The Secret Life of Pottery - Hedwig Koleszar

As published by The BUZZ - November 1998

The Secret Life of Pottery

Profile: Hedwig Koleszar

by Jane Ledwell

From her workshop on the Gairloch Road, near Belfast, potter Hedwig Koleszar tells the story of a Torontonian friend who visited an aunt in New Zealand and was surprised to stumble across a lamp Hedwig had sold to her aunt without ever knowing the connection with her friend. Often, Hedwig hears stories about her pottery. "People are very appreciative," she says. "They tell you where they are going to put your pottery. Then they come back the next year to tell you where it is."

Hedwig Koleszar's pottery graces houses around the world. Her customers are attracted to her distinctive pottery's clean, simple shapes and spare, beautiful decoration: pale reds and greens and dark blues evoke birds and reeds, sprays of flowers, and the occasional dragon in smooth-gestured, near-transparent brush strokes inspired by Japanese art.

Hedwig herself lived in houses in several parts of the world before finding her home on PEI. Born in Hungary, she moved to Toronto as a child, and then to Quebec as a young adult. A Quebec neighbour was a potter, and watching him work, she knew immediately that she wanted to learn the craft. Twenty years ago, she visited friends on PEI, fell in love with the province, and moved here soon after and began to make pottery. Her career has developed here, as she learned her techniques from books, from hard experience, and from friends and fellow Island potters.

While learning pottery independently helped Hedwig avoid "falling into a rigid mould," she admits, "There wasn't as much experimentation as if you went to school and had more time and freedom." When she experiments now, Hedwig works on sculptures: one a flower-bordered clock with the clock face imposed on the face in the sun, with a woman holding the sun in her bare palm. She says, "Action interests me," and is being inspired by primitive art. She has made personalized pottery; in these pieces, instead of people telling her stories about her pottery, her pottery tells the story. In one bowl, she painted the story of a friend's house and family. For a wedding gift, she painted a bowl with an image from a dream: "Two tiny people in a boat with a tiny sail. On a windy day. In a small cove, with waves furling around them."

In the future, we can expect more of the simple, beautiful pieces she is known for, traditional pots, bowls, and vases and less traditional ikebana (small wide-lipped bowls for spare flower arrangements with "about two flowers and a leaf"). We may see experiments with brighter colours than are typically found in PEI pottery's subdued palette. As Hedwig notes, the only season the island's natural palette really explodes is in the autumn, when potters are busy preparing for Christmas craft shows and when Hedwig herself, who is a "huge gardener," is "torn between shop and garden."

These days, Hedwig prepares for the PEI Crafts Council Christmas Craft Fair and looks forward to winter, when she will, "Sit in the house with feet up, by the stove, reading books." What books? "Anything from the library, from philosophy to murder mysteries." She admits she "chooses books by their covers," and especially likes "adventure." After twenty years, she is still learning, still collecting stories. In her pottery, it shows.

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - RLP - Burlington Pottery

Ruth and Leigh Paynter, of Burlington Pottery in Burlington PEI, played a pivotal role in establishing the handcraft industry in the North Shore tourist region during the 1960's. Located on the family farm which was next to Woodleigh Replicas, a British theme park with scaled down castles and gardens which was once the largest tourist attraction west of the Cavendish-National Park region, they had sufficient traffic during the summer to establish a viable business on the family farm with visitor traffic coming and going to Woodleigh.

Young people, seeing the viability of pottery as a career choice discovered that there were new opportunities within the tourist industry. Daphne Large, of Charlottetown began work with the Paynters one summer and decided to switch her major to pottery at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. She graduated in 1973 and opened New London Village Pottery in the same general North Shore region.

The work of the Paynters included both wheel thrown, hand-built construction, and some that was slip cast as well using moulds that they designed. All the work was in a red earthenware clay body, typical of native clay bodies on the Island. Ruth signed her work with both the studio name and PEI as well as her three initials RLP.

Their glaze experimentation was most notable and many of their glazes continue to impress potters today.

Ruth in retirement, was a respected local historian and author of From the Top of the Hill. A chapter of the book was later published in the Island Magazine as Here Comes the Travellin' Man. A talented woman with a rich memory and generous spirit she passed away peacefully in 2009.

PAYNTER - Ruth L. (Moase) of Clinton and formerly of Burlington on Nov 26th, 2009 at age 92. Born in New Annan, the daughter of the late Harry and Mary (Burrows) Moase. Wife of the late Leigh M. Paynter


The property that had housed Burlington Pottery was purchased in recent years by Harry Carr, his son had a strong interest in pottery.

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - Carr - Burlington Pottery

I recently came across the work of a potter who is still unknown to me although we know that this individual likely worked with Leigh and Ruth Paynter, the owners of Burlington Pottery, in the community of Burlington PEI.
The work is signed CARR - PEI - Burlinton. Carr is a common surname in the area, and the missing G from the pottery name is likely a simple mistake.

Burlington Pottery, was operational throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a family business for Ruth and Leigh working with red earthenware. Being located next to one of the largest tourist attractions on PEI at the time Woodleigh Replicas, their was a steady stream of visitor traffic passing through the tiny rural community.



