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The History & Works of Paulette Gasser

A Very Talented Ceramic Artist, Paulette Gasser

Potter Paulette Gasser: the World is Her Studio

Paulette Gasser is a fine ceramic artist and an occasional contributor to The Artful Crafter.

We decided to put up her “artist’s life story” after a collector found her name in one of our articles and wrote to inquire about a specific work of hers which he had acquired.

The work, a commemorative set commissioned as a gift to then-Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Quebec, was made 30 years ago! Read the correspondence about Paulette Gasser and her background.

Potter Paulette Gasser studied with Julien at his Atelier de Céramique Julien in Ste. Foy, Quebec. Between 1971 and 1977 she had 437 hours of courses and 60 hours of laboratory achieving an old dream, that of becoming a potter.

As a teenager, she was very impressed by the work of a cousin of hers, first when he had a studio in Renens, Switzerland and then in Chaville, France. Now that her dream had come true, she was able to open her own studio in the basement of her house on Chemin St. Louis, in Ste. Foy.

She created and produced much and sold her wares to private customers at the store de l'Atelier Julien in Québec City, and also at the Marché-aux-Puces in Ste. Foy. For a few years she also taught at the Loisir de Ste. Foy.

Then she joined her husband, Heinz, in his assignment to Zaire in 1980. She didn’t want to give up her work; so had a kick-wheel made and added it to the authorized baggage. Unfortunately, during those years in Zaire she was never able to get started. The conditions were not suitable.

But when her husband took up another assignment in Nigeria, a condition for that move was for her to be able to get back to potting. This time the authorized baggage included an electric wheel as well as a kiln.

She set up her studio in the garage of the house despite being challenged about the kiln. It was taking up 45 amps of the little current being available in the house! She also had to hunt for clay. First she looked around on the vast compound she and her husband were living in – but with little success.

Then through contacts, turned up a man with a bucket full of clay who claimed he had the stuff she needed. It was in its crudest of form, full of sand. He showed her how to clean the clay, i.e., decanting the clay from the sand. She managed to get clay that she could fire. It allowed her to produce some pieces, but not completely satisfactorily.

Fortunately, through more contacts, she got to know Margaret Mama, a very successful potter from England married to a Nigerian doctor. Paulette was now really back in business, because she finally had the right clay.

In Nigeria she had many exhibitions and sales. She was producing very fine and much appreciated ceramic ware.

When Heinz retired in 1994, the couple first relocated to Canada and the very same year decided to retire to the shores of Lake Chapala, Mexico. Paulette brought her wheel and all the clay and oxides with her, but not the old kiln. When building their retirement home, she naturally included a spacious studio.

Getting a kiln was a bit of a challenge – reminiscent of the travails in Zaire. She bought a kiln in Texas and took it, with the help of her youngest son, to Mexico in the truck she hired to move her belongings from Canada. The logistics were very tricky.

Since then she has created and produced many beautiful new pieces. She sold for many years in exhibitions Chapala lakeside as well as in Pike River Quebec when she and husband drove north to visit with the children and family.

Paulette Gasser Exhibitions

• 1974 to 1980 – Participated in the exhibitions of the Ecole de Céramique de Ste. Foy, Quebec
• May 1989 – Exhibition at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria
• March 1992 – In Lagos, Nigeria, one day exhibition sale with Canadian Women's Club of Nigeria
• October 1992 – In Lagos, one day exhibition sale with British Wives Club of Nigeria
• March 1993 – In Lagos, one day exhibition sale with Canadian Women's Club of Nigeria
• April 1993 – Held an exhibition with painter Karin Ostertag at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria
• March 1994 – In Lagos, one day exhibition/sale with Canadian Women's Club of Nigeria

Nov. 1999 – Two week exhibition at the Centro Ajijic de Bellas Artes

• Between 1999 and 2006, Paulette showed often with the Ajijic Society of Arts’ monthly exhibitions, as well as in several other exhibitions.

[Ajijic is an artists’ Mecca in the Mexican state of Jalisco near Guadalajara. It is located on the shores of Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake. The area boasts what is called “The World’s Perfect Climate”.]

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