The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

literature by Rachelle Chinnery Artistry Made of Clay salt kiln o n w h a t a m o u n t s t o a cliff face in N o r t h Vancouver. Yet another N o r t h Shore potter, Maggi K n e e r , was b o r n in t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m and lived f o r 20 years in H o n g K o n g , w h e r e she studied p o t t e r y and f l o w e r arranging. T h e r e are s o many interesting and different p e r s o n a l i t i e s , it's difficult t o define w h a t makes a potter. In fact, t h e r e are even varying definitions f o r p e o p l e w h o w o r k w i t h clay: p o t ter, c e r a m i s t , clay a r t i s t . T h e p o t t e r s t e n d t o make functional d i n n e r w a r e . t h e c e r a m i s t s can be s c u l p t o r s o r functional w a r e m a k e r s , and clay artists s e e m t o be all t h e a b o v e . In this b o o k , the a u t h o r s b r o u g h t all shades of clay artists t o g e t h e r u n d e r t h e d i p l o m a t i c title " T h e M a k e r s . " T h e y are i n t r o d u c e d t o the r e a d e r in the first p a r t of the b o o k in an essay entitled " V i g o r o u s and Shiny", a c h r o n i c l e of B C ceramics w r i t t e n by D r . C a r o l E. Mayer, c u r a t o r of C e r a m i c s and E t h n o l o g y at the U B C M u s e u m of Anthropology. D r . Mayer's extensive k n o w l e d g e of global c e r a m ics illuminates t h e vast range of traditions behind B C c l a y w o r k . She weaves the threads of world ceram| ics t o g e t h e r ith the c o n t e m p o r a r y p o t t e r s of B C t o give the r e a d e r a sense of c o n t i n u i t y in a craft t r a d i t i o n that is t h o u s a n d s of years o l d and p r e s e n t o n e v e r y c o n t i n e n t . F o r e x a m p l e . D r . M a y e r w r i t e s . "In C e n t r a l E u r o p e , a r o u n d 30,000 B C , small female figurines w e r e m o d e l e d of clay, s o m e t i m e s m i x e d w i t h c r u s h e d m a m m o t h b o n e , and baked in o p e n f i r e s . T h e s e have b e e n d u b b e d in l i t e r a t u r e as 'Venus' figures and p r e s u m e d t o be a s s o c i a t e d w i t h fertility, magic, and ritual. D e b r a Sloan's figures r e m i n d m e of t h e s e . " Mayer's h i s t o r i c a l essay is w r i t t e n in e a s y - t o - r e a d language that speaks t o a v e r y b r o a d a u d i e n c e . Technical t e r m i n o l o g y is p r e s e n t e d in a way that a n y o n e i n t e r e s t e d in c l a y -- p r o fessional o r l a y p e r s o n -- c a n u n d e r s t a n d . H e r r e f e r e n c e s t o the artists are f o l l o w e d by t h e page n u m b e r c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o the page the artist appears o n . T h i s makes the essay an e x c e l l e n t e d u c a t i o n a l t o o l f o r c e r a m i c t e a c h e r s , students, and an i n t e r e s t e d general public. " T h e M a k e r s " are featured in the s e c o n d p a r t of the b o o k . O n each of t h e s e pages is a large c o l o u r p h o t o graph of the w o r k , a biographical o u t l i n e , a p h o t o g r a p h of the artist, and an enlarged g r e y t o n e of the artist's signature o r m a r k . T h e p h o t o s , m o s t o f w h i c h are taken by V a n c o u v e r p h o t o g r a p h e r K e n Mayer, are brilliant. M a y e r uses w a r m Debra Left Maker: Sloan. Photo by Ken Mayer The P o t t e r s G u i l d o f British C o l u m b i a r e c e n t l y p u b l i s h e d /Mode o f Clay: Ceramics of British Columbia, a r e m a r k a b l e profile of c o n t e m p o r a r y c e r a m i c s in B C . T h e b o o k is the result o f m o r e than t w o years o f r e s e a r c h and d o c u m e n t a t i o n of clay artists t h r o u g h o u t the p r o v i n c e -- a n u m b e r of w h o m are living and w o r k i n g o n t h e N o r t h S h o r e and are highlighted in this review. In the b o o k ' s f o r e w o r d , Les M a n n i n g , p r e s i d e n t of the International A c a d e m y of C e r a m i c s , articulately outlines the t r a d i t i o n a l role of craft guilds and explains t h e specific r o l e o f t h e P o r t e r s G u i l d o f B C . M a n n i n g speaks v e r y highly of the p o t t e r s of this p a r t of the w o r l d and n o t e s that B C " b o a s t s the highest concentration of Bronfman w i n n e r s f r o m the clay discipline in C a n a d a . " T h i s b o o k is a t e s t a m e n t t o the c o m m i t m e n t of t h e p o t t e r s guild t o s e r v e its c o m m u n i t y and is a visual delight t o c e r a m i p h i l e s e v e r y where. T h e r e are 126 clay artists, o r " m a k e r s . " feat u r e d in Made of Clay. T h e i r w o r k is as v a r ied as t h e b a c k g r o u n d s of the artists themselves. Joseph M i h a l i k . the c e r a m i s t w h o s e w o r k is featured on the cover of the b o o k , was a dancer with the Hungarian N a t i o n a l Ballet f o r 10 years b e f o r e he moved to C a n a d a and d e d i c a t e d his life t o clay. C a t h i Jefferson built h e r o w n Photo by Ken Mayer