John Reeve (30 November 1929 – 29 June 2012) was a Canadian studio potter.

Biography

He grew up in Barrie Ontario, beginning his working life in his father's jewellery store, where he was expected to take on the business. He married Joyce Elliott in 1952, and their first child was born in 1954. The Leach Pottery, St

Education and apprenticeship

John Reeve attended

Vancouver School of Art Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co- ...

between 1954 and 1956, studying drawing and ceramics. After his studies he travelled in Mexico before returning to Canada to open a pottery in

Orillia Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of C ...

, Ontario. The following year, he moved to England and took several ceramics courses, including

Wenford Bridge pottery Michael Ambrose Cardew (1901–1983), was an English studio potter who worked in West Africa for twenty years. Early life Cardew was born in Wimbledon, London, the fourth child of Arthur Cardew, a civil servant, and Alexandra Kitchin, the eld ...

. Reeve apprenticed with

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...

at his

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and po ...

in St Ives from 1958 until 1961. Other potters followed from Vancouver, beginning with

Glenn Lewis Glennon Ricketts Jr. (born March 13, 1975), professionally known as Glenn Lewis, is a Canadian neo soul singer–songwriter. Lewis earned a Grammy Award nomination in 2004 and has also won a Juno Award out of a total of six nominations. Early li ...

, who he encouraged to apply. Apprentices made standard ware under supervision and eventually more experimental pieces in their spare time, reviewed in

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...

sessions. In 1960, Reeve married his second wife, Donna Balma, later an artist known for visionary paintings based in British Columbia.

Early and mid-career

He returned to Canada in 1961, teaching at

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. Reeve gained the attention of architect

Ron Thom Ronald James Thom, (May 15, 1923 – October 29, 1986) was a Canadian architect. He is well known for two works: Massey College and Trent University's riverside campus. Early years He was born in Penticton, British Columbia, the son of Jame ...

, who commissioned him to make ceramics as part of the plan for

Massey College Massey College is a graduate residential college at the University of Toronto that was established, built and partially endowed in 1962 by the Massey Foundation and officially opened in 1963, though women were not admitted until 1974. It was mo ...

. At around this time, he also met

Warren Mackenzie Warren MacKenzie (February 16, 1924 – December 31, 2018) was an American craft potter. He grew up in Wilmette, Illinois the second oldest of five children including his brothers, Fred and Gordon and sisters, Marge (Peppy) and Marilyn. His h ...

and they became lifelong friends. Reeve would often work alongside him in his pottery in Stillwater, Minnesota. Mackenzie has said of Reeve, "We shared the idea that pots should be made easily and quickly; they should not be elaborate things. We didn't have to explain ourselves to one another. He was my best double." In 1963, he returned to the Leach pottery to make large standard ware pieces, and continued teaching, at Farnham College of Art in Surrey. In 1966, with the aid of a

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

Senior Arts Fellowship, he bought a farm named Longlands on

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

, with Glenn Lewis and Warren Mackenzie. They established the Longlands pottery which continued to operate until 1972. He was Studio Manager at the Bernard Leach pottery from 1973 to 1974.

Later career and philosophy

From 1974, he worked and travelled across Canada and the United States. He became well known as a teacher through University courses, his workshops and as a visiting artist. About his approach, he wrote: "I'm not really interested in committing novelties on the world, but only making objects that have some hidden magic to them, which are good objects to use and therefore might make it better to drink coffee." This aim of making good objects for everyday use has been said to reflect the influence of

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

on his work, through his apprenticeship to

Leach Leach may refer to: * Leach (surname) * Leach, Oklahoma, an unincorporated community, United States * Leach, Tennessee, an unincorporated community, United States * Leach Highway, Western Australia * Leach orchid * Leach phenotype, a mutation in ...

, and appreciation of the writings of

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian anc ...

and the philosopher

D. T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

. He self-published two influential books on

ceramic glazes Ceramic glaze is an impervious layer or coating of a vitreous substance which has been fused to a pottery body through firing. Glaze can serve to color, decorate or waterproof an item. Glazing renders earthenware vessels suitable for holding ...

: ''Book One: A Potter's Way to Understand Glazes'' and ''The Potter's Raw Materials, Some of their Characteristics and Compositions''. Reeve also developed an innovative method for making

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

in a studio pottery. He published this in "''Some Notes on Porcelain''", later republished in Pottery Quarterly (UK) and New Zealand Potter. "''More Notes on Porcelain''" followed in the journal Studio Pottery. Reeve's porcelain and Reeve's Green are well known to studio potters. In 1992, he was a founding member of

Santa Fe Santa Fe (Spanish; 'holy faith') or Santa Fé (Portuguese; 'holy faith') may refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Fe, Argentina **Santa Fe Province Bolivia *Santa Fe de Yapacaní *Santa Fe (Oruro) Brazil *Bonito de Santa Fé *Santa Fé de Goiás * ...

Clay, a pottery studio supplying ceramics to retail, which also runs a gallery and workshop program. He married his third wife Phylis Blair in 1996. In his later years, he continued to teach workshops at Santa Fe Clay, for example: "''Jam-pots, garlic pigs, egg-bakers and other objects of delight''". He also had a home studio in Abiquiú. In 2004, his work was part of a well-received major retrospective exhibition of West Coast potters, containing more than 700 pieces, shown at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Reeve contributed to a book of the same title published in 2011 and participated in its launch alongside Glenn Lewis, held at a gallery on

Granville Island Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. The penins ...

