Molly Hatch Ceramics

A Day in the Life of Molly Hatch

2012-01-12T10:59:00.004-07:00

Q&A: Ceramicist Molly Hatch

by Anthropologie on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 3:07pm

A: Let’s go back to the very beginning—how did you become a ceramicist?

MH: I started working with clay as a freshman in college. I took a summer course in wheel throwing and fell in love. I became more serious about it later in my undergraduate career when I learned how to put my drawings onto the surfaces of my pottery. Being able to make a pot into a drawing was what engaged me then and it continues to do so today.

A: What do you love most about your home studio?

MH: I really like that mine is long and somewhat narrow compared to spaces I’ve had in the past. It makes movement much more efficient. There is not one inch of space in there that isn’t being put to use.

A: Where do you find inspiration for your work?

MH: I look to art history as a major source—everything from ceramics to textiles to prints, usually from 18th century Europe. I’m always trying to find creative ways to make the old into something new, so whenever I’m away from home with a moment to spare, I find myself in a bookstore or museum soaking up inspiration.

A: How would you describe yourself and your style?

MH: I'm an extrovert, which makes for a big personality! I’m tall, but love wearing heels because they often put me close to six feet. Also, I’m a Gemini, so the twin nature that comes with that often has me secretly exploring an alter ego. As for style, I’m really happy that sailor stripes are back. Somehow, wearing striped shirts makes me feel more like an artist—funky and fun. Maybe I have Picasso to thank for that?

A: Your beautiful floral tattoo caught our eye, so we must ask—is there a story behind it?

MH: It’s a half-sleeve that I got about a year ago. It was the first tattoo after my daughter was born, which feels significant. I designed it after a Victorian engraving of a basket with flowers. I have several other tattoos here and there, and most represent the start of new chapters in my life—graduating from college, traveling through Europe for half a year, going to graduate school…

A: What is your favorite part of each day?

MH: There are two! The first is definitely the moment my daughter comes to wake me up, often pulling me from bed or climbing in with me for a snuggle. The second is the start of my studio day—sitting at my worktable, latte in hand, with a clear list of things to do. That is SO satisfying.

A: What are the day-to-day goals you hope to accomplish?

MH: My days vary from working in my studio to teaching workshops to setting up exhibitions, but my overall goals are to live healthy, make good work and enjoy myself and my family. I feel extremely lucky to be making a living off what I love. Really, that is all anyone can ask for, right?

To see more of Molly’s work, visit http://anthrpl.ge/xcMJZs

Molly Hatch Ceramics Monthly Cover Feb 2012

2012-01-12T09:46:00.003-07:00

Molly Hatch at Art Miami

2011-12-10T12:43:00.004-07:00

I just wanted to share my latest body of work "Mon Plaisir" which Ferrin Gallery took to Art Miami two weeks ago. This body of work was shown in part at Greenwich House Pottery in Oct/Nov as a solo exhibition.

It was an incredible week in Miami with a sold-out show for me in the end! These are just a selection of images of work that went to Miami and found new homes...

The work is all gouache on paper and the figures are porcelain with underglazes and engobes.

Winters Florifertum at Red Lodge Clay Center

2011-12-09T15:17:00.003-07:00

Close Window

curatorial statement for Winter's Florifertum: Annual Holiday Invitational

12.02.2011 to 12.23.2011

Snow is inevitably swirling down from the mountain this time of year in Red Lodge and most are delighted to break out snow gear and revel in the cold of the eighth snowiest town in the United States. Let us not forget the seasons' change is the fabled consequence of the gods Zeus and Hades conspiring to carry Persephone away. Her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she ceased to exude her fruit bearing forces upon the earth and all were pushed into a deep winter. At last, Zeus forced Hades to return Persephone, goddess of spring's bounty, to her mother's realm. Unfortunately, so the story goes, Persephone had tasted food from the underworld and thus a permanent departure was prevented. Each year, as Persephone slips back to resume her role as Hades' bride, Demeter blankets the world in ice and snow once again.

Festivals of bounty and growth have been prevalent in spring when blossoms dot the tundra and plains for centuries. One such festival, usually held in May, is a five-day celebration called "Florifertum". Offerings of milk and honey are made to the flower goddess and maidens adorn their heads with floral wreaths. Such abundance is not so different from traditional festive celebrations of the winter season.

The work of Molly Hatch celebrates and elevates abundance. Her aesthetic is the cornerstone for this exhibition. Molly designed frames and niches specifically for the Red Lodge Clay Center Loft Gallery and together we assembled a group of artists who also celebrate the jewels of springtime. Michelle Miller, Julie Johnson, Elizabeth Robinson, Michael Kline, Melody Tiemann, Sanam Emami and Jenni Brant created cups and mug to hang alongside each other within Molly's framework. It was a long distance collaboration capitalizing on each makers existing aesthetic.

The result is an exhibition, which simultaneously inverts and merges with our winter wonderland. Perhaps it can remind us, whatever the season, we have much to revel in and there is always a warm cuppa waiting for us somewhere.

NOTE: If you are interested in purchasing on of Molly Hatch's frames, please contact the gallery for special pricing. 406-446-3993

New Work at Anthropologie

2011-12-09T15:07:00.003-07:00

As you all well know by now, I have a lot of things coming out over the next couple years atAnthropologie. My first dinnerware service is now up for sale on their site, just in time for last minute holiday shopping!

