TO MY FELLOW GUILD
MEMBERS

First things first; a BIG hearty thankyou to

the people who agreed to work at the PNE
booth. They were particularly rare individuals!
I'm recovering from the ugly experience of try-
ing to muster a grand total of 20 individuals to
participate in an information booth at the PNE-
| made over a 180 phone calls, logged in over
40 hours of time and, in the end, was unable
to find enough members of the guild willing to
be involved. | can appreciate that labour day
weekend is a busy time for many, but still...
What we passed up was the chance to have 4
different mini-exhibitions each day. It was an
opportunity for members who don't sell in the
gallery to publicize their work, where they do
it, why they do it and where it can be found. It
was a chance to let the B.C. public know the
difference between the 99cent mug they buy
at |kea and the one they pay considerably
more for from you. It was a chance to let peo-
ple know the difficulties we have juggling jobs,
children, significant others and our love of
clay. After my last conversation with the arts
co-ordinator for the PNE, | suspect that it will
be an icy day in hell before this opportunity
comes our way again.

| often hear fellow members (including, until
very recently, myself) complain about the sen-
sation of being tefl out of the executive deci-
sions. Perhaps so, but we are all welcome at
the board meetings. Personally speaking, I've
only attended the annual general meeting.
And, after my expenence of non-réeturned
phone calls last month, | surely don't blame
the board members for not calling each and
every one of us when there's something
heavy on the plate. It ils our own respectabil-
ity, 25 functioning adults, to participate in our
guild. Our mandate is to increase the aware-
ness of what we do with our chosen material,
clay.

What would you like to see done? Are you
able to put time into seeing itdone? Remem-
ber that the board members are just fellow
mud-muffins with jobs and families of their
own. Incidentally, five of the seventeen peo-
ple who did agree to do the PNE were board
members who already volunteer several hours
each month, | suggest you think of one thing,
no matter how Small or large, that would bene-
fit us, the muddy people, and think about how
to get it done. Can your friends in the guild
help you? Is this your chance to make new

Pages3

guild buddies? I'm aiming for a big picnic
next year, So | can get a chance to match
faces to the voices | heard over the phone last
month,

Oh yes, I'd like to pul together a page of clay
nightmares, firing disasters etc. , | have a rich
diversity of personal memories to draw upon,
and would love to hear other people's experi-
ences. Perhaps it could become a regular
monthly feature ? Send them into the
newsletter and think of all the valuable learn-
ing material you'll be sharing with the rest of
us. Not to mention the giggles!

KAREN OPAS

GALLERY NEWS

Phew! What a summer we've had here al the
Gallery of BC Ceramics. Although Gallery
sales have slowed down a little during this, the
third week of August, we are still 21% ahead
of last year (to date) and seem to continually
be needing and receiving more inventory,

The Gallery's August exhibit, The Yakimonoe
of Tozan, has received a very positive reac-
tion from the public; not only did the Gallery
benefit, but the Tozan Cultural Society and
the kiin-buliding project also gained further
public recognition and awareness, with much
credit to the August 8th article in the Vancou-
yer Sun. The Gallery had originally planned
to follow Yukio Yamamoto's show with a ret-
rospective exhibit in September to celebrate
our 10th anniversary on Granville Island.
However, due to too little time and too much
research and information needed, this concept
has been postponed until the new year. For-
tunately John Cloutier, Heather Chapman &
Jennifer Ross agreed to put together Three
Forms of Enjoyment, a show of raku work,
without much notice - thank you! The opening
reception will be on Saturday, September 9th
and the exhibit will run until the end of
September. In October, the Gallery will pre-

“Ry being cirenlated
sent a show of work by members of the West _ works are
Coast Clay Sculptors' Association. Juried transformed into

by Sally Mitchener, David Robinson and Jane — monsienifying

Matthews, Metamorphosis: Sculpture of ee ga ofthe
the Autumnal Equinox will open on Satur- will to be meumin gfial
day, October 7th, mnalion Sie: setae ms
meaningless being.”
The feature artists planned for September Octavto Pax Easavy
and October are Julia Maika and Darlene on Messeutt Arts

Naime. Maggi Kneer's featured work in Au-
gust included a range of large platters and