Dixon, Reg
Item
Maker Name
Dixon, Reg
Marks
Biography
Argentine, Reg Dixon, studied biology for two years, London University (1920s) . In the 1930s Reg studied with a potter in London, a student of Bernard Leach, and became ‘hooked’ and had his first exhibition in London.
In 1939 he came to Vancouver with his family. First working as a fisherman. He met Dave Lambert - the only potter he could find in Vancouver - and worked in Lambert Pottery.
He taught at VSA 1952-58 with Dave Lambert, after Grace Melvin retired in 1952.
Louise Bowman Schwenk, Adolf Schwenk, Judy Cranmer, Ruth Meechan, John Reeve and Kathleen Hamilton would have been his students
(During those years, Rex Mason was teaching at the UBC Ceramic Huts)
(Robert Weghsteen took over Reg's teaching position at VSA in Sept 1958 - 1964.)
From 1958 - 65 Reg traveled, taught pottery and exhibited in South America, USA, and Europe.
He returned to the VSA and taught from 1967 to 1973. At that time, Leonard Epp was also teaching ceramics and sculpture at VSA. Their students would have been Mark Lawrence, Sam Kwan, Ron Vallis, Hiro Urakami, Ron Tribe, Richard Hawbolt, and Lari Robson. (Don Hutchinson was teaching VSA night classes 1967-69)
Reg Dixon was another proponent of finding clay and glaze materials from the local environment and his 1955 road trip and workshops in the Okanangan, mentioned by Allan Collier, was written about in the Potters Guild Newsletter and generated some excitement.
Allan Collier:
"Reg Dixon was known mainly as a pottery teacher. Mollie Carter mentioned that she had taken private lessons from him around 1940 and that he had studied with Bernard Leach. In 1951, he worked as a partner with David Lambert at Lambert Potteries. From 1952 to 1958, he was the pottery instructor at the Vancouver School of Art. In the summer of 1955, Dixon gave pottery demonstrations in the Okanagan, traveling in a station wagon that carried a wheel, kiln, clay, glazes and samples of pottery made from clays he found along the way. In 1958, he was commissioned to make coloured clay pots, which were inserted into a wall of the Imperial Bank of Canada building located in Vancouver’s Marpole district."
In 1939 he came to Vancouver with his family. First working as a fisherman. He met Dave Lambert - the only potter he could find in Vancouver - and worked in Lambert Pottery.
He taught at VSA 1952-58 with Dave Lambert, after Grace Melvin retired in 1952.
Louise Bowman Schwenk, Adolf Schwenk, Judy Cranmer, Ruth Meechan, John Reeve and Kathleen Hamilton would have been his students
(During those years, Rex Mason was teaching at the UBC Ceramic Huts)
(Robert Weghsteen took over Reg's teaching position at VSA in Sept 1958 - 1964.)
From 1958 - 65 Reg traveled, taught pottery and exhibited in South America, USA, and Europe.
He returned to the VSA and taught from 1967 to 1973. At that time, Leonard Epp was also teaching ceramics and sculpture at VSA. Their students would have been Mark Lawrence, Sam Kwan, Ron Vallis, Hiro Urakami, Ron Tribe, Richard Hawbolt, and Lari Robson. (Don Hutchinson was teaching VSA night classes 1967-69)
Reg Dixon was another proponent of finding clay and glaze materials from the local environment and his 1955 road trip and workshops in the Okanangan, mentioned by Allan Collier, was written about in the Potters Guild Newsletter and generated some excitement.
Allan Collier:
"Reg Dixon was known mainly as a pottery teacher. Mollie Carter mentioned that she had taken private lessons from him around 1940 and that he had studied with Bernard Leach. In 1951, he worked as a partner with David Lambert at Lambert Potteries. From 1952 to 1958, he was the pottery instructor at the Vancouver School of Art. In the summer of 1955, Dixon gave pottery demonstrations in the Okanagan, traveling in a station wagon that carried a wheel, kiln, clay, glazes and samples of pottery made from clays he found along the way. In 1958, he was commissioned to make coloured clay pots, which were inserted into a wall of the Imperial Bank of Canada building located in Vancouver’s Marpole district."
First name
Reg
Last name
Dixon
Career dates (start and end)
1940
Date of Birth
1911
Date of Death
1996
Place of Birth
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Place of Death
Studio location
Formal Education
Apprenticeships
Anecdote; Mollie Carter - he was an apprentice at the Leach Pottery. In 1977 Kingsmill's book - he said he studied with a potter who trained with Bernard Leach.
Major Exhibitions
1980 Retrospect 1980 - 25th Anniversary PGBC
Collections
Vancouver Art Gallery
UBC
Affiliated organizations
Links to Further Resources
Collier, Allan, et al. Modern in the Making: POST-WAR Craft and Design in British Columbia. Edited by Daina Augaitis, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2020.
1977 A Catalogue of BC Potters, Bob Kingsmill
Source
Debra E. Sloan
Linked resources
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