As usual, the bottoms of all the work are decorated too!

Molly Hatch on Decor8 Blog

2011-12-09T14:59:00.003-07:00

I was just parousing one of my go to blogs Decor8 looking for some inspiration and I came across a post on December 2 of Holly's Anthropologie wish list and I have 2 items in the list! I love that I made the cut twice!

These are a couple images pulled from the posting, but you should check it out here:http://decor8blog.com/2011/12/02/anthropologie-wish-list/ or go to Anthropologie and see my new work!

Workshop and Lecture at Museum School this week!

2011-09-21T07:01:00.003-06:00

American Pottery Festival

2011-09-03T13:24:00.003-06:00

I am really honored to be one of the artists in this year's American Pottery Festival at the Northern Clay Center. The events begin next Friday in Minneapolis and I will be there with freshly done hair, nails and my best party dress!

I cant wait to meet some of my fellow makers and see some old friends there too. I hope you are able to make it!

Here is the schedule, but be sure to check the NCC site here for more information.

New Molly Hatch at the Clay Studio in Philly!

2011-09-03T13:17:00.003-06:00

Check out some of my fresh designs now at the Clay Studio in Philly!

SIP II at TRAX up September 10th.

2011-09-03T13:15:00.002-06:00

Find my latest cups creations at SIP at TRAX gallery in Berkeley CA opens next week!

Molly Hatch in FOR THE FLOWERS at Schaller Gallery

2011-05-25T18:36:00.003-06:00

New vases of mine playing on history and the contemporary--vases with drawings of vases on them! There are only three left to purchase at Schaller Gallery. Click HERE to go to Schaller Gallery

Here they are:

MOLLY HATCH SOLO @ MUDFIRE!

2011-05-25T18:20:00.002-06:00

Molly Hatch creates clay works ranging from ambitious installations to impeccably crafted tableware. Her work borrows from historical influences in fabric and ceramics and remixes them with an insightful eye to contemporary living. Her 2011 solo show at MudFire is focused on her exquisite blue tableware. The clear lines of both form and patterns are crisp updates on ceramic history, thoughtfully balanced by subtle organic elements such as slight throwing rings or a hint of glaze movement. Simply perfect in our opinion.

Work will post in preview mode by June 6, and will be available for puchase starting 10:00 am on Saturday, June 11, 2011.

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Canelle et Vanille

2011-05-25T18:13:00.003-06:00

I was happy to see a lovely styling of one of my French Cafe Bowls on Aran's food blog Canelle et Vanille today. Click here to see the full post on her blog.

These are a few of the images of my bowl. Gorgeous! Thank you Aran! I cant wait to see the book!

Art of The Pot coming up!

2011-04-25T06:45:00.002-06:00

COME FIND ME AND NEW WORK AT ART OF THE POT!!

Molly Hatch "Double Dare Ya" at SOFA NY in Ferrin Gallery Pursuit of Porcelain

2011-04-08T20:12:00.004-06:00

FERRIN GALLERY

437 North Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201

Contact: Leslie Ferrin

Tel. 413-446-0614

Email: leslie.ferrin@gmail.com

www.ferringallery.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MOLLY HATCH “DOUBLE DARE YA”

Presented in THE PURSUIT OF PORCELAIN

Ferrin Gallery presents Molly Hatch’s “DOUBLE DARE YA” , in The Pursuit of Porcelain, an installation of ceramic sculpture, photography and works on paper at the Park Avenue Armory at SOFA New York, April 14 – 17, 2011 and Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, MA May 28 – July 23, 2011

For The Pursuit of Porcelain, Molly Hatch’s new body of ceramic work “DOUBLE DARE YA” is presented in a staged setting inspired by the historic 18^th century tradition of the porcelain room. For this installation, Hatch has created a series of interrelated porcelain forms referencing whiskey flasks. Each flask portrays one line of a poem in text messaging acronyms and correlating imagery. The poem is read in entirety when the flasks are viewed as an installation. Each flask is exhibited in a baroque inspired ceramic frame that Hatch has mounted on a graffiti wall panel painted by Brooklyn graffiti artists Pher and Serk.

Molly Hatch’s work is heavily inspired by fabric, font and design trends that she remixes and redefines. Her use of text is appropriated from grrl band and punk rock lyrics like those of Bikini Kill and the Runaways, as well as from text messaging and collected colloquiums.

Hatch works from her Northampton MA home studio where she is a surface designer for everything from wallpaper patterns to jewelry in addition to her primary career as a ceramic artist-designer. Hatch received her MFA in ceramics at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 2008. In 2009, she was awarded the prestigious Arts/Industry Residency in the Pottery at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin. She has had articles published in American Craft Magazine, Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated.

ARTIST CONVERSATION: Molly Hatch

Molly Hatch: Pattern Function

Hatch discusses her recent body of ceramic artwork that engages pattern as a framing and display device to support a conceptual idea.

1 pm, Friday, April 15

Inbooth #300

SOFA CHATS with Christa Assad and Molly Hatch

A lively program of discussions with artists about their most recent work and projects. Presented by exhibitors in their booths throughout the evening, this is a unique opportunity to hear from some of the most exciting artists working in their field including Christa Assad, whose collaborative works are based on graffiti culture and urban detritus, and Molly Hatch, ceramicist and designer partnering with Anthropologie on several upcoming projects.

