John Crawford

John Crawford (1951 – 3 February 2012) was a New Zealand potter who was born on, and maintained a studio on, the West Coast of New Zealand.

Life Crawford was born in Runanga in 1951. He attended Greymouth High School, where he met Yvonne Rust, who was the art teacher at that time. She encouraged him to train under Jack Laird at Waimea Craft Pottery in Nelson.

From 1969 to 1974 he was trained as a potter at Waimea. In this studio workshop, run the style of Bernard Leach, he learned to use a wheel, glazing, and firing.

In 1986 Crawford was the New Zealand guest potter at the first National Australian Ceramics Symposium in Canberra. He was a committee member of the New Zealand Society of Potters, and president from 1985 to 1988.

In 1989, with the help of a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant, Crawford prepared a solo exhibition at the Suter Art Gallery in Nelson. He fired thousands of porcelain pebbles, 30 mm across and 10 mm thick, painted, numbered, and arranged in 2 x 1.5 m area.

Collections Crawford's work is in the collection of the Suter Art Gallery, the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill, and the Auckland Institute and Museum's Auckland Studio Potters Collection. Pieces are also owned by the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, the Myer Foundation in Australia, and New Zealand's Korean Embassy.

Exhibitions

1974: Suter Art Gallery The Bowl. 1981: Crafts Council of New Zealand, Wellington 1983: World Crafts Exhibition, Canada Winstone Ties That Bind. 1985: Crafts Council of New Zealand, Wellington New Zealand Potters. 1986: Gallery Eight, La Jolla, California Ceramics '86. 1986: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth Spheres. 1986: New Zealand Society of Potters, Southland Museum, Invercargill 1989: Suter Art Gallery