There are also two samples of pottery marked "Carr PEI" on The Canadian Pottery Identifier which appear to be work of the same person.

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - Flat River Craftsmen

Flat River Craftsmen is a multicraft business located in Flat River, PEI has been operational since the early 1970's. Initially John Shaw from New Brunswick was involved with two friends in the establishment of the business but when he relocated, the business continued to develop under the leadership of a brother and sister team - Rob and Roslyn Wilby have worked together, with Rob as the potter. The work of Rob Wilby at Flat River Pottery, is marked with his initials RGW.  Some work was also signed by Rob in a signature format "Wilby PEI" including this butter dish from 1983.  

IN 2023 the address was

Flat River Craftsmen

2796 Trans Canada Hwy

C0A 1B0 Belle River

Prince Edward Island - Canada

(902) 659 2530

Earth, Air and Fire - PEI Potter Frieder Hermann

As published by The BUZZ, November 1999

by Peter Richards

A large brick kiln stands in the shed behind Frieder Hermann's restored 19th century farmhouse in Malpeque, Prince Edward Island. In the next room is a clay-encrusted potter's wheel and other tools of the trade. This is the workshop of North Shore Pottery.

For the last ten years on PEI, Frieder Hermann has been creating a pottery here; pottery which is immediately identifiable as uniquely his own. It is recognizable not because of its decoration or its shapes, but because of the unique colour and texture. "Earth tones" comes immediately to mind, but seems an inadequate description of the astonishing variety and depth of tones and textures in Frieder's pots, bowls and sculptures. Colours which seem to come from deep within the earth, and are rarely seen in much of contemporary ceramics.

One reason for this unique earthiness is Frieder's use of Island clay in his handmade clay mixtures. After being told that the Island clay was no good for pottery, Frieder (who suspected otherwise) found clay deposits in the Mont Carmel area which perfectly suited his purposes. The iron oxide in the clay, which makes the red colour, gives Frieder's pottery some of its distinct colouring.

But there are other factors which give Frieder's pots their unique look and feel. Frieder has been using a method called wood ash glazing whereby hardwood or softwood ash is used to give colour and finish to the glazes. "This is an experiment which is exciting me at the moment," says Frieder. He began last year by using beech and maple ash from the wood stove in the house. Encouraged by the results, he began using other species of wood native to the Island such as white birch, yellow birch, pin cherry, poplar and spruce. "Each species of tree gives a different colour," he explains. When the ash burns in the extreme high heat of the kiln, the minerals in the wood react chemically with the clay and the different colours result. A rough but very pleasant-to-the-touch texture also results. Recently Frieder has been collecting wood from old apple trees, and now he has an apple ash glaze in his palette.

Finally, Frieder chooses to carefully manipulate the firing process in the kiln. His kiln burns propane, and, during the firing, he carefully reduces the amount of oxygen in the kiln (called reduction firing). This process brings out the minerals and impurities in the clay. So the iron oxide loses its oxygen and leaves the iron behind to interact with the clay. The same thing happens with other minerals (magnesium or copper, for example) which may be found by chance in the clay or wood ash.

Using these techniques also satisfies Frieder's aesthetic sense. "I'm crazy about ancient civilizations and their pots, and primitive things." The result is a style of pottery which could indeed come from thousands of years ago.

Frieder Hermann's pottery has also come to the attention of Gil McElroy of the Confederation Centre of the Arts. He selected a number of Frieder's pieces to be included in "A Hundred Pounds of Clay," an exhibit now on display in the Concourse Gallery of the Confed' Centre.

Frieder came to Canada from Germany in 1959 and took a job at a Royal Bank in Montreal. His pottery career got its start a couple of years later when he began visiting a couple of potters he had read about in the newspaper. He continued at the bank till 1967 when he finally left to devote himself full time to making pottery and teaching others. He was very also very involved in the Montreal Potter's Club. By 1970, he had moved to rural Quebec, built a studio and begun producing pottery for the big Montreal shows. Prior to coming to PEI, he and his wife had lived on a farm in Lakefield, Ontario since 1981.

Since settling in Malpeque, he has established a successful tourist business. Frieder says that at this time of year his stock is pretty low, but he has some work for sale at the Island Crafts Shop in Charlottetown. And don't forget the exhibition at the Confed' Centre.

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - Helen Moase

I get occasional enquiries about pottery made in Prince Edward Island decades ago, that has ended up in different parts of the world. Blame it on eBay, or simply the fact that pottery is a durable material that has traditionally been acquired by travelers and taken home as a souvenir of their travel.

Increasingly home could be both near or far, and that is a good thing for those of us in the pottery business.

In an effort to place some reference material in one spot - thought this might be a good way to get things started.

Helen Moase used a signature pottery mark of her initials HTM

She worked in a red clay body and was active on the North Shore in the 1960's.

Helen was a friend of, Leigh and Ruth Paynter, the owners of Burlington Pottery, Burlington PEI.

November Update

Although our shop is closed until May 1st 2010, we are busy making new pottery for a great new season! We look forward to seeing you in the Spring!