New Collectors/Young Designers Night

6:00 - 8:30 pm Friday, April 15

Ferrin Gallery
Inbooth #300

“The Pursuit of Porcelain” is an installation of ceramic sculpture, photography and works on paper, a staged version of an 18^th century porcelain room filled with a collection of figurines, plates and objects. The installation, conceived by sculptor Chris Antemann includes a room of her own sculpture and photography and interpretations of the concept by Molly Hatch and other invited artists who share a passion for porcelain and its history.

Ferrin Gallery, established 1979, is nationally known as a contemporary gallery specializing in figural sculpture and studio ceramics. The gallery works closely with private collectors, institutions and the media as a source for works by both established and emerging artists. Located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, it is equidistant from New York City and Boston.

HOURS: By Appointment through May 25, Thurs – Saturday, 11-5:00 through June, Open Daily July – August.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

MOLLY HATCH online at: http://mollyhatch.com and www.ferringallery.com

For more and high resolution images contact Leslie Ferrin Tel. 413-446-0614

Email: leslie.ferrin@gmail.com for more information.

Molly Hatch "Double Dare Ya" at SOFA NY in Ferrin Gallery Pursuit of Porcelain

2011-04-08T20:01:00.009-06:00

437 North Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201

Contact: Leslie Ferrin

Tel. 413-446-0614

Email: leslie.ferrin@gmail.com

www.ferringallery.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MOLLY HATCH “DOUBLE DARE YA”

Presented in THE PURSUIT OF PORCELAIN

ARTIST CONVERSATION: Molly Hatch

Molly Hatch: Pattern Function

Hatch discusses her recent body of ceramic artwork that engages pattern as a framing and display device to support a conceptual idea.

1 pm, Friday, April 15

Inbooth #300

SOFA CHATS with Christa Assad and Molly Hatch

New Collectors/Young Designers Night

6:00 - 8:30 pm Friday, April 15

Ferrin Gallery
Inbooth #300

HOURS: By Appointment through May 25, Thurs – Saturday, 11-5:00 through June, Open Daily July – August.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

MOLLY HATCH online at: http://mollyhatch.com and www.ferringallery.com

For more and high resolution images contact Leslie Ferrin Tel. 413-446-0614

Email: leslie.ferrin@gmail.com for more information.

Molly Hatch in Design*Spnge ITKW!

2011-04-08T19:51:00.004-06:00

I was reacquainted with my love for pecans when I tested this recipe for a Maple Pecan Whiskey Cake by ceramicist Molly Hatch. Normally you’d make fruit cake for the holidays, but because this cake freezes well and makes four loaves at once, it is also perfect to keep around or take a loaf the next time you visit a friend. Molly’s best friend gave her this recipe, which her family has used for decades. A little internet research verified that it is in fact a variation on an unattributed recipe that people have used for years. Maybe it was the recipe on a baking soda, flour or raisin box? Molly has substituted the corn syrup for maple syrup, however, which imparts great flavor! The proportions may look gigantic, but it’s this extravagance that makes it so good. If you don’t have pecans where you are, try using walnuts instead. And check out Molly’s fantastic spaetzle with butternut squash and dried cranberries recipe from our archive. — Kristina

About Molly: Molly Hatch is a ceramicist who works from her home studio in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband and daughter. She also teaches as an adjunct professor in ceramics at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke.

Maple Pecan Whiskey Cake

1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of whiskey
1 box white/golden raisins
4 cups flour
8 cups pecans (2 pounds)
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
6 eggs
3/4 lb butter, room temperature (if you substitute margarine for butter, use 2 sticks of margarine to 1 stick of butter)
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup dark REAL maple syrup (I use grade “B”, as it has more flavor for cooking!)

Note from Kristina: This cake may look involved, but it isn’t. It does, however, help to have all of your ingredients prepared before you start working.

Instructions

Preparing the oven and the baking pans:

1. Heat the oven to 250ºF/120ºC.

2. Line four 8” x 4” x 4” (1-lb. capacity) loaf pans with parchment paper (do not butter the paper). Alternatively, use disposable paper wrappers (which are great for gifting later). The number of wrappers you need will depend on their size.

Assembling a few ingredients:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix baking soda and raisins with whiskey. Set aside.

2. In a larger bowl, combine pecans, flour and spices. Toss well in order to coat pecans and with flour and spices. Set aside.

3. Set aside the largest bowl you have (gigantic). You will need to work with this later.

4. Separate the eggs.

Making the cake:

1. In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and sugar.

2. Once the mixture is fluffy, add the egg yolks a bit at a time until the mixture is homogenous. Be sure to stop the mixer periodically and scrape the bottom, sides and beater of the bowl.

3. Give the whiskey/raisin/soda mixture a good stir, and then slowly add it to the mixture followed by the syrup.

4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients until well blended. Stop the mixer to scrape down the beater and sides of the bowl. Mix for an additional 30 seconds, and then move the mixture to the gigantic bowl.

5. With the balloon whisk attachment (or a hand mixer), beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold them into the wet mixture. (You will see why you needed a gigantic bowl at this point.)

