Fun facts about MG

Michael Giles …

• Fell into clay by accident 30 years ago and fell in love.
• Lives in Victoria with his wife, Anita, and their three cats, Booker, Ollie, and Bailey.
• Grew up in small-town Rosetown, Saskatchewan.
• Sometimes dreams he can play the trumpet like Miles Davis.
• Isn’t afraid to give a perfectly symmetrical wheel-thrown pot a whack with a wooden spoon—just to see what it might look like.
• Can’t imagine why anyone would choose the colour taupe for anything.
• Thinks he would look very cool riding a Ruckus scooter.
• Has certain very old pottery tools—a horsehair brush, a common paring knife—that he can’t imagine working without.
• Likes the texture of metallic oxides and clay-slip trailing on his pottery.
• Wishes he could grow a thicker beard.
• Believes form comes first in pottery, then function—in other words, it’s fine if it just looks gorgeous and doesn’t do anything.
• Thinks that 20th-century German-born British potter Hans Coper was a genius.
• Probably has cat hair on his clothes right now.
• Makes the best pasta puttanesca.
• Can see Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic influences in his pottery work.
• Knows that skill and luck both play a part in creating a successful pot.
• Got married in Las Vegas, but didn’t have Elvis as the minister.
• Once knew a woman who kept a baby alligator in her bathtub. Really. A baby alligator.
• Gets wildly impatient waiting for his pottery kiln to sloooooooowly cool down enough after a firing so he can open it.
• Will do almost anything for a laugh.
• Is inspired by the spray-painted scribbles and tags of graffiti artists.
• Wishes his mom was alive today see his pottery.
• Just loves to get muddy.