- Words by Jane Zatlyny Photography by Don Denton

Whether you walk across the threshold of Mary Fox Pottery in Ladysmith or open the book Mary Fox: My Life as a Potter, prepare to be immersed in a world of colour, beauty and imagination. And pots. Lots of pots.

A pretty winter garden leads into a renovated miner害羞草研究所檚 cabin on a quiet Ladysmith side street. Inside the shop, your eye is drawn to a large selection of pots, tableware, bowls and vessels. Beautiful, impossibly tall pots. Voluptuous oversized vessels. Blown glass and ceramic chalices, mounted in rock. Glazes and textures beyond one害羞草研究所檚 wildest imagination.

Behind the gallery, apprentice Sarah Wilson attaches a clay handle to a mug in the Creation Room. Shelves upon shelves of pots and vessels await firing in Mary害羞草研究所檚 massive Blaauw kiln at the back of the house.

Upstairs, in Mary害羞草研究所檚 private quarters, there are more pots to admire, on low floating shelves under large windows and on higher shelves on the walls. And on her kitchen counter, there are vintage Torquay motto-ware pottery pieces, including her precious childhood egg cup.

Mary uses an adjacent room as a photography studio, and it is here that she has arranged some of her most impressive pieces on wall-mounted shelves, including a rotund saggar-fired pot with the most incredible surface. Made from a mixture of sawdust, copper, and seaweed from the Ladysmith Harbour, it is a prime example of Mary害羞草研究所檚 artistic ingenuity.

害羞草研究所淟adysmith used to be a coal mining town, so there害羞草研究所檚 a bit of coal attached to the seaweed, which gives it these red tones,害羞草研究所� she says.

The pot looks ancient, very much like it could have been part of an archaeological dig.

害羞草研究所淚 want people to have that sense of unearthed beauty with my work,害羞草研究所� says Mary. 害羞草研究所淚 want them to look and wonder, 害羞草研究所業s it glass? Is it clay? Is it metal?害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟

It害羞草研究所檚 hard to imagine, looking around, that Mary害羞草研究所檚 life as a potter almost didn害羞草研究所檛 happen.

害羞草研究所淐eramics was the only elective left open to me at Central Junior High School in Victoria,害羞草研究所� Mary says. 害羞草研究所淚 was positive I couldn害羞草研究所檛 take the class because I wasn害羞草研究所檛 artistic; I was a bookworm and a beachcomber.害羞草研究所� But take it she did.

害羞草研究所淚t was love at first touch,害羞草研究所� she said.

That elective led to more high school classes, much experimentation and the acceptance of her work at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria gift shop and other Victoria galleries when she was still in her teens.

Mary was ambitious and completely obsessed with pottery. At 18, she planned to apprentice with British potter Michael Leach in Devon. But fate intervened once again.

害羞草研究所淚 borrowed a friend害羞草研究所檚 car to deliver some pots to a gallery and had a car accident,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淭here was no collision insurance on the car, so that took all my coin and I couldn害羞草研究所檛 go.害羞草研究所�

As a self-taught ceramic artist, Mary has faced numerous personal and professional hurdles, including a devastating autoimmune disease that affected her and her late wife, Heather Vaughan. She persisted through it all, establishing homes and studios in different cities, exploring new methods and materials in her work, and making a living as a potter.

Now 63, she is at the top of her profession and able to look back with perspective on her life as a potter.

害羞草研究所淎bout 20 years ago, Heather asked me what would have made it easier for me as a potter starting out,害羞草研究所� she says. 害羞草研究所淚 told her: a low-cost, equipped studio where I could sell what I was creating.害羞草研究所�

This conversation marked the beginning of the Mary Fox Legacy Project Society. Mary created an endowment fund through the Vancouver Foundation and the Craft Council of BC, and an apprenticeship program to support young ceramic artists. Today, this project is her focus.

害羞草研究所淭he world we live in is very different from the world I grew up in,害羞草研究所� she says. 害羞草研究所淚t is increasingly important to me to help the youth of tomorrow.害羞草研究所�

When she finished writing her book and started putting the Legacy Project together, she realized that she would no longer have the energy to both exhibit her own work and work on the Legacy Project. But that is all right, she says.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檝e succeeded in my main life goal of creating pottery and earning my living by my craft. Now it害羞草研究所檚 time to help the young people害羞草研究所攁nd what better way to do that than by introducing a traditional apprenticeship and an endowment to help future generations of potters?害羞草研究所�

Mary Fox: My Life as a Potter

Stories and Techniques

Part memoir, part instructional how-to book for ceramicists, this beautifully designed and illustrated hardcover book offers an inspiring story of love, loss, artistic growth and friendship that every student, collector or individual who appreciates the ceramic arts should read.

In Part I, Mary shares her development as an artist and the highs and lows of her personal life, including the loss of her wife, Heather, in 2007. She also tells readers about her vision for the Mary Fox Legacy Project.

In Part II, Mary offers valuable technical notes, including 害羞草研究所渢hings I wish I害羞草研究所檇 known,害羞草研究所� glaze techniques, marketing ideas, and detailed information about her creative process.

害羞草研究所淏aring my soul to the world was not on my 害羞草研究所榤ust-do list,害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟 Mary admits. 害羞草研究所淏ut inspiring and sharing knowledge was, so I shared it all.害羞草研究所�

All proceeds from Mary Fox: My Life as a Potter (2020, Harbour Publishing) support the Mary Fox Legacy Project.

Find it at , in Victoria or via Amazon or Indigo.

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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