350 people attended Elementum: Form, Function and Feast, the 6th Triennial Canadian Clay Ceramic Symposium, held at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts on Saturday. With 13 presenters there was something for everybody, whether beginner or professional, wheel thrower, hand builder, sculptor, teacher, curator or writer. To be honest I saw it as a chance to catch up with potters I’ve met in over 40 years of being a potter in Greater Vancouver. It is unlikely that I’ll be drawn into a new clay process at this stage in my career. Working in earthenware, with the occasional foray into salt firing is enough to keep me busy for now. So I chose to listen to Les Manning’s critique of the ‘road show’ for a while, attend the power point by Vic Cicansky, listen to the panel discussion, watch Takeshi Yasuda’s fascinating way with a wheel and porcelain and enjoy a walk up to the Ombu kiln and Burnaby Art Gallery displays.

Most of the photos today are of Vic Cicansky’s humorous sculptures, three are taken from his slides and the 4th from the presenters’ display in Shadbolt Centre.

My day finished, with everybody else, listening to Takeshi Yasuda’s keynote address. In retrospect I wish I had found time to watch the power point talks with Lorna Meaden, Judy Weeden and Mariko Paterson. I have attended workshops with or met the other presenters before. I should find another potter to write a guest journal for this blog to include photos and descriptions of some of the other presenters. Do let me know if you would like to do that.

For those of us reluctant to leave such a stimulating gathering we had the option of buying a ticket to a dinner from Vikram Vij. Delicious! When it was all over I had the privilege of driving Vic Cicansky to his brother-in-law’s house in Coquitlam. I’ve wanted to meet him for years and it was great to have him give me the whole story of his career and life in Saskatchewan.

It seems most of my photos feature the wizardry of Takeshi Yasuda so I’ll add a separate blog for them.