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Artist Profiles
July 2010
~ by Rebecca Hazell
September 2009
~ by Bernice Ramsdin-Firth
August 2009
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
July 2009
~ by Liz M. Forbes
June 2009
~ by Karen Allen
May 2009
~ by Bruce Whittington
April 2009
~ by Kate Sutherland
March 2009
~ by Tom Masters
February 2009
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
December 2008
~ by Roxanne Strasbourg
November 2008
~ by Rebecca Hazell
October 2008
~ by Kate Sutherland
September 2008
~ by Sylvia Holt
August 2008
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
July 2008
~ by Liz M. Forbes
June 2008
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
May 2008
~ by Bruce Whittington
April 2008
~ by Rebecca Hazell
March 2008
~ by Tom Masters
February 2008
~ by Ron Greenaway
January 2008
~ by Liz Forbes
December 2007
~ by Elizabeth Symon
November 2007
~ by Longevity John Falkner
October 2007
~ by Yvette Stack
September 2007
~ by Kate Sutherland
June 2007
~ by Bruce Whittington
May 2007
~ by Lesley Hammocks
April 2007
~ by Tom Masters
March 2007
~ by Theo Gustafson
February 2007
~ by Bernice Ramsdin-Firth
December 2006
~ by Theo Gustafson
November 2006
~ by Dorothy Jeanne Engst
October 2006
~ by Bev Mountain
September 2006
~ by Liz M. Forbes
August 2006
~ by Lesley Hammocks
July 2006
~ by Dorothy Jeanne Engst
June 2006
~ by Lesley Hammocks
May 2006
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Harriet Hiemstra
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~ By Kate Sutherland
Harriet's sculpted pottery is redolent of the 1920s; indeed,
she could be a product of that era of burgeoning women. She
is bright and vibrant, in love with CLAY.
She says she realized her potential as an artist when she
was a teenager in Terrace. But it was not as a potter that she
began her career, but as a painter. After attending Kootenay
School of Art in Nelson, BC, where incidentally she met her
husband, she moved with him to Victoria. There they set
up a production pottery. However, in Victoria, they were not
allowed to fire their pottery in propane kilns; finally, they
moved to Cobble Hill where they still live and work... She
recalls with affection the 'zeitgeist' she discovered at Kootenay
in the 70s.
On first seeing photographs of her sculpted earthenware
with the decorative women from the 20's, I’d imagined that
Harriet was, at least, a dress designer. But having met her, I
know now that her sculptures are a statement of herself as an
emancipated woman. Her drawings are of stylish women, self-confident and wholly female.
The drawings are incised into wet clay which has been rolled into sheets with a rolling pin and then cut to
certain sizes and shaped into tubes. The firing is at a low temperature: cone 04. When the clay is leather-hard, her
painting training comes into its own again. The glazes she favours are mostly pastel greens and browns which she
applies thinly so as to giver the effect of watercolour. Brighter colours, such as red and orange, she says, tend to be
'fleeting' and become lost in the kiln.
Harriet's art also includes wall hangings, brooches and necklaces which share pride of place with vintage jewels.
Harriet's work is much admired, and though she doesn't boast of it, her admirers include a former president of
the USA. There is a youthfulness about her sculptures that almost belies the mature message they convey.
Her work may be seen in the Potters' Guild Gallery in Vancouver, and at the Pottery Store in Chemainus, BC.
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