This has been rather a special week for me, with events almost every day, and hardly any work in my studio! Briefly, we entertained my Berlin nephew Christopher and his wife and two children for a Port Moody day on Monday. They’re spending a packed three weeks driving all around BC. I have no idea if they’ll ever see the experimental pottery creations they made that day.
On Tuesday I drove south to Kwantlen U to collect pots that had been in the Alumni and Fraser Valley Potters show there. I brought home my favourite salty vase and work by Fred Owen, Judy Burke and Rob Bush that I had lent for the show. It was good to catch up with Laura Wee Lay Laq and Pat Schendel. PoMoArts gallery manager Janice Cotter was pleased to accept my vase to be included in the show she was setting up.
Wednesday was set aside for a fabulous family event. Our kids had organised tickets for us all to attend a Theatre Under The Stars performance of the musical ‘Matilda’ in Stanley Park. It was perfect weather, Jen brought along a picnic supper, the boys were enthralled with live, outdoor theatre and we even caught the beginning of the evening’s firework display. Thanks for a really thoughtful birthday gift, family.
Jonathon Bancroft Snell, of Jonathon’s Gallery, has been posting photos of his favourite ceramic pieces, perched in a tree. This week he selected a large stoneware jug of mine to feature on Instagram. He had purchased it for himself, from a group of ‘historic’ pots I’d mailed to the gallery in 2021. I made it in 1993, when I was an Emily Carr student. A description like this from such a knowledgeable curator and collector is something an artist can only hope for. When he phoned later I told him that the words made my day, and had made me think about my life-long, but unrecognised passion for birds in a new way.
Finally, Thursday evening saw the opening, at PoMoArts, of the two shows celebrating the launching of the Port Moody Arts Centre nonprofit society in 1998.
In the main gallery is ‘Honouring the Past, Embracing the Future’ A milestone celebration bringing together a culturally and artistically diverse collective of artists who have graced our gallery spaces over the years, each making their unique mark on the tapestry of our artistic community.
In the photos below you’ll recognize work by some of our favourite artists!
In the other two galleries you can see ‘An Abundance of Caring’ Ceramic Artists in Residence 1998-2023′
Join us as we pay tribute to the dedicated artist who have carried the title Ceramic Artist in residence, since our nonprofit society started in 1998. Their artistic styles and techniques are diverse, unified in their passion for pottery as an art form and their caring enthusiasm for sharing this artistic medium with the community.
When the Arts Centre first opened in 1996 BW Finley and I each adopted a tiny office room in the building’s basement, thus becoming Ceramics Artists in Residence while we gradually established the Clay Programme.
As the earliest available CAIR (BW now lives in Oregon) Janice invited me to say a few words about the Clay Artist’s Residency at Thursday’s Opening. Gaetan Royer recorded my words:
https://www.facebook.com/729725530/videos/1952451095137076/
I’m particularly proud that we have the only year-long Ceramics Artist in Residence programme locally, which gives an emerging clay artist a free studio space for a year and a solo show at the end, in return for supervising Clay Drop-in times and offering some classes.
This is a long enough blog for today. I hope to post photos of the clay work by each of the Clay artists represented in these shows one day soon. Meanwhile do take the time to drop in to PoMoArts to see a big variety of fine work. The shows will be up until September 6th 2023.
Love looking at all the different pottery you all produce. I especially admire the creativity and imagination that goes into all your work. What a wonderful community of artists you have created.