Canadian Pottery – Leonhard Epp, (1932-2018) raku vase, 11″ high – British Columbia – coll.#90
Leonhard Epp: b. Germany 1932. At the age of nineteen, after earning a Journeyman’s Certificate in stone sculpture, he emigrated alone to Canada where he took a job as a lumberjack in Rimouski, Quebec. After one winter’s employment, he made the decision to relocate to Vancouver enrolling in the Vancouver School of Art.
He taught at the VSA from 1962 to 1972 as Professor of Sculpture and Ceramics then moved to the Okanagan in 1973, serving as Professor of Sculpture and Ceramics at Okanagan College, 1974-76. After teaching, he focused full time on his creative practice in his studio in Falkland, B.C.
Epp exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions in public and private galleries, including the Vernon Art Gallery, the Kamloops Art Gallery, Kelowna Art Gallery, the House of Ceramics, and the Bau-Xi Gallery. He also participated in numerous group exhibitions in Vancouver and Seattle. He created sculpture for the Federal Manpower Building in Victoria, B.C., as well as Fishermen’s Credit Union Building in Vancouver.