Pottery has always been more to me than just a way to earn a living. Clay is an instrument of understanding — a way to look for meaning, truth and harmony in my life. Working in the arts also gives me the opportunity to bring a small degree of joy and beauty into other people's lives, which helps me to find my place in the world.

I am mostly self taught, but I also spent three years as a ceramics major at Sheridan College School of Crafts and Design, in Mississauga, Ontario. In 1974, my wife Joan and I moved into an old country church on the Bruce Peninsula and I set up my pottery studio. I sell mostly on a wholesale basis to shops and galleries in Southern Ontario and I'm also a member of the Owen Sound Artists' Co-op, which is a retail arts outlet run co-operatively by about 40 artists in the region.

Here is a brief version of my c.v.:

• Began working in clay in 1968.
• Attended Sheridan College School of Crafts and Design 1971-74 as a ceramics major.
• Established a full-time studio on the Bruce Peninsula in 1974.
• Many solo, group and invitational exhibitions during the past thirty-seven years.
• Workshops given in Canada and Australia.
• Several awards including The John Mather Medal, awarded by the Ontario Crafts Council. The Volunteer Service Award, awarded by the Province of Ontario. FIREWORKS Purchase Awards in 1990, 1980, and 1976. Crafts Grants awarded by the Ontario Arts Council for the development of new work, and for study in England, Australia, Denmark and Norway. Awarded a Life Membership in the Burlington Potters' Guild.
• Former president of FUSION: The Ontario Clay and Glass Association.
• Served on the Board of Directors of: FUSION, The Ontario Crafts Council, The Grey-Bruce Arts Council, former Chairman of The Owen Sound Artists' Co-operative.
• I enjoy Astro Photography. My photographs are used by the Space Telescope Science Institute in their public education programs, and have been published in magazines such as Natural History, Sky & Telescope, SkyNews, and the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. My astro and earth science photographs have also been used on the National Geographic Magazine website, Wired Magazine Online and SpaceWeather.com. They have also been published in science texts used in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Asia.
• Author of about 60 ceramic related articles for various Canadian, American, British and Australian magazines.
• Work represented in the books:
  • Image Transfer on Clay P.A. Wandless, Lark Books, 2006
  • 500 Animals in Clay S. Tourtillott, ed., Lark Books, 2006
  • Studio Ceramics in Canada G. Crawford, Goose Lane Editions Pub., 2005
  • Making Marks Discovering the Ceramic Surface R. Hopper, Krause Pub., 2004
  • The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes J. Britt, Lark Books, 2004
  • 500 Bowls S. Tourtillott, ed., Lark Books, 2003
  • 500 Teapots S. Tourtillott, ed., Lark Books, 2002
  • The Ceramic Spectrum R. Hopper, Krause Pub., 2001
  • Appearance & Reality S. Hogbin, Cambium Press, 2000

We have two grown children, Seth and Elly, and a beautiful granddaughter, Lily.

My other interests are pinhole camera photography and astronomy. For a millennium project, a friend and I built a large megalith circle, a henge, in an old sheep meadow near our home. If you'd like to have a look, follow this link: To Keppel Henge!

My wife Joan is a teacher and a well known children's author who specializes in pop-up construction for books and cards. She has her own web site which is well worth a visit: Joan Irvine: The Pop-Up Lady

Strange but True! —

• I was once paid by a special effects crew to supply moths to a major motion picture (Quest for Fire).
• I once received a letter addressed simply: To the Potter on the Bruce Peninsula.
• The very first person to buy one of my pots was artist Robert Bateman in 1968.
• I once photographed an analemma.
• A friend and I built a six meter wide sundial.