Bob Kingsmill

Potter Bob Kingsmill opened his studio in the Net Loft on Granville Island in Vancouver in 1979. He continues to operate Kingsmill Studio Pottery - which is now a working studio shared by Bob and potters Keith Lehman and Carole Henshall; Charmian Nimmo; and Vin Arora - alongside his home studio in Coldstream, BC.

Bob produces a wide variety of stoneware and raku-fired ceramics including wall murals, masks, and functional pottery. His masks are widely collected and his wall murals hang in homes and public buildings in many countries of the world.

Born in Vancouver in 1941, Bob spent his childhood in Winnipeg where he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba in 1964. He then trained in ceramics under the tutelage of Muriel Guest in Winnipeg before returning to British Columbia and establishing his own pottery studio in Kelowna in 1967. This was where he also started the Mission Hall Sale and he was instrumental in helping numerous Okanagan potters gain recognition for their work. In the ’70s, Kingsmill moved to Bowen Island where he compiled his first book, A Catalogue of British Columbia Potters (published 1978).

Bob has been a full-time sculptor and potter for over five decades, is a master at his craft, and has been a humble and generous ceramics instructor, sharing his knowledge throughout the province for many years. He has taught at Capilano College, Malaspina College, Emily Carr College of Art and Design, and the Vernon Community Arts Centre.

“To unexpectedly find the arts has allowed me to ride a continuum of exploration and growth. It is as if there were a line-up of objects waiting to be made and I keep working in the awareness that the line will never diminish in length. It is perfect”, Bob says.