Bob from Manitoba responded to my blog on the Thomas Kakinuma show at West Vancouver Museum in February:

Hi,
My name is Bob and I live in Winnipeg Manitoba. I have bought a few pieces of Thomas’s pottery around here. Two brown birds with spots on them(1 wings open,1 wings closed). A couple vases about 7″ tall(1 birds in flight around it, the other has trees around it). I went to the antique show here yesterday and picked up a pair of pigeon/dove bookends that are about 8″X 8″ that are in a light grey in color. She said they had belonged to her great aunt at one time and had been bought it back in the early 60’s she thinks. If you would like to see a pic of them let me know. I have scoured the internet but haven’t found any bookends so far.
Please let me know
Bob

He has now sent me photos of the Kakinuma pieces he owns. If anyone would care to let Bob know more about his bird book-ends please add a comment below or email me and I can forward information to him. Were they a special order or has anyone ever seen other book-ends?

Another collector sent a photo of the owl so I expect this owl is also a standard production money bank. What a good thing it wasn’t smashed to retrieve the pennies!

Thank you for the photos Bob, and I hope another collector can give you more information. Sadly I don’t have any Kakinumas in my collection.

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‘Tommy’ Kakinuma taught some of the founding members of the BC Potters’ Guild in the fifties and sixties, in the UBC Pottery Huts. Recently collectors have been finding his pieces in antique shops in Vancouver and wonder who he was. It seems very little has been known about him.

Blogger Stacy Reynaud bought a bird pot from John Lawrence of Doda Antiques. John has a huge collection of early BC pottery and a wealth of knowledge about the artists. After Stacy mentioned her find on her blog Thomas Kakinuma’s family contacted her and invited her to visit them and see more of their collection.

http://www.bijouliving.com/2008/05/thanks-for-knowledge-vancouver.html

Since then Stacy has been in touch with Debra Sloan, the Potters’ Guild’s voluntary historian, who was excited to learn that Thomas’ wife is still alive (98) and that they still own lots of Kakinuma pots and sculptures. UBC’s Ceramics Curator Dr. Carol Mayer was equally interested and has done some research into Kakinuma’s education, shows and teaching. It is clear that the work falls under the ‘Mid-Century Modern’ umbrella and thus attracted the attention of Vancouver Art Gallery’s MCM curator Allan Collier. Allan suggested that there be a show of the work, and Darrin Morrison has now curated this collection at the West Vancouver Museum.

A Saturday afternoon drive to the museum with the prospect of slide talks by these four people was actually my idea of a perfect pastime! Yes, the pots and sculptures are reminiscent of work from the period when I started being interested in pottery. Tommy said that he preferred to make large sculptures but the many small animal pieces are what kept the family solvent. Debra gave us a short history of Kakinuma and his importance to the BC Ceramics community. She remembers her mentors fondly describing his demonstrations and lessons out at UBC. Carol followed up with her detailed research into any reference to him in the UBC, Potters Guild and Crafts Association archives.

The catalogue for the show, ‘The Ceramic Art of Thomas Kakinuma’, a worthwhile $10 at the museum, gives a good biography of this important BC potter. I won’t try to duplicate it here except to say that TK was born in 1908 in Japan and left there to look for training and a career as a painter, arriving in Vancouver in 1937. For the War years he lived in Toronto, graduating from the Ontario College of Art in 1947. He spent two years at the Art Students League in New York. There is one delightful painting of his from this time in the current show.

But Thomas chose to specialize in pottery, moved back to Vancouver, took pottery lessons and met the artists working here then, including BC Binning. He then taught at the Huts and produced his sculpture and pots for most of the fifties and sixties, winning prizes nationally and internationally.

Allan Collier talked about the artists who represent Mid-Century Modernism in BC, showed us images of buildings, furniture and pottery from the period. He made a good case for Kakinuma’s inclusion in the group and informed us that he is working on a show covering this topic for 2019 at Vancouver Art Gallery.

The final speaker was Stacy who explained how she’d come across Kakinuma, and her excitement at being at the show’s recent opening. I was touched to hear that Kakinuma’s wife was there and was overjoyed to see the Peacock sculpture Thomas had made for their wedding carefully displayed in the show. Interestingly as the show was being installed a museum visitor mentioned that he had a Kakinuma bronze sculpture, ‘Two Nuns’, in his garden so Darrin Morrison made a space for it too.

Enjoy my random selection of pieces from the show – functional pots, sculptures and amusing animals, and keep your eyes open for Kakinuma work around Vancouver.

The show continues until March 10th.

This note came from a Vancouver pottery collector:

“This owl was a gift on the birth of our son, 45 years ago. We didn’t know who the potter was until today. Thanks for the blog.”

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Just the other day BC potters received very sad news from the BC Potters Guild board’s president, Laura Carey. It has been decided that, due to falling numbers of customers at our gallery and ever-increasing rent, the Gallery of BC Ceramics will close at the end of February. The same email invited us to last Thursday’s opening for past-president Jinny Whitehead’s solo show. It will be the last show there, and it’s fitting that Jinny’s work is featured. Sadly I had a bad cold and couldn’t go.

Of course we potters have been communicating with each other and sending replies to the gallery, and all feel somewhat devastated by this closing. I for one plan to go in to Granville Island next Tuesday evening to learn more about how and why this has happened and to see if there are ways we can keep the BC Potters Guild viable and relevant to our members. I shall also have the chance to see the current show.