Exhibitions and public collections

A non-exhaustive list of exhibitions, and museums which hold his work: * 1960s show at

Primavera Gallery Primavera is a fine arts and crafts gallery at 10 King's Parade in Cambridge, England. Henry Rothschild founded Primavera in 1945 in Sloane Street, London, in order to promote and retail contemporary British art and craft.Greg, Andrew.''Prim ...

, London, United Kingdom * 1972: Solo exhibition at the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fran ...

. * 2004: ''Thrown: Influences and Intentions of West Coast Potters'', Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver * 2013: ''Connections: Canadian and British Studio Ceramics'',

Gardiner Museum The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (commonly shortened to the Gardiner Museum) is a ceramics museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is situated within University of Toronto's St. George campus, in downtown Toronto. The museum bu ...

, Toronto, Ontario * 2017: ''John Reeve: Some Hidden Magic'' Northern Clay Center, Vancouver * 2017: ''Kindred Spirits'', at the Lacoste Gallery in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

* 2021: ''Modern in the Making'', an exhibition about the development of

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

design practice in British Columbia, Vancouver Art Gallery. * Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver *

Weisman Art Museum The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university's Northrop Auditorium. In 1 ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

, Minnesota *

Museum of Anthropology This is a list of museums with major collections in ethnography and anthropology. It is sorted by descending number of objects listed. # Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada #: 3.75 million artifacts # Musée du quai Branly, Pa ...

, Vancouver, Canada * York Museums, York, United Kingdom *The City of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

's studio pottery collection, United Kingdom

Potteries

Some of the potteries John Reeve owned, or worked at. * Blue Mountain Craft Shop,

, British Columbia, Canada (owner) * Aylesford Pottery, Aylesford, United Kingdom * Crowan Pottery, Cornwall, United Kingdom *

Wenford Bridge Pottery Michael Ambrose Cardew (1901–1983), was an English studio potter who worked in West Africa for twenty years. Early life Cardew was born in Wimbledon, London, the fourth child of Arthur Cardew, a civil servant, and Alexandra Kitchin, the eld ...

St Breward St Breward ( kw, S. Bruwerd) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the western side of Bodmin Moor, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Bodmin. At the 2011 census the parish population including Cooksland ...

, United Kingdom *

Leach Pottery The Leach Pottery was founded in 1920 by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada in St Ives, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. The buildings grew from an old cow / tin-ore shed in the 19th century to a pottery in the 1920s with the addition of a two-stor ...

St Ives, Cornwall St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning " St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent ...

, United Kingdom *

Warren McKenzie Warren McKenzie (born 31 July 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton and Sydney in the Victorian and Australian Football Leagues. McKenzie made his senior VFL debut halfway through the 1985 VFL season, against ...

's Stillwater Studio,

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River, across from Houlton, Wisconsin. Stillwater's popula ...

* Longlands Pottery,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, United Kingdom (co-owner) * Herman Venema Pottery,

Matsqui Matsqui is a former district municipality in British Columbia, Canada. It was incorporated in 1892 and merged with the district municipality of Abbotsford in 1995 to create the new City of Abbotsford. Matsqui used to be the western part of what i ...

, British Columbia, Canada * Big Creek Pottery,

Davenport, California Davenport is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California. Davenport sits at an elevation of . The 2020 United States census reported Davenport's population was 388. Situation Davenport lies along the coast of the Pacific Ocea ...

* Cold Mountain Pottery, Robert’s Creek, British Columbia (owner) * Slug Pottery, Roberts Creek, British Columbia, Canada * Tam Irving Pottery, Fisherman's Cove, British Columbia, Canada * Lee Creek Pottery,

Chase, British Columbia Chase is a village located in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It has a population of 3,399, and its main industries are forestry and tourism. It is located at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake, which is the source of the South ...

, Canada * Old Bridge Street Pottery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada * Tom Donahue Pottery, Oakview, California * Jim Lorio Pottery, Boulder, Colorado * Castle Clay,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

* Santa Fe Clay,

, New Mexico (co-founder) * Martin Peters Dunbar Pottery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Recognition

* 196
Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation
Grant *

Senior Arts Fellowship

Published works

Books

* 1979: Book One : A Potter's Way to Understand Glazes * The Potter's Raw Materials, Some of their Characteristics and Compositions * Thrown: British Columbia’s Apprentices of Bernard Leach and their Contemporaries.

Articles

* 1975: The Potters Wheel. Ceramic Review - No. 33 (May / Jun 1975) * 1975: Some Notes on Porcelain. (three part article) Tactile. Canadian Guild of Potters **Notes on Porcelain, Part 1: Miracle of Reality, Pottery Quarterly, Vol. 11, No., 43 (1975) **Notes on Porcelain, Part 2: The Body, Pottery Quarterly, Vol. 11, No., 44 (1975) * 1978: More Notes on Porcelain. Studio Potter, Vol. 6 No. 2 (January 1978)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeve, John Canadian potters Artists from Ontario Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni Academic staff of the University of British Columbia 1929 births 2012 deaths 21st-century Canadian artists 20th-century Canadian artists Canadian male artists 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists