Peg Loan, potter

Jan 25

Margaret "Peggy" Carol Grierson was born in 1927. She and her future Husband, Des Loan, were students of Carlton University’s first graduating class in 1950 and in 1951. When Peg was 24, she and Des married in Ottawa. In 1955, the pair landed in Summerland, BC, where Des held the position of English and French teacher at the Summerland High School. Peg, on the other hand, had the full-time job of raising the five children she and Des had together.

The Loans pottery career started when Peg took a pottery course on hand-building at the Naramata Centre for Continuing Education with California potter Hal Riegger; Reigger headed the pottery department at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Soon, her husband became interested in the craft as well. He went to study with several well-known potters, but always worked in the studio with Peg, often collaborating on pieces. The Loans started with their first Okanagan Pottery studio on Bottleneck Drive in Summerland, then in 1968, they made the move to Peachland and built the iconic second Okanagan Pottery studio right on the side of Highway 97. The modernist little flat-roofed building became a local landmark. Peg and Des Loan ran and worked their Okanagan Pottery Studio for several years, often collaborating on pieces together.

Though Des Loan has been the more familiar name from this era of the Okanagan Pottery Studio, Peg’s influence and presence is not to be overlooked.

Peg Loan died in 2007. She was 80 years old.