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Lot 14Jinny Whitehead, Brutalist square planterBrutalist wood-fired pottery planter, (no hole). 12" long x 8" tall x 5" wide.
Condition: Excellent condition, with no chips cracks or crazing.
Jinny Whitehead was born in Calcutta, India, to a family that had lived there for three generations. Raised in the United Kingdom, she immigrated to Ontario in 1985, where she served as Executive Assistant to the first director of Canada's newly established security and intelligence agency, CSIS. In 1995, she and her husband, Gordon, moved to Vancouver. There, she became involved in the local ceramics community and, with Pia Sillem and Joan Barnet, co-founded Studio 3 in Vancouver's Mergatroid Building. A self-taught potter, Jinny refined her practice through workshops and wood-firing conferences, eventually helping to build a wood-fired kiln in Lund on the Sunshine Coast. Her carefully crafted, hand-built vessels often incorporated found driftwood and reflected a lifelong appreciation of natural forms and the diverse cultures she encountered through travel and life abroad.
Jinny's work was exhibited widely, including in In the Palm of the Hand, a BC - Japan exchange exhibition in Tajimi, Japan; Ashes to Art at Crane Arts in Philadelphia; and By Hand at the Museum of Vancouver in 2010. In 2018, The Guiding Hand, featuring her wood-fired vessels, became the final exhibition presented at the Gallery of BC Ceramics on Granville Island. Beyond her artistic practice, Jinny made lasting contributions to the Potters Guild of BC. As president, she led the Guild through its 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2005, coordinating exhibitions and events across the province that culminated in Transformations at the Burnaby Art Gallery. In 2011, she also helped preserve the Guild's history by working with Linda Lewis and Debra Sloan to digitize and publish newsletters dating back to 1965.
Those who worked alongside Jinny remember her as a thoughtful, dedicated, and generous leader. Sheila Morrissette, who served with her on the Guild's Gallery Committee and Board of Directors, recalled her sincerity, transparency, and unwavering commitment to the organization, often at the expense of time in her own studio. Even after stepping down from leadership, Jinny remained a trusted source of guidance and support. Ill health eventually forced her retirement from ceramics in 2018, but her impact on the province's ceramics community endures. A deeply respected artist, mentor, and advocate, she is remembered with gratitude and greatly missed.
Estimate$150 - $200
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$70
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