Julie York was our presenter at last Wednesday’s TriCity Potters meeting. On a horrid rainy night, when there was almost no parking near the High School due to a concert at the same time there, Julie found her way out from Vancouver. She explained her beginnings in clay as a student of David Lloyd’s at Kwantlen College in her home town of Surrey. Another instructor there, our board member Kay Bonathan, taught Julie in a Design class. They recognized each other on Wednesday and Julie kindly said her design sense stems from Kay’s instruction. Julie then went on to Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design for her Ceramics BFA. More details are in Myrta’s notes on TriCity Potters website – link below.

We gained an understanding of Julie’s non-functional ceramic work from her photos of the process and the progression of the work over several years. Galleries Perimeter and Pentimenti carry her work. She says it’s difficult to make a new series at present with the full-time teaching load at ECUAD, but that her new studio in South Surrey will be her retreat in the summer. She’s also looking into which galleries in BC might show her work. It’ll be interesting to see if any take on ceramics, even if it’s non-functional. Her work is not ‘Installation Art’ because it’s not activating the space, she makes objects to be displayed. I found that a useful distinction.

Thank you Julie for a thought and question-provoking evening.

The link will take you to Myrta Hayes’ piece about the talk and some more photos, on the TriCity Potters website. http://www.tricitypotters.ca/hot2.html