at a particularly lovely mural and ask

him if his prices are firm, "Make your own" he says "anybody can".
Perhaps I will and then give it to him. Bob still doesn't have

one in his own house:

Catherine Racine

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