As noted in last month's newsletter,chere
are three posinons to be filled, replacing
outgoing board members Carol Maver, Par
Taddy and Laura Anpiainen. We need ar
least one more nomination for the board;
please consider who may be suitable -
yourself? The following members of the
guild have been nominated for election:

Janet Turpin: Janet is a Certified General
Accountant with 20 years experience in
corporate accounting, auditing and
taxation. She worked for 19 years at
Fletcher Challenge Canada before leaving
in 1993 to seek more creative endeavours.
She is now acuvely pursuing her strong
interest in pottery and is a student with
June MacDonald at Place des Arcs in
Cegquittam.

Rachelle Chinnery-Le Gros: [ began
working with clay about 15 years ago. This
gave way to studies in Hispanic Liverarure,
Spanish and Anthropology. Then, when I
still wasn't employable, [ took up
proofreading, re-writing and teaching ESL.
I found work with a pharmaceutical
company doing all of the above in Tokyo,
and chart brought me full circle wich clay in
Japan. After four years [ returned to
Canada, [studied at Sheridan College in
Oakville, Ontario for a year, followed by a
year at Emily Carr. Last May [ opened
Mudslinger Clay Srudics with a friend I met
at Emily Carr and I've been dedicated to
elevating the profile of clay in Vancouver
ever since.

Studio Five Call for Entries

Studio 3 is offered by the Guild to
emerzing ceramists for the period of one
year, [tis a subsidized studio space
containing a wheel, kiln, work table,
shelves, etc. The rent is $150 per month,
The chosen artist will also have a show in
the Gallery in April 1998. The studio
functions best as a transition ata difficult
career point for many new clay workers.

Tenure is from May 12, 1997 to April
30th, 1998. The successful applicant will
| be juried in from those applications
received by March 20, 1997, If you are
interested please send at least six slides of
current work and a typed resume to the
Potters Guild of British Columbia, 1359
Cartwright Street, Granville Island,
Vancouver, BC, V6H 3R7.

]

Ceramic Hockey Pucks

(‘ve recently experienced a blip in
porterdom due te che annoying fictor of
having co sell chings to "keep the wolf
from the deer". [t's a stage uncaught at
Act School and one chat] choughe would
slip gracefully underfoot as the making
process reigned untarnished.

T sell pots at Granville Island Marker,
working hurriedly each moath to meet the
quota fer my 3 co 4 day stints. [ quiver as
Ladmit that the adjective “cute* is che
mest common neaction of che public to my
array, and amply audikle derogatory
comments are not unknown. [ find myself
shooing away the notion char my pocs are
yer another purchasing option amongst 4
dizzying display of bargains and sales, My
mind sets off onte scheming tangencs of
advercising CHMmipalgrs, involving high
billboards with sensual yet genderless pots
offering the consumer great new Lifearyles
or ceramic NHL hockey pucks with
serattittoed portraits of Lindros and che
like. And then my thoughts are broken as
a customer approaches and bends over to
eye level at my table, hovering dowly back
and ferth for half an jour, seeking the cup
thac rings with absolute certainty of their
particular specifications. Finally, when
chey saunter off with their wrapped
purchase, having generated generous
amounts of appreciation, | feel once again
compelled to hustle off to che studio.

I'm surprised at my own fickleness, but am
consoled that the motivational residue of
one enthusiastic customer far outweighs
the dismissing scoffs of twenty.

1 had che pleasure of dining at a fine
Ethiopian restaurant on Broadway
recently, and noticed two pors nestled in
basket holders. The gracious and
interesting proprietor broughe the
*jebonas” down to shew me. They are
made specifically to brew coffee in, with
their bulbous boetoms, dim necks and
comfortable handles, They had been
burnished to a shine except for elegant
lines that had been carved away from the
body, leaving protruding patterns. The
craftsmanship was laborious and fluid. [
found it refreshing to handle a por with
the enviable role of being regarded beth
aesthetically and functionally with prime
importance.

T know someone who woe ill fora long
time aru is now gecting better, slowly
filling a very austere and bleak coon with
carefully chosen articles. There is now
the sense of a greater ease at participating
in the world. | enjoy witnessing the
pleasure of obtaining something that so
impacts on an environment. This is che
delightful side of comsumerism.

I'm off to the studio now to make, not
stock, but pots that [ hope will invite
vigorous use. And en roure I'll be careful
not co stumble because | detect a slighe
elevation change on a potter's plateau.

Georgina Brandon

Terre en Transit:

7th Bienniale Nationale de Ceramique
April 24 through May 26, 1997 at the
Richmond Art Gallery, suite 180 7700
Minoru Gate, Richmond, BO {opening
reception will be held April 24 at 6 pm).

Terre en Transit is a travelling exhibicon
organized by the national Biennial of
Ceramics in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec and
consists of contemporary ceramic work by
juried and invited artists from across
Canada. In the 7ch edition works revolve
around the theme of “terme en transit’ and
reflect on the earth as a place of passage,
transition, transformation, and expression,
This will be the first time that the
Bienniale exhibition has travelled out
west. Since its beginnings La Bienniale
has been a major event for Canadian
ceramists to explore ceramics in all its
forms: functional pieces, objets d'art and
sculpture. The differenc selection
cammittees had chosen works from each
of these categories, which meet the
criteria of excellence in rechnical
production and in research.