Leaves

Living in a foresty place, lots of time is spent surrounded by leaves. Everyday we walk in the woods and see leaves, and so leaves creep in to my work in lots of ways, sometimes drawn, others, carved. These are plates, cut free-style, all at the same time, about the same size and shape. In the firing, I put lots of salt and there is a lot of mottling. They are waxed with a food safe wax from Lee Valley[beeswax and mineral oil].These are part of my current exhibit at Espace Kao in Val David.

Spheres

Spheres always attract  me. I've been making them in various ways for years. These are about 10" in diameter. The pit firing gives a soft luminosity I love.

discs

These sculptures are hollow discs, earthenware, polished, oiled, re-polished, pit-fired and waxed. They are very tactile, people seem compelled to pick them up to hold. Some of the stands are human like forms,holding in a variety of positions, some are more formal clay stands and others are nests woven from vines in my garden.

Longhouse boxes

We were visiting the Samourai exhibit at the archeological museum "Pointe a Calliere" in Montreal a while ago. the show is very interesting , but what really caught my eye was in the basement permanent exhibit of the origins of Montreal. One of the items was a maquette of a native village. I've seen this several times before, this museum being one of favourites. Always the longhouses capture my imagination. When I went into the studio , a few days later with the intention of making some sort of box to include in my upcoming show, this same form came to mind.

end of summer garden

The days are getting shorter, the sun lower in the sky, crickets are doing what it is they do and the pumpkins are getting fat. These glorious days are wonderful in the garden, it is impossible to drag myself in to the studio. Here are some bits of my vegetable garden.

Hockinson, Washington workshop

I have recently retuned from giving a workshop, with Russell Ford, in Hockinson, Washington[ near Portland, Oregon] on handbuilding, glazing with local ingredients and firing 4 different methods. It was great fun . All of the participants were enthusiastic with very differing skill sets. We worked way more than we had thought we would to get it all in, but had a ball. The results were interesting, we worked with different river slips, feldspar and ash in layers. There is already talk of next year so if you are interested speak up. There is free nearby camping and the site is gorgeous. Here are some of my surfaces. The primitive fired ware is mounted on stands made by Russell, he can do anything faster than you can ask him to do it. I will be giving another primitive firing workshop at my studio in Val David August 6-10, any one interested, now is the time to register. Go to my email robinhutchinson@hotmail.com

Basketry workshop results

This spring the potters in Val David asked basketry artist Nathalie Levasseur to give us a workshop in incorporating basketry elements to our pots. She graciously accepted and put together some projects to give us some skills in what to her is second nature. Let's just say the learning curve was a steep one! We struggled, cursed and then started to get the hang of it. I was very happy with the results. Then I tried it on my own, not fun. I realize that this is not the way I work, so I adapted, using wire and found bits to create something else. These are now on exhibit at 1001POTS in Val David and at Galerie ESPACE KAO, also in Val David.