6. Divide the batter among your cake pans.

7. Working very quickly, place a roasting pan filled with water in the bottom of the oven. Then put your loaf pans in (on the racks, not in the water!) and bake at 250º for 2.5 hours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the loaves comes out clean. Keep your eye on the water level in the roasting pan; you may need to add a little water if it all evaporates. When opening the oven, be careful of the steam that has formed inside.

8. Once out of the oven, cool completely on a rack. Wrap loaves well. As with most fruit cakes, this tastes better a day later. It also freezes well! If eating immediately, keep in the refrigerator.

Photography by Kristina Gill. Pink pen by Lamy; light blue oval plate by Laboratorio Pesaro; maple syrup dish by Sabon; shot glass and blue and white napkin from IKEA; white bread plate by mud australia; sculpted cake plate by Molly Hatch; cake wrappers from Peroni shop, although you may also find them on Etsy or at The Bay Tree (Sydney); all other items vintage.

Why Molly Chose This Recipe
The original whiskey-cake recipe I based this on was introduced to me by my best friend when we lived together during graduate school in Colorado. It quickly became a favorite recipe in our household — often made during the holiday season — but good any time of the year. I substituted maple syrup for the karo syrup that the original recipe called for. A sign of my Vermont childhood; like any good New Englander, I love an excuse to use dark maple syrup in a recipe. It can accompany breakfast coffee or afternoon tea, but I like it best as an after-dinner treat with some whiskey on the rocks . . . yummy!

In the Kitchen With: Molly Hatch Spaetzles

2011-02-18T11:36:00.002-07:00

I fell in love with Molly Hatch‘s work the first time I saw it on Design*Sponge. I was mesmerized by the blue and white of the images I saw, and as I reviewed her work, I was also captivated by the floral motifs. I can’t think of a better combination than good food on nice serving pieces, so asking Molly for a few of her favorite recipes for In the Kitchen With was a natural. This week she shares her recipe for spaetzle, a fresh dumpling made with eggs, milk and flour. Though spaetzle are usually tossed with butter and herbs and eaten alongside a meat dish as you would rice or potatoes, Molly and I played around together with sauce ideas to use the spaetzle more like pasta and came up with spaetzle with butternut squash, shallots and cranberries. We hope you like it! — Kristina

About Molly: As the daughter of a painter and a dairy farmer, Molly’s childhood was divided between physical labor, play and creating her own art. Her interest in utilitarian ceramics is grounded in her family’s history of using their hands to make objects for use and contemplation. She pursued a formal art school education, earning a BFA from the Museum School in Boston and an MFA in 2008 from the University of Colorado. Her latest work explores the relationship between high and low, an intersection of current tattoo and graffiti culture and historic patterning and design. Molly works from her home studio in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband and daughter. She also teaches as an adjunct professor in ceramics at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke.

She has been collaborating on an exciting commercial design project incorporating some of these ideas that will be released later this year.

CLICK HERE for the full recipe after the jump!

Spaetzle
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 fresh farm eggs (good eggs = good spaetzle!)
1/2 cup whole milk
butter or olive oil to keep spaetzle from sticking

Instructions

1. Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then mix them together to a “sticky mustard” consistency — a bit thicker than pancake batter.

2. Let sit for about one hour at room temperature.

3. Drop a small amount into salted boiling water. You know they are done when they float to the surface. Skim out of the water with a slotted spoon. Keep warm in an oven in a covered casserole dish with butter or olive oil to keep the pieces from sticking together.

Note from Molly
There are many ways to “drop” the spaetzle into the water for cooking. Claudia (the nanny who I received this recipe from) would shape a sort of log out of a portion of the bowl of dough about 5″ long and 1–2″ wide on a small cutting board. She lovingly cut small amounts of the batter into the salt water. The pieces were about 1″ long and about 1/4″ thick. If you cut them evenly, they will cook evenly!

Note from Kristina
For these photos, I made the dough a little stiffer to ensure that I could make the spaetzle into more regular sizes. Whether your batter is more or less stiff, dipping your knife in the boiling water between each cut helps move each portion off the cutting board and keeps it from sticking to your knife if you are using one. No matter what you do, the spaetzle will always be quite “rustic” looking because they are dropped into boiling water. They will always taste good, despite their irregular appearance!

Butternut Squash, Shallot and Cranberry Sauce
Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the baking tray
1.5 pounds butternut squash, skin on
10–12 shallots, papery outer skin removed, cut into quarters
1 handful dried cranberries
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like it really spicy)
1/2 cup vegetable broth
Parmesan if you wish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and lightly oil the paper/foil. Slice the butternut squash into slices about 1″ thick. Place on the tray. Sprinkle each slice with salt and a little olive oil. Bake in the oven until the slices are well browned and easily pierced with a fork.

2. While the squash bakes, add three tablespoons of olive oil and the shallots to a large frying pan. Cook on medium-low heat until the shallots start to change color. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook until they turn golden. Add the cranberries and red pepper flakes and continue to cook on low heat until the cranberries soften, about another 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and add 1/4 cup vegetable broth, stirring until it thickens. Remove from heat and cover.

3. Once the squash is baked, remove it from the oven, remove the skin and cut into cubes. Add to the pan with the remaining 1/4 cup vegetable broth and stir on medium heat until the squash is evenly coated.

