COLUMBIA

Steve I rvi ne Wo rkshop Review By Myrta Hayes, TriCity Potters

Steve Irvine working on his funky pitcher at the workshop.

Greenbarn’s catalogue 1s
now available online.

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9548 192 Street,
Surrey, B.C. VAN 3R9
Phone: 604.888.3411
Fax: 604.888.4247

(ean Darn

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Steve Irvine has pottery in his blood. His
mother was an avid potter who started
teaching Steve when he was five years old. He
grew up surrounded by artists. It was easy for
him to decide, at the age of 16, to become a
potter. He attended Sheridan College, which
had to devise a special procedure to get him to
pay for the tons of clay he used as a student.
Steve traveled widely and attended lectures
by well-known potters. The most influential
potter/teacher in his early life was Finnish
potter Kyllikki Salmenhaara who is one of
the most distinguished Finnish potters of the
twentieth century.

Steve's workshop last July 20 consisted of
an introductory slide show of his work and
his life, followed by demonstrations on the
wheel, hand building and lots of interesting
and humorous stories about his life as a potter
and photographer.

Steve is a master of surface decoration.
He explained in detail the art of gold leaf
decoration. He also carves many of his
vessels. The top part of the funky pitcher
he constructed was thrown in a previously-
carved-and-bisqued mold. A love for pottery
and photography led him to design a clay
pinhole camera which he constructed in front
of our eyes (see Pottery Making Illustrated,
May/June, 2005).

Christine Eastlick of the TriCity Potters
followed every step of Steve's presentations
with her new camera. Steve was impressed.
with her persistent attention to his work. We
assured him that Christine is notan undercover
agent. She has constructed several awesome
slide shows from the images (accompanied by
groovy music) which she generously offered
to let you see here. All images on this web
page are by Christine Eastlick.

The more than 20 members who attended
the workshop had a great time and were very
inspired by Steve. Thank you, Steve (and wife,
Joan) for coming to B.C.

Send in your chops and have them available through the guild. For the form, click on the link

Chop Marks
& Signatures

V6H 3R7 attention: chops.

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - September 2009

here: www.bcpotters.com/forms/chop_marks_form.doc
You can email it back to Debra Sloan at sloanyip@shaw.ca as an attachment. Or print and mail
your sheet[s] to Potters Guild of BC , 1359 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver, B.C.