When we got off the ferries from Hornby and Denman Islands at Buckley Bay we headed north towards Courtney and Comox. I wanted to find ‘The Potters’ Place’ in Courtney first. It is a pottery shop in a little mall off the main street. Better signage would have been helpful!
http://www.thepottersplace.ca/about_potters_place.htm
Once inside, I was impressed at the large space, where each artist has a floor to ceiling display area. The fourteen members take turns manning the shop and they also carry the work of fifteen more artists on consignment. We were greeted by Maggie Shaw that day and it turned out she is also this month’s featured artist. For her show she had made a large number of mugs, all decorated in different ways, as a kind of teaching tool. Bless her, she remembered taking a workshop from me! It turned out that that was the only time I’ve taught on Vancouver Island, at the Parksville Ceramic Symposium some years ago.
I was looking for salt-glaze potter Susan Taylor’s work and I knew she is a member. We met when we took the workshop and kiln firing with Jane Hamlyn at Shadbolt Centre, also several years ago now. I remembered that Susan had entered a very smart salt-glazed piece for ‘BC in a Box’ and last year, when I was still looking for a salt kiln, she included some of my pieces in one of her salt firings. It’s not a practical option but I’m grateful to have had some work fired, properly. So thank you Susan. I have a couple of photos of her work here.
Another artist whose work I recognized was Meg Burgess, who shows with the ‘Fired Up’ group at Metchosin each Spring. Her professional, reduction-fired work is here.
Gordon Hutchens has his work here too, so buyers don’t all have to make the trip over to his island gallery.
http://www.pearlellisgallery.com
The other spot I wanted to find was the Pearl Ellis Gallery in nearby Comox. Alan didn’t mind driving over there because he always likes to check out the gallery/shop on the Komoks reserve there. My friend, fellow potter and president of our TriCity Potters, June MacDonald recommended I pop in to Pearl Ellis because her 95-year-old mother had a solo show opening on Thursday August 15th.
We were there the next morning so did not find Ruth Dickson there but were most impressed by her work. She has apparently been painting all her adult life and is still enjoying it. Congratulations Ruth!