4. Mix the squash/shallot/cranberry mixture with the spaetzle, making sure to coat the spaetzle well. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan if you wish. You might also try adding bacon in with the shallots!

Photography by Kristina Gill: rough linen napkin by Axlings (available through Karin Eriksson); cutting board by Andrea Brugi; salt dish (steel) by mud australia; knife from merci; small oak board by Andrea Brugi; navy blue bowl by Christiane Perrochon; crimson striped towel by Zara Home; platter by Molly Hatch (available through Lola Home); crimson napkin by Fog Linen; all other props eBay/fleamarket finds.

Why Molly Chose This Recipe
As a little girl, we never had a special occasion without fresh spaetzle. As a family, we were introduced to spaetzle by our Swiss nanny, Claudia, and we loved them so much that they became a favorite. Spaetzle-making was reserved for special meals mostly due to the labor-intensive process of cutting each little piece of batter by hand. Many years later, my mother was gifted a “spaetzle maker” which is essentially a mandolin for making spaetzle. Something about the convenience of this process just killed the yumminess of the hand-cut spaetzle Claudia and my mother made by hand. As I write this, I find myself wondering if Claudia had a spaetzle maker at home in Switzerland and was just making do with what we had in our American kitchen . . . hmmm . . . to be answered by Swiss D*S readers . . .

Molly Hatch in Design*Sponge 2010 Gift Guide for the Kitchen

2010-12-18T10:11:00.004-07:00

This was on Design*Sponge yesterday! Check it out HERE!

New Tattoo Flash: VASES From SOFA now at FERRIN GALLERY

2010-12-09T19:17:00.005-07:00

Check out this new body of work--traditional tattoo flash from Japan and China..on my pots!!!

Definitely more to come.... for now you can check these out at Ferrin Gallery!

Molly Hatch in Form Follows Food at Greenwich House Pottery NYC

2010-12-09T13:54:00.004-07:00

Form Follows Food Opens December 3, 2010

Celebrating the Fine Art of Pairing Food and Drink with the Perfect Vessel!

December 3rd, 2010 - January 6th, 2011 in the Jane Hartsook Gallery at Greenwich House Pottery. 16 Jones Street (between Bleecker and West 4th Streets), New York City

Opening Reception: Friday, December 3rd, 6-9pm at Greenwich House Pottery

Each artist was invited to create a group of ceramics designed to enhance the delights of a certain type of food or drink - their choice. The results are as varied as the makers: from Marie Antoinette-inspired candy dishes to cozy pudding cups, festive popcorn bowls and lobster dishes, there is literally something here for every taste! Come to the opening reception and find the perfect holiday gift for every foodie on your list.

Molly hatch at Artisan Gallery Cup and Mug Invitational

2010-12-09T13:47:00.002-07:00

Molly Hatch @ Lyons Wier Gallery NYC

2010-12-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCING THE LAUNCH OF LYONS WIER LIMITED

Coinciding with the move of Lyons Wier Gallery to 542 West 24th Street in January 2011, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new project space, Lyons Wier Limited at 175 Seventh Avenue (@ W.20th St).

Lyons Wier Limited will continue to focus on fine art but also investigate our growing interest in the artisanal and applied arts.

Our first exhibition of artisanal arts opens this Sunday, December 12th at 175 Seventh Ave from 12 - 4PM.
In The Ceramics Studio is a group show featuring 30 artists from New York area ateliers and focuses on hand-made functional and conceptual ceramic artwork.

Upcoming Exhibition Program @ Lyons Wier Limited:

December 10, 2010 - January 4th, 2011
Artists Reception: Sunday, December 12th - 12 - 2pm

In The Ceramics Studio, featuring work by Posey Bacopoulos, Yasha Butler, Colleen Carlson,
Nadeige Choplet, Sarah Cihat, Peggy Clarke, Mark Davies, Jennifer Cotton, Georgann Freeman, Nonna Hall, Molly Hatch, Julie Hadley, Gail Heidel, Sin-ying Ho, Stepanka Horalkova, Bill Hudnut, Gitte Jungersen,
Paul Krause, Nicholas Kripal, Jessie Lazar, Firth MacMillan, Judy Moonelis, Jeffrey Mongrain, Lai Montesca,
Sana Musasama, Bob Pesce, Robert Silverman, Richard Stauffacher, Maria Weisman, Katie Westgate.

Molly Hatch: MIMESIS at Ferrin Gallery THROUGH DEC 31

2010-12-09T13:28:00.003-07:00

Growing up in a family of craftsmen and painters, I was encouraged to pass my time by drawing, painting and making. It became clear to me that the act of art making is both meaningful and valued. My examination of the traditional relationship of craft to fine art directly stems from this familial encouragement to make art and make it useful.

A cup or a bowl is almost universally accessible and navigable as most people use them in their daily lives. For me, the blank cup is anonymous in a manner similar to a blank piece of paper. The three-dimensional surface tableware provides is rich with conceptual potential as a place for drawings and paintings. Interaction is encouraged through the decoration of hidden surfaces—the underside of a cup, beneath a lid or on a handle.

