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Saturday, May 12, 2007 - Elmira, ON.
Marc Miquel Helsen

The piece, selected from among the assortment at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, was bought by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, a think tank that draws together academics, diplomats, government officials and NGO representatives to build ideas for global change.

Prévost-Mero was taken aback by the honour.

“I have work there amongst artists that are fifty times better than I am, so I consider it a compliment that they bought my piece and not somebody else’s,” she said.

When Prévost-Mero received a message from the CIGI thanking her for a piece that was given to the prince, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She sent off a flurry of e-mails, eager to confirm whether the message was for real.

“That’s kind of when I freaked out and I e-mailed a whole bunch of people to see ‘how did this happen,’” she noted.

Though Prévost-Mero’s pieces are regularly featured at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery near the CIGI office, having one selected as a gift for a royal was special.

“We have a lot of visiting high-profile people who come through our building – visitors, diplomats, this sort of thing – and so very often we’re looking for very unique gifts for them to take home as a memory of their visit here to Waterloo,” said CIGI spokesperson Colleen Fitzpatrick.

Because of its proximity to the centre and because it typically carries high caliber articles, the gallery has become something of a gift shop for the CIGI.

“We wanted to give a piece of local art that was representative of our region. It had a very unusual glaze on it and it was very beautiful. And, I thought, very appropriate – so I just purchased it,” said Lena Yost, executive assistant to CIGI executive director John English.

“[Prince Andrew] specifically told his aide to be very careful getting that back to England,” added Yost.
In addition to the “complex” and “gorgeous” vessel created by Prévost-Mero, Prince Andrew also received a T-shirt from the clay and glass gallery that said “you throw like a girl.”

“Apparently, he got a good chuckle out of that,” said Fitzpatrick, noting that the T-shirt statement was a reference to throwing clay.

Most of Prévost-Mero’s creations are derived from a stream of consciousness: she doesn’t really plan her works, she said. She just gets behind the wheel and starts working. When unhappy with a final product, the potter often smashes the work – a process she describes as cathartic and forgiving, granted that broken shards of clay can be used again and again.

While she naturally prefers some works above others, Prévost-Mero noted that she doesn’t get particularly attached to specific pieces – they’re all up for sale. In fact, she doesn’t even know which one of her pieces was given to Prince Andrew.

“Some are hard to part with … but I never keep anything because I cannot afford it. Every pot has to be sold. I would like to but I don’t: it’s one of those things where I just look at it and kind of go, ‘oh, I wish I could but I really need to eat this week … if I were to like all the pieces, I’d be really hard up,” she quipped.

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All pottery shown in this site - created by Natalie Prévost-Mero.