Gangnier is the glaze guru and the “thrower”, excelling at both. When he first found pottery (or, as he puts it, pottery found him), he would sit down at the wheel and throw fifty cylinders at a time, seeking the self-discipline and the focus that would allow him to spend the rest of his life doing what he loves — and making a living at it. His porcelain glazes are superb. His functional pieces glow with deep, rich lustres, and his designs resonate with his passion for the organic. They are distinctly beautiful. When I walked into the home of a friend in Stratford, ON, he was amazed when I commented on his collection of Gangnier ceramics. My niece in the U.S. declared her wedding gift from the editor of theHumm — a Gangnier pitcher — one of her two favourite wedding gifts. (The other was purchased at Riverguild Fine Crafts in Perth also.)

Ali Ross found her muse in Mexico at the age of 15, and has followed her to NYC, Spain and other parts of Europe. Ross excels at making plaster molds and doing slab work, creating plates, large serving platters, trivets, tiles and a wide variety of beautifully formed functional ceramic pieces. She credits travel and Mediterranean influences with opening her palette and extending her creativity. Her parents pulled up stakes when Ali was twelve, moving the family to Mexico. According to Ali, “It was the greatest gift they ever gave us — a new culture, a new language; it opened up so many doors”. When she was 15, a traditional Mexican potter opened up another door for her, and she has never wavered from her potter’s path. “Since I was 15, I’ve never lost the excitement of it. The medium is so fluid; it allows you to discover and inform yourself.”

She received her basic training in South Wales, and learned plaster mold and model making at the Parsons School of Design in NYC. In Spain, as a recipient of a Rotary Foundation Scholarship, she attended a co-op program at the very old Escuela Nacional de Ceramica de Manises near Valencia. “What a place to learn, the cradle of ceramic tradition itself on the Mediterranean. My time in Spain and Portugal and Morocco gave me the opportunity to study and research and document many different types and styles of Majolica ceramics.”

Glenn’s explanation for why he left high school in his teens is a classic: “So often school doesn’t lead someone to their passion.” He hitchhiked and hopped a couple of trains to reach Vancouver looking for adventure. He had a fabulous experience whitewater rafting on the Columbia River (pre-Revelstoke Dam days) with an ordained priest. They designed and built their own raft. He worked as a roughneck on oil rigs, as a cook, and eventually ended up as a janitor at St. Michael’s Hospital in Lethbridge. On a lark, he signed up for an evening pottery class at the University of Lethbridge. The instructor inspired him; the medium entranced him, and he returned to Ontario to attend Sheridan College.

He wrote a form letter and sent it to every production pottery in Ontario, seeking a position as a potter’s apprentice. Donn Zver Pottery in Troy, ON, took him on, and together they built a production studio from the ground up, building kilns and ware racks. Gangnier was so impressed with the value of his practical experience that he proposed and then developed a cooperative program that was embraced by Sheridan’s School of Craft and Design. He graduated in 1985. “It is so important to learn how much things cost, what’s waiting for you in the real world, whether you really want to take on this way of life, making a modest living and letting the beauty you love be the thing you do.”

Glenn and Ali have been professionally acquainted since the mid-eighties, and attended the same two-week course in Banff in 1991. Glenn was looking for a location to build his own production studio, and Ali encouraged Glenn to locate in the Brooke Valley area, correctly describing it as “a cradle of creativity. Glenn bought a 20-acre property in winter of 1991, and started construction that summer, living in a pop-up tent. The following summer Gangnier’s pottery was open and fully functional.
After many years of friendship, Ali came to work in Glenn’s Pottery in 2001, and the couple forged a business partnership in 2005. The two share a close personal relationship as well. Their work reflects both their compatibility and their complementarity. Brooke Valley is also a cradle of humanity — Glenn and Ali have been volunteer members of the Guatemala Stove Project, Glenn as a board member and Ali as a coordinator and cofounder. They continue their involvement in Guatemala with a women’s cooperative known as the Women of Ixchel, raising funds to set up micro projects and help build schools, among other initiatives.

This Thanksgiving weekend the Gangnier-Ross Pottery will be one of the highlights on the annual Perth Autumn Studio Tour, October 6–8 from 10–5 each day. They will be hosting the photography of David Zimmerly and the antler carvings of Barry Rudachyk at their utterly delightful rural studio at 1155 Brooke Valley Road, Perth. From September 21–23 they are participating for the first time as guest artists in the Prince Edward County Studio & Gallery Tour. Their pottery is also featured at Riverguild Fine Crafts at 51 Gore St. E in Perth (267–5237), and at the Gardiner Museum Shop in Yorkville.