Beth Hone

Beth was born in Halkirk, Alberta on February 2, 1918. Her father managed a bank. She received her teaching certificate in 1936 and her BA (U of Toronto) in 1941. She started a 61 year romance with Mac while she was teaching in Nanaimo and he was welding in North Vancouver for the war effort. McGregor and Beth had two children: Janet and Dave. Beth is an important figure in the Regina Clay movement. She is one of the early teachers of ceramics in the province. In the 1960s, she partnered with Anne James in the private studio known as the Hone-James Studio. As a lifelong learner Beth studied with many potters including Bernard Leach. Many Saskatchewan Artists were introduced to various aspects of pottery by the innovative teachings of Beth. Beth was clearly a spiritual feminist. Her floral images evoke meditation. Beth Hone’s fluted gills #1 and #2 from 1972 are really good examples of how one can use the feminist lens to understand a work. In both of these works, they reference women’s work, and what I mean by that is, women creators have often been associated with the botanical or flower drawings, especially during the eighteenth century. So when those feminist lens gets put on, and you look at these works, and you see how they reference a vase into some sort of a flower shape, you can start to talk about how women have been associated with different types of artistic practices. In addition, Hone become very clever or playful because she bases her flowers – this porcelain part right here – on fungal forms rather than pretty flowers. Women have often worked in porcelain factories as the makers of these porcelain flowers. And we can see that Hone has referenced this because of the use of porcelain in the top part of the vase. Julia Krueger Beth collaborated with Mac often resulting in multiple media reflections from multiple vantage points.