In late Spring last year, long-time Potters Guild of BC members June
MacDonald and I pondered the idea of forming a social group for
potters in the Tri-Cities area of Greater Vancouver. After some emails
and an announcement of an exploratory meeting to be held at Port
Moody Arts Centre in June, we found some 30 people interested!

Gloria Barkley issued a press release which resulted in a photo op
and interview of June McDonald by the Tricity News. This coverage
triggered a good turnout at a September meeting and we voted to form
TriCity Potters and hold monthly meetings in Port Moody. June was
elected first president, Lewis Kennett vice-president, Gloria Barkley
treasurer and archivist, Linda Lebrun secretary and myself events
coordinator.

A year later, after Gloria was overwhelmed with too much work, we
now have Christine Eastlick as treasurer, Linda assembling a newsletter
and stalwart and creative member Myrta Hayes has started a very
professional-looking web site, www.tricitypotters.ca.

Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the month, at 7 p.m.
from September to June. Visitors are welcome. For some meetings
we have invited speakers who describe their work and/or travels.
Sometimes we ask one or more of our own members to show us their
work and explain how they came to clay.

We hada field trip to the Koerner Ceramics Gallery at the Museum of
Anthropology and we had a pot luck supper at my house with Vince
Pitelka who was in Burnaby to give a workshop at the Shadbolt Centre.

As the events coordinator, I have sought to challenge members to

TriCity Potte I'S By Gillian McMillan

push their own work beyond ordinary. One evening we had a Handle
Happening during which we all applied handles to leather-hard mug
shapes that members had premade from any cone 6 clay. The resulting
collaborative mugs led to interesting critiques on function and were
bisqued and glazed by members and sold to each other!

At our most recent meeting, member Maria Palotas introduced us
to a technique of piercing leather-hard bowls, a decoration from her
home country of Hungary.

Since last year we have outgrown the Port Moody Arts Centre
meeting room and now meet in Port Coquitlam’s Leigh Square Arts
Village. The space is huge and has the basics for pottery classes and
workshops, so we are looking forward to offering a variety of clay
related opportunities for potters here.

Better Butter Box Challenge

In June, I challenged members to design a better butter box.
Members were asked to make butter containers over the summer and
to bring one to the October meeting. This led to another interesting
discussion on function and design with a variety of shapes submitted,
using different clays and surfaces. The results are now being exhibited
in display cases in Port Coquitlam’s Leigh Square Arts Village and local
residents are invited to be part of the design exercise by voting on their
Peoples’ Choice.

‘The winner will be disclosed at our Christmas potluck party and will
be presented with a Thrifty Foods gift certificate to buy lots of

butter!

> This is just a sampling of the Better Butter Boxes from the TriCity Potters. Clockwise from top left, the pieces are by: Joan Grisley, Monica
Viola, Gillian McMillan, Lynne Fanthorpe, Dan Severance, Charlene Vikse, and Martha Meimetis (centre).

COLUMBIA Potters Guild of BC Newsletter : December 2008

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