Potter and glass artist Mary Fox is a master at creating fine tableware and exotic-looking vessels, but she didn’t know much about construction until recently, when she decided to renovate her house in Ladysmith.
Although the house was little, the project was no small undertaking, because as often happens, the scope expanded as she delved into the idea. Fox decided to raise her house three metres, add a new floor and top it off with a sleeping loft.
The house is probably more than 100 years old, said the artist, adding it was one of the original miners’ cabins in Ladysmith, built when coal baron James Dunsmuir — who also served as B.C. premier — founded the company town around the turn of the last century to house miners for his Extension colliery, just a few miles to the north.
Fox moved into the 1,000-square foot cottage in 1991, using an attached garage for her studio, and lived there happily with her wife until they both became ill.
“For about five years, I didn’t work. I was an ill person looking after an ill-er person, and then my wife died in 2007. Looking after a sick person for all those years kind of imprinted on the house, so I decided to either move or renovate.
“I had been potting all my life, always in little cubbies, so I decided to make a gallery and studio of my dreams. I just couldn’t keep living in the house the way it was, so I gutted the whole place,” said Fox, 57.
The job ended up costing $350,000. About the same time that she lifted the house, she began to think of leaving it to the community as a legacy. (See sidebar)
Her architect tried to talk her into tearing it down and rebuilding, but she kept the outer shell, so she was able to continue living there and keep her business going during the entire build. “I just moved from section to section.”
The project took 2 1/2 years.
“It wasn’t cheap and it could have gone quicker, but I wasn’t concerned about having a tight timeline,” she said.
“When I first put the team together and we were sitting around the kitchen table — my architect Ernest Hanson, contractor Brian Hogg, and engineer and draftsman — I told them: I always hear renovations are stressful but I’ve had enough stress in my life. I don’t want any more. I didn’t want to rush and have everyone tripping over each other.
“We got to the end on budget, with no stress. It all went very smoothly.”
The renovation was finished in 2010 and her home and workplace now comprise almost 2,500 square feet. There is a walk-in, 400-square-foot gallery on the main floor and a “creation room” workspace of about the same area. The middle floor is her living area and photo studio, while her old workroom is now her kiln room.
Slowly but surely, as time and finances allow, she is having her carpenter, Stu Money (who also built the house), create built-ins all over the home, such as new shelves that run the length of the middle floor, underneath the front window and down the staircase.
“He is my go-to guy,” she said, adding he also made a variety of small wall shelves that she designed to display her most fragile artworks amid her two-dimensional pieces.
And while the house has gone through big changes, so has Fox.
Four years ago, her photographer told her he didn’t need to keep coming to take pictures of her artwork because she could do it herself. He shopped around for all the equipment she’d need and showed her how to use it.
Then three years ago, she started working in glass as well as clay. Her team includes glass blowers Lisa Samphire and Jay Macdonell, who were the ones who first suggested her work would be amazing if interpreted in glass.
“For the first couple of years, it was a large learning curve, especially trying to make these vessels with long stems and developing new techniques to create the forms,” explained Fox. “But we are starting to hit our stride now.”
Some of her exotic pieces now fetch up to $5,000. (She has an exhibition and sale opening at Winchester Galleries’ Fort Street location on Nov. 29.)
Fox also makes everyday tableware and chuckles when people comment about the number of pieces in every room. “What can I say? I’m my own greatest fan … and what the hell. It you don’t appreciate your own pieces, what’s the point?”
She works long hours, but occasionally takes time to relax on her front deck and enjoys the community feeling. “It’s like a throwback to the 1960s, sitting in your front yard, open to the street. I have a lot of stones out there that I’ve collected from beaches all over the island, and I plan to use as bases for my chalices.”
She said the renovation turned out a thousand times better than she had hoped.
“It was really nerve-wracking to do such a large financial thing … it was a little disconcerting and a big deal for me to go into debt. But my whole life has been about creating beauty and this is how I will spend the rest of my life.”
Mary Fox’s legacy project
Having worked as a potter all her life Mary Fox knows how challenging it is to survive as an artist, especially initially. “It was a dream come true when I was finally able to own a house, a studio and a gallery. “
She now envisions helping others by creating an artist-in-residence legacy whereby after her death, her home will be used by a young ceramic artist for up to three years, while they explore their art and become established.
What she calls her Legacy Project would be responsible for maintaining the building, grounds, equipment, taxes and insurance, while the resident artist would be responsible for supplies, utility costs and ensuring that the pottery would remain open to the public.
“They could sell their work through the gallery and by the end of their residency, they should know whether the life of a studio potter is for them,” said Fox. “Hopefully, they would be successful and be able to save enough to go on and start a pottery of their own.”
What: Cowichan Artisans Studio Tour
Where: Cowichan Valley
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 4 and 5
Tickets: The self-guided tour is free
The home of potter Mary Fox will be on next weekend’s Cowichan Artisans Studio Tour, which features behind-the-scenes looks into the works, ateliers and homes of a dozen award-winning fine-crafts creators who live in the valley.
The artisans include custom furniture makers, marquetry and automotive woodworkers, jewelry designers, painters, stone artisans and wood turners, as well as several ceramic and glass artists.
For more information, go to cowichanartisans.com..