I am attracted to the aesthetic qualities of familiar domestic objects and patterns and appropriate them into my work from both historical and contemporary sources. I crop original patterns, play with scale, remix and alter imagery with a contemporary palette and altered scale. I aim to make useful and beautiful vessels that are contemporary counterparts to their historical precedents.

Through display, an item that we often pass by in our day to day can become an object of consideration. In altering the more accepted modes of storage of functional objects in the home I aim to question the traditional perception of the role of ceramics and craft in relationship to art, decoration and function.

Molly Hatch: New Work in CLAY STUDIO SHOP

2010-12-09T13:22:00.003-07:00

The Clay Studio has been looking good lately! Naomi is doing a good job with the Gallery and the online shop. They now advertise through Design*Sponge! Check out my new work in the shop ath the Clay Studio HERE

Molly Hatch plate in "In the Kitchen With..." column on Design*Sponge

2010-10-17T12:33:00.001-06:00

Molly Hatch Presenter at Potters Council Conference: Splendid Surfaces

2010-08-30T09:02:00.001-06:00

MOLLY HATCH
The Altered Surface
Molly will demonstrate the large range of techniques she uses in her own work for surface decoration on greenware and bisqueware. Through discussion of her process, Molly will provide step-by-step instruction to achieve decorative surfaces. Attendees will leave the workshop with working knowledge of techniques covered: Mishima (Japanese slip inlay), Sgraffito (slip carving), sprig molds, slip trailing, shellac relief as well as use of underglazes on bisque.

Hands On:
During the Hands On section of the presentation, Molly will walk you through the application of her demonstrated techniques on the surface of a greenware tile. Attendees will be able to try some or all of the processes discussed with tips from Molly.

Additional Information:
Molly Hatch graduated with her BFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2000 and her MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2008. She has taught numerous workshops and courses and has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally. In addition to working as a full-time studio potter, Hatch regularly writes for Ceramics Monthly and other publications and is on the Board of Directors at The Studio Potter Magazine. She lives with her husband and daughter in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Ceramic Artist - Molly Hatch was featured in Ceramic Arts Daily Newsletter.
Click the link to read: 2-D to 3-D: Using Image Transfer and Mishima Techniques to Make Drawings on Pottery.

For more information about Molly visit: www.mollyhatch.com

See Molly Hatch at Schaller Gallery

2010-08-30T08:48:00.001-06:00

Molly Hatch at PINCH Northampton

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Molly hatch and Bonnie Seeman at Red Star Studios

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First Friday in September

In Shows on August 19, 2010 at 4:31 pm

Bloom

September 3rd-25th
Opening reception First Friday, September 3rd, 6-9pm
Bonnie Seeman and Molly Hatch

Bonnie Seeman and Molly Hatch create work that expands the visual dialogue of botanical imagery and the concept of beauty.

Bonnie Seeman is a globally recognized artist whose works are in many private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum of Art. She received her BFA from the University of Miami, where she is presently a Senior Lecturer in Art and Art History. She received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

Molly Hatch received her BFA in 2000 from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and her MFA in 2008 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She’s had four solo exhibitions and has been a part of numerous group exhibitions since 2000. Currently, Hatch is a full time potter in Northampton, MA and writes for Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, and American Craft Magazine.

Molly Hatch and REAL SIMPLE MAGAZINE

2010-07-16T14:10:00.002-06:00

Molly Hatch on Decor8 Blog

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SIP at TRAX Gallery

2010-07-16T14:02:00.002-06:00

Domestic Beauty: Molly Hatch in American Craft Magazine!

2010-07-16T13:55:00.006-06:00

RADAR Section American Craft Magazine July 9, 2010

Domestic Beauty

BY Shannon Sharpe

One might say that a passion for the handmade is in Molly Hatch’s blood: her family’s connection to functional art goes back generations. “My maternal ancestors were merchants importing goods, mostly from Europe,” says the ceramist. “They always brought back porcelain and French faience as ballast in their ships. I grew up using a lot of the objects inherited from my grandmother in my home.” Surrounded by these opulent pieces, Hatch, whose family's wealth had slowly dwindled decades before she was born, romanticized her prosperous Bostonian ancestors. “I was really fascinated by the wealth those objects represented, such as the baroque repoussé silver mirrors I had in my bedroom and the silver tea service we never used.” The family was as much makers of art as it was buyers and sellers-Hatch’s mother, the daughter and granddaughter of painters, attended the Rhode Island School of Design, which her family was instrumental in founding.

Hatch’s childhood couldn’t have been more different from that storied past. Raised on an organic dairy farm in the rural community of Grafton, VT, until she was 13 years old, Hatch spent her days playing among haystacks and exploring the farm. “I think this set me up for a deep appreciation for things made by hand,” she reflects. “I gained an understanding about what it takes to make something in a way that many people never get. It also gave me the tools to trust that I was capable of making things myself.”

The rural influence continued when her parents moved the family to Plymouth, VT, to run the farm program at the Farm and Wilderness summer camps. “The philosophy of the camps is based on Quaker practices,” Hatch explains. “By living in a communal setting I learned a lot about myself. The Kahil Gibran statement ‘work is love made visible’ became a theoretical framework for my approach to almost everything.”

