Training
1991-94 Full time student at ECCAD, majoring in ceramics (graduation April 1994).
Awarded BFA
1995
1988 - Present
Workshops with Walter Keeler, Clary Ilian, Hank Morrow, Bruce Cochrane,
Dale Pereira, Jeff Oestreich, Walter Ostrom, Josh de Weese, Ruthanne Tudball, John Leach, Les Manning, Jane Hamlyn and Chris Staley.
1984 Wood and salt-firing workshop with Douglas Phillips, Somerset, England
1971-77 Courses in Ceramics and Glaze Calculation at Douglas College, Surrey
[now Kwantlen
UC]
1970-71 Pottery courses at Huyghe School of Pottery, Vancouver
1967-68 Painting course at Sir George Williams University, Montreal
1966-67 Graphic Design course at St. Martin's School of Art, London
1965-66 Pottery classes at West of England College of Art, Bristol
1961-64 Art Teacher Training in London, England
Memberships
Founding member of Fraser Valley Potters' Guild
B.C. Potters' Guild (Board member 1994 - 99)
Crafts
Association of BC
Artsconnect Arts Council (Coquitlam area)
Circle Craft
Port Moody Arts Centre Society
Founding member of TriCity Potters 2007
Exhibitions
2008 Feb 7 – Apr 6
“Contemporary Craft in British Columbia: Excellence within Diversity”,
Vancouver Museum,
British Columbia
2008 April “Fingerplay: BC in a Box” BCPG, Blackberry Gallery, Port Moody, BC
2007 May “Rara Avis” Solo Show, Circle Craft Gallery, Vancouver BC
2006 June 'Contemporary Canadian Ceramics', Esplanade Art Gallery, Medicine Hat, Alberta
2006 Salt-glazed Jugbird in “Salzbrand: Keramik 2006”, Handwerkskammer Koblenz
2005 Pieces in Potters Guild of BC 50th Anniversary Shows: ‘BC in a Box’, ‘TransFormations’ at Burnaby Art Gallery, and BC/Tajimi, Japan.
2005 Feb First Prize-winner, ‘Clay 2005’, Fraser Valley Potters Guild, Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam
2004 April 'Animal Sculptures & Paintings', Candover Gallery, Alresford, Hampshire, England
2003 Sept “Ornithikos” Solo Show, Gallery of BC Ceramics, Vancouver BC
2000 Oct & Nov “Down to Earth”. Two person show at Amelia Douglas Gallery, Douglas College, New Westminster.
2000 Mar & April
“The
Attic Project” Eric Metcalfe (I made 27 Greek vessels for Eric to paint) Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge. The show was
also exhibited at Maltwood Art Museum, Victoria and the Kamloops Art Gallery in 2001, at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery in
early 2002, at the Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver in June – Sept 2002 and at the College Building Gallery, Saskatoon, Nov
2006 – Feb 2007.
1998 Sept Recent Work in Clay, Solo show, Port Moody Arts Centre.
1997 April "The Art of the Chair", Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam
1996 Oct & Nov "The Culture of Nature", Kamloops Art Gallery, ceramic collaboration with Eric Metcalfe.
1996 Oct "..there's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip..", Solo show, Gallery of BC Ceramics, Granville Island, Vancouver.
1996 July & Aug "Off The Wall" Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver.
1995 Sept. Prize-winner, "Clay 95", FVPG Annual Juried Show, Langley.
1995 Sept. World Tea Party, Presentation House, North Vancouver, ceramic collaboration with Eric Metcalfe.
1994 May Grad Show, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design
1994 Apr. "Images '94", Port Coquitlam. Piece selected for "Images & Objects XII", Campbell River, and "Markings" in Victoria.
1993 Nov. Prize-winner, "Fraser Valley Clay", Maple Ridge Art Gallery
1993 June Prize-winner, B.C. Potters Guild "Jugs" show, Canadian Craft Museum
1993 Mar. Prize-winner, FVPG Annual Juried Show, Community Arts Council Gallery, Vancouver.
1990 Oct. Prize-winner, FVPG Annual Juried Show, Langley
1990 May "Colour and Form", solo show, Place des Arts, Coquitlam
1987 May Honourable mention at "Images '87", juried show of Burnaby/New Westminster Arts Councils. Work subsequently exhibited at "Images and Objects '87", B.C. Festival of the Arts, Duncan
1986 May "Earth and Straw", two-person show with weaver Gitte Nelson at Place des Arts, Coquitlam
Awards
Canada Council Travel Grant, March 2000
Winner of “Excellence in the Arts 1994” ARC (Coquitlam Area Arts
Council) award.
Robin Mayer faculty scholarship for my final year at ECCAD (1993-94)
ARC grant for tuition for the
1993 Summer School at ECCAD
Information/Publications:
Contemporary Canadian Ceramics, Catalogue, Esplanade Art Gallery and Medalta International Artist in Residence Programme, 2006, pp 38 39.
500 Pitchers: Contemporary Expressions of a Classic Form, Lark Books, 2006, p 85.
500
Animals in Clay: Contemporary Expressions of the Animal Form, Lark Books, 2006, p 35.
Salzbrand: Keramik 2006, Handwerkskammer Koblenz
Evolution: 80 Years of Emily Carr Institute Alumni, Catalogue, ECI, 2005, p 54
TransFormations: Ceramics 2005, Catalogue, Potters Guild of British Columbia
Making
and Installing Handmade Tiles, Angelica Pozo, Lark Books, 2005, pp 87 & 90.
Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface, Robin Hopper, 2004, kp books, p 163.
‘Gallery’, in Ceramic Review Nov/Dec 2003 Issue 204, p. 16.
The
Attic Project, by Gillian McMillan, in Artichoke. Special Edition #2, 2002, pp 8-13.
Eric Metcalfe, by Anna-Marie Larsen, in Border Crossings. May 2002 #82, pp 71 &72
The Attic Project: Eric Metcalfe, Catalogue 2000 Southern Alberta Art Gallery/Kamloops Art Gallery
Gillian McMillan, in Made of Clay: Ceramics of British Columbia Potters Guild of BC/Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, BC 1998, p 97.
Gillian McMillan, in Contact : Ceramics from a Canadian Perspective. Winter 1996/97. #107, pp.41, 43.
Public Art
“Celebrating the Arts and Culture in Burnaby” a mosaic tile floor jointly commissioned by the Lougheed Town Centre (where it is installed) and Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. October 2002. Gillian was one of 6 clay artists who collaborated on this project, with the help of Shadbolt technicians.
“Pioneer Memories 2001” two concrete planters on St. George street traffic islands, commissioned by the City of Port Moody.