Hélène started pottery lessons to explore a new creative outlet. Having always enjoyed crafting, especially working on three dimensional projects, throwing on the wheel fit right in! She started at Cedar Hill Rec Centre like many other local potters and owes her instructor Michael Giles for helping her develop her budding ceramics skills.
Member Pages
Marilyn McNamara
I don’t know what it is about a thrown pot but I have always admired and enjoyed them. I was doing an undergraduate degree when I heard of a six month pottery course offered in Fredericton, New Brunswick. I told my mother I would quit just for the six months and then I will go…. Read More
Ellen Desjardins
Ellen has been practicing ceramics since 1996, learning from the many potters and resources at the Waterloo Potters Workshop in Ontario. In 2018 she moved to Vancouver Island, where she started her own studio in Spirit Bay (near Metchosin). In her work space perched on the edge of the cliff overlooking Beecher Bay, Ellen enjoys…. Read More
Kristin Jeffrey
My name is Kristin (Kris) Jeffrey and I have been a hobby potter for a little over 20 years. I live in Victoria and have a home studio in the Interurban area. My interest in pottery was sparked in high school art with a short pottery program. I caught the bug and vowed to learn…. Read More
Rebecca McClure
Rebecca is a ceramic artist living in Victoria, BC, Canada, the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People. With a lifelong passion for art, she began working with clay in 1991. Although she holds degrees in the fields of psychology and education, she has taken numerous arts and ceramics courses through both post-secondary institutions and community arts…. Read More
Derek Kasper
Derek Kasper was first introduced to ceramics and art via a romance with a potter at the University of Regina back in the early 1970’s. His passion for making things soon branched out into artistic woodworking and then into building, which turned into a career. On returning to Victoria in 1989 his long dormant passion…. Read More
Pam Truscott-White
Growing up in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains greatly influenced my love of the Earth. It nourished me with its colours, shapes and structure. Vegetation is sparse in the foothills, so the artist is left with earth’s timeline written in the upheaval of the layers of earth, rock and colour. The ever present…. Read More
Ester Strijbos
Ester creates pieces that are heavily influenced by her European background and by her outdoor lifestyle where she enjoys spending time near the ocean, forest, and the silence of nature. Over the years, she has developed her decoration techniques, focusing on Graphic Clay: screen printing photo’s, drawings and text onto clay with under and over…. Read More
Gail Hazlehurst
I am a clay sculptor who is inspired by the ocean and its shells, corals and marine life. I recently relocated to Vancouver island for retirement and am focusing on creating ocean inspired sculptures, participating in local art exhibits and teaching clay handbuilding part-time. I create abstract Coral Reef Wall Sculptures and abstract Clay Collage…. Read More
Nancy Fraser
Nancy left home to travel in Europe at 19. Through Canadian friends she met two potters, one from New York and one from New Zealand, who were living and working in a 500 year old farm house in Tuscany. They invited her to stay with them and learn to throw pottery. What an amazing experience!…. Read More
Sue McLeod
The science of art. After exploring ceramics through a mainly artistic lens for a few years, I’ve gradually moved over to the technical side. Learning about the materials I am using to create art and the chemistry of how they work together has been the most inspiring part of my artistic journey… I now have a clearer…. Read More
Betty Burroughs
In Memorium Betty Burroughs – In May of 2016 we lost our wonderful Betty. Betty was a founding member of the South Vancouver Island Potters Guild and remained very active as our communications and enrolment coordinator. Pottery was her love and passion. A gifted and creative potter, Betty was always pushing the boundaries and exploring…. Read More
Roger Champagne
Clay was one of the mediums I used when teaching children art and my personal interest developed from there. I use the wheel and also enjoy hand building. My work is white stoneware, fired in my studio in an electric kiln, usually to cone 6. I enjoy carving designs and applying shapes to my bowls,…. Read More
Rachel Coward
I have always been interested in Art and classical shapes, and had the opportunity to pursue my search when we moved to Victoria in 1992, and I left my first career as a nurse to become a potter. I discovered clay at a local community center pottery studio, and have since taken many pottery courses…. Read More
Ester Galac
After moving to Victoria from Croatia with her family in 1988, Ester discovered her passion for pottery. She discovered the clay studio at Cedar Hill Rec. Centre, where in 1999 she took a class by Meira Mathison, and learned about Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts, where each summer thereafter she would enjoy courses…. Read More
Laurie Hashizume
Growing up in southern Alberta, I enjoyed blissful hours and days reveling in the natural environment: hiking the prairie, exploring creeks and canyons, horseback riding, swimming in the river, and riding and camping in the Cypress Hills. I clearly recall an exuberant mud-fight while on a hike in my late teens – using clay discovered…. Read More
Meira Mathison
Meira has maintained her studio, Dancerwood Pottery in Victoria, for over 29 years while conducted clay workshops throughout Canada, the USA and Mexico. She is noted for her high-fired altered porcelain and distinctive surface treatment. Her work can be found at the BC Gallery in Vancouver plus a number of galleries in the USA. Since…. Read More
Priska Stabel
After 12 years in a laboratory I left my academic career in plant molecular biology in search for life beyond science. I began with paper making and pottery first in England then Germany and moved to Canada in 1999. I continued to learn pottery with Muriel Sibley at Winter Creek Pottery, where I still work…. Read More
Nancy Wall
Nancy’s classes began at Cedar Hill Rec. Centre where she helped found a drop-in club for intermediate potters. In 1997 she purchased a wheel and then a kiln, allowing her more opportunities to create pottery at home. Soon afterwards she joined the Garden City Potters group and was a founding member of the South Vancouver…. Read More