The inspiration that Hatch, who now lives in Massachusetts, found in her childhood homes is reflected in the domestic feel of her work. “When I am designing a piece in my mind, I always picture where I want it to live,” she says. “And I always end up picturing the work in someone's home. It's almost impossible to deny a connection to the domestic when using clay of any kind.”

The feminine patterns decorating her dishes, which she creates using, among several traditional techniques, Japanese slip-inlay, called mishima, bring to mind the fragile, precious china a hostess might use for a dinner party. Yet, Hatch counters this preciousness by making her objects less delicate-perhaps a testament to her childhood farm experiences. While she looks for inspiration to the patterns for forms and surfaces from the French porcelain factories at Sèvres and Vincennes, she'll design a teacup with no need for a saucer, which can be used like a mug. “I want the works [such as the porcelain Tête à Tête and Umbrella Stand] to exist as contemporary versions of their historical counterparts,” Hatch says. “I like to think that I am taking an old object and redesigning it for the contemporary consumer or collector.”

Molly Hatch on Design*Sponge Today!

2010-06-15T13:11:00.002-06:00

Check out Grace's post about me today HERE!

Clay Studio Page for Mimesis

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The Clay Studio JUST put this page up online about MIMESIS. Check out the Gallery of images to see work for sale!

Molly Hatch: New Work at The Clay Studio

2010-06-09T09:30:00.004-06:00

Article by Molly Hatch in June/July/Aug Issue of Ceramics Monthly

2010-06-07T12:23:00.000-06:00

Stephanie DeArmond’s work combines ceramics tradition with the ironic humor of appropriated text and kitsch imagery. Employing a wide range of influences from architecture, pop culture and art history, DeArmond is at the helm of an alternative craft movement revitalizing non-traditional materials in the art world. With an audience enamored with her work that ranges from subscribers of Elle and Ready-Made magazines to the readers of the popular blog: Design*Sponge, DeArmond’s sculptural and functional ceramics are not easily defined by the art-school limitations of sculpture, vessel and design.

Check out the full article in Ceramics Monthly!

Work in Progress for Clay Studio Show opening June 4th!

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process images from some vases that are almost done! I haven't painted in the color yet, but these have multiple colors of slip inlaid--red and black!

They are in a pair, which I am really excited to see with floral arrangements in them. I am still deciding if I should arrange in them for the opening...

I am doing a frame installation with these cups. I thought they would be a fun compliment to the more serious vases shown here. A lot of color going into this show! Not just the traditional blue and white that you are seeing here in process. I will post more photos of the work when I have it photographed in a couple weeks.

Molly Hatch at the Clay Studio Philadelphia!

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Molly Hatch on Design*Sponge!

2010-04-20T06:50:00.004-06:00

Grace Bonney at Design*Sponge has written about my work a couple times now! Here is what she has to say about my show that is opening this weekend at LOLA:

"i wanted to kick off the day with some new work from artist molly hatch and designer palo samko. first up is molly, who has a new show of her ceramic work opening this saturday the 24th at LOLA in berkeley, ca. i love the loose, hand-drawn feel of the illustrations on molly’s ceramics and would love to see them in person. if you’re in the bay area this weekend, be sure to check out the show!"

Thanks Grace!

Molly Hatch at LOLA

2010-04-20T06:49:00.002-06:00

Interview with Karen Swyler, by Molly Hatch July 22, 2009

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Interview with Karen Swyler, by Molly Hatch July 22, 2009

M: Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your relationship to clay?

K: I grew up on Long Island. I spent a lot of time at the beach when I was a kid and I spent a lot of time outdoors. I think that the natural world has been a really big influence on my interest in tactile materials--touching things interacting with things. I collected shells. I was always interested in touching and the experience of feeling different materials in my hands. That being said, I think my mom is the biggest reason I am working in clay today. She is also a ceramic artist and she has a ceramics studio in her home. When I was growing up as a little kid I would play in her studio and make clay animals. I didn’t really get interested in it as a possible career until I was in high school. I think its kind of funny because I could have been making pots from the time I was ten years old. She helped me all the way through as I was learning. We were surrounded by her pots growing up--so my sister and I ate off her dinnerware, we drank out of her ceramic mugs and I didn’t think that was unusual, that was just typical. Today I have her old dinnerware. It is a really wonderful experience to eat off of the same plates that I did when I was 12 years old. She keeps making things. She is a retired art teacher, so now she is working in her studio full time. She is massing large amounts of work, so when she comes to visit me she drops off boxes in the garage. And she’ll say, “Oh honey, I just put out a box in the garage for you.” It’s more pots. She’s cycling through things and making new work. Its kind of funny but it is also really a special experience to be able to interact with these things again. It makes me think about the times I spent with my family growing up.

M: So the idea of relationship in your work…

K: Definitely. It is a lot about memory too. I can place myself in those times with those pieces. Growing up surrounded by this stuff that has such a memory is sort of poignant. It can be wonderful and painful at the same time. It actually shaped the things that I am thinking about when I am making my work.

M: So, could you describe some of your work and the ideas behind your making process? How did you evolve into making the work in the way that you do?

K: The evolution to me seems pretty natural. Because I grew up around all these pots, the natural thing for me to do was to make pots. I was making functional work in undergraduate school. In graduate school, I started to think more about the concepts associated with the work that I was making. Right before I went to graduate school my father passed away unexpectedly. I was kind of debating whether or not to go to school. I thought maybe I should stay at home and help my mom and my mom said, “You know, I haven’t ever asked you to do anything for me through this whole thing,” She said “I want you to go to school. I think it will be really good for you to go somewhere else and have this experience.” So I went off to school. I had a lot of unresolved issues thinking about the loss of my dad, which happened two weeks prior to getting into my car and driving out to Colorado. It was kind of a whirlwind for me. So I got there and I started making work and I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was kind of all over the place. I was thinking about my dad and I was trying to continue on. So the first year of graduate school was sort of working through those ideas. The natural result of that was making these pieces that dealt with personal relationships and how people relate to each other in familial and intimate relationships. I was missing my dad and I was thinking about all the things I wish I had said to him. He died unexpectedly so I felt like there was unfinished business. So I started making these things, like tea sets on trays. The trays were dictating a specific space for the cups and the cups began to become metaphors for people and human interactions. I liked the idea that I could make the situation to help foster the types of interactions between people. I wish I had more time. Today people are running around plugged into their ipods or technological devices and don’t spend quality time with each other like we should and I think that is one of the most important aspects of life. To make something to help other people realize that’s what is really important and beautiful is meaningful and I could feel I was doing something worthwhile. That is how the concepts evolved.

(My) work changed a lot later in graduate school. Jeanne Quinn was a really big catalyst for me. She had gone on sabbatical in Europe in 2001 and she came back with all these really wonderful little pots she had collected. Some of them had light glaze colors and some were unglazed. She said ”Karen you’ve got to try this. Look at these surfaces they’re sanded, they’re smooth, there is no glaze on them--I want you to try this,” and I tried it. That was a really big breakthrough for me (because) I started thinking about glaze in the way that I was thinking about the form. (I began) using it as a metaphor for clothing and thinking about raw clay as bare skin, the vulnerable quality that I was trying to get at with the work as well. I was looking at Eva Zeisel’s work in graduate school. She’s my ceramic hero. I just love her stuff. So she was an important influence.

After school, the work started to change but in more nuanced ways. A little bit more slowly, I was sort of fleshing out some of these ideas to a higher level of detail. Conceptually I am still working with similar ideas. The forms are changing now and I am really interested in cutting them apart and I don’t know why, but I love cutting leather hard clay and I love throwing on the wheel. I feel the uniqueness of each handmade pot is really important to the concept of the form. I have done some slip casting from time to time. I will go through stages where I am working on a slip cast project. I don’t want to slip cast these forms because I think that might take something away from their individuality. I am interested in making families of forms where forms have similar characteristics, but they are not identical. I don’t want to sit down and crank out 20 identical things because I think that would deal with a different idea and maybe not where my focus is.

M: The idea of touch is pretty integral in both the surface and the form of your work. That is something you began to talk about a bit. Do you think you could elaborate on that?

K: The feeling of clay in my hands is this wonderful experience. Maybe that is from my childhood, from my urge to be engrossed in my natural environment. Throwing and the touch involved in throwing is important to me. I am interested in fluid surfaces, so I will spend a lot of time sanding my work to make it really smooth and to make it alluring to people. I want the viewer to want to touch this thing. It is okay with me if they touch it. I want it to be the object that draws them in. I think that the look of the surface can do that and again, emphasize the ideas that I am working with. In some of the work you can see the throwing lines. I have been thinking about that a lot recently. I like that they are there. I’ll work to sand the surface to smooth, but clay has a memory and that is interesting to me because that is a concept I am working with. The idea that you can see subtly the memory of my fingers on the clay and my personal experience being put into this thing is really important. So a lot of these cut forms you can see the (throwing) line particularly on the inside. That is such an obvious metaphor for the human body, the interior/exterior. It is revealing this vulnerable interior and you get a glimpse of something personal inside. That is where my touch can be seen in the work.

M: I am curious about what a typical workday is like for you. I know you have told me in the past that you tend to make more in the summer and teach in the winter, could you describe some of your thinking about that decision?

K: I have two different kinds of typical workdays. I have my typical studio workday; I will probably work between 6-8 hours a day in the studio during the summer, 5-6 days a week. I have a studio at Green Mountain College, which is really nice because I get to use the facility. I use the kilns and I have access to the glaze materials. I feel like it is a nice reward for working here. I spend most of my time finishing my pieces and less time throwing them. When I say finishing I mean trimming them, cutting them, making the important decision about what the final shapes of the forms will be, refining them, sanding them--that kind of stuff. I will usually work for three weeks, do a bisque firing and then glaze intensely for a week. Right now I have a really large batch of work and I am just not ready to stop making. I feel like I am really in the groove with making. I’m going to keep making until I am ready to bisque. I don’t really have a set schedule; I work the way I want to work. If I am feeling like I am doing well and I want to crank out a 12-hour day, I can. The flexibility of the summer allows me to do that. I don’t teach in the summer. My goal is to have all this new work I am making now to be glazed and finished before school starts.

In a typical day during the academic year I’m spending all of my time doing things associated with teaching, so I don’t really spend a lot of time on my work. Maybe an hour or two a week, here or there, but it is unrealistic to put that pressure on myself. So my goal over the summer is to try to make a body of work to extend me through to the winter break. I’ll work for a few weeks over the winter break and