Currently in his 91st year, Glenn Lewis continues to make not only pots, but also paintings and sculptures, in a complex of shared workspaces. Surrounded by younger artists, the warm and friendly warren of studios smells like woodworking, paint, and, of course, clay. 

Lewis is one of the original group of potters from Vancouver who apprenticed at Bernard Leach’s studio in St Ives in the 1950’s. However while Bernard’s ideas and studio practice had a profound impact, it was really Janet Leach who taught Lewis more about actual pot making. Her loose, energetic throwing and simple glazing - and final collaboration with the kiln’s atmosphere - inspired Lewis to see the near endless potential of clay as an artist’s medium.

Like Janet Leach, Lewis spent various stints in Japan, learning from potters about a specific region's practice. At the age of 79, during his 2014 artist residency in Shigaraki, he worked with the local clay and fired in traditional wood-fuelled kilns. The pieces resulting from his time there are distinctly Shigaraki while also unmistakably by Glenn Lewis. They are a synthesis of potter’s decades-long career with a region’s centuries-old tradition. 

This lidded pot was made with Shigaraki clay and is studded with feldspar crystal inclusions that rose to surface during the kiln's 8 day firing. Except for a few wipes of ash glaze, Lewis left the pot largely bare, like much of Shigaraki ware. A stamped banded motif runs around the collar, giving the flame a surface to play across.

But what makes this pot special for me is the sculpted bird finial on the pot’s lid. Lewis mentioned he was inspired by Jomon animal motifs, and this accent connects his jar with pot making traditions spanning thousands of years. This pot has a special, timeless atmosphere, equally modern and ancient.