‘We are calling a Special General Meeting for all members to
discuss our situation, taking place on Tuesday February 6th at 6 pm at the
Gallery of BC Ceramics. Please RSVP to staff@bcpotters.com if you wish to
attend the meeting.’

The announcement didn’t come as a surprise as the board have warned us for several years about falling revenue and increasing rent. They and the gallery staff have made impressive efforts to diversify our customer base and stage special events in the gallery. Now it’s time to remember and be grateful for the wonderful 31 years of showing ceramics that the gallery has provided for us BCPG members, and for the Vancouver, BC and World-wide visitors who’ve found it. For the lucky potters who have been represented by the gallery it will leave a gap in our opportunities to show and sell our work. Over the next months we’ll see what evolves to take up that gap.

It was good news when the BC Potters Guild found a way to establish the gallery on Cartwright street, on busy, tourist-friendly, Arts-oriented Granville Island. It took the place of the earlier House of Ceramics in downtown Vancouver which had been established and operated by BC potter Hiro Urikami. As a somewhat beginning potter I was pleased to join the community at the new gallery by volunteering to join the monthly group who stuffed the newsletter into envelopes and mailed it. (There’s a time warp, and good memories Jan Kidnie).

Later when I was attending Emily Carr College of Art & Design (as it was in 1991-94) it was so convenient to pop into the gallery a block away. The gallery hosted a couple of solo shows for me, one shortly after I graduated and another, ‘Ornithikos’ which introduced my Jugbirds in 2003. The gallery staff have always been so helpful with advice on what to show and pricing. Its other function is to display and celebrate the history of BC Ceramics, and it is this that will be difficult to continue without a physical space.

On that topic I plan to drive over to the West Vancouver museum next Saturday February 10th to see a collection of work by Thomas Kakinuma and hear a panel discussion. Kakinuma was a much-loved pottery teacher to some of the founding members of BC Potters Guild when he taught in ‘The Pottery Hut’ at UBC in the sixties. I hope that Debra Sloan won’t mind my copying her description of the show and biography of Kakinuma from this month’s newsletter.

The Ceramic Art of Thomas Kakinuma

by Debra Sloan

EXHIBITION runs through to March 10, at the West Vancouver Museum, 680 17th Street, http://westvancouvermuseum.ca

PANEL DISCUSSION: Thomas Kakinuma in Context on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2 p.m. SPEAKERS: Debra Evelyn Sloan (ceramicist), Dr. Carol E Mayer (curator), Allan Collier (curator/collector) and Stacy Laviolette (collector)

“In pottery, the designs come from painting, the forms from sculpture, and we have to know the study of chemistry, too. It’s a very complex art.” 1 | — Thomas Kakinuma, 1969

Thomas Kakinuma (1908-1982) is an intriguing figure in British Columbia’s ceramics history. He was a highly regarded potter and sculptor in the 1950s and 1960s, and throughout his working life he received recognition across Canada and internationally. With renewed attention and focus on Mid-Century art and British Columbia craft, this exhibition examines Kakinuma’s role as a teacher and producer of era-defining ceramics illustrating his significant contributions.

Born and raised in Japan, Kakinuma immigrated to Vancouver in 1937, intending to become an artist and to eventually study in Paris. World War II interrupted his plans and he ended up in Toronto where he studied painting and drawing at the Ontario College of Art (OCA). He graduated with honours in 1947, then studied painting under Yasuo Kuniyoshi at the Art Students League in New York. After rejecting painting as a viable career, he turned his attention to ceramics, studying again at OCA and then at the University of British Columbia, where he would later teach ceramics at the Pottery Hut. While Kakinuma produced a variety of wares, he was well-known for producing small and endearing figurative works, such as cats, penguins, fish and birds. He preferred, however, to produce large sculptures and abstract pieces. “The birds are quick to produce and easy to sell… but I would really like to work on a one man show, rather than making small items for stores”, says Kakinuma.2 His sculptures were included in a number of important exhibitions and were featured in Centennial Sculpture ’67 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, which was organized by the Federation of Canadian Artists.

Kakinuma won several awards including a Canada Arts Council Senior Fellowship grant in 1960 to study in Japan and Mexico: his works from this time reflect his experiences fusing both Japanese and Mexican influences. In 1962, he won a silver medal at the International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics in Prague.
The Ceramic Art of Thomas Kakinuma is the artist’s first substantial retrospective offering a rare opportunity to see works from public and private collections. The exhibition is organized by the West Vancouver Museum, in collaboration with the Kakinuma Family, Debra Evelyn Sloan, Dr. Carol E. Mayer, Allan Collier and Stacy Laviolette.

1 Thomas Kakinuma, as quoted by Eileen Johnson, “A Potter of Birds—He’s the Possessor of a Marmalade Cat,” The Vancouver Sun, September 8, 1969.

2 Ibid.

A third pottery item:  The speaker for TriCity Potters’ monthly meeting in February is Malory Tate.

At our next meeting, February 21, 7 pm, Port Moody Art Centre, our presenter will be Malory Tate.
Malory Tate was born and raised in Kamloops. In 2016, Malory received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Major in Ceramics, from NSCAD University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Malory is presently the ceramic artist in residence at the Port Moody Art Centre.

All are welcome to join TriCity potters. Malory will give a presentation on her work and will have several pieces to show us. I’m really looking forward to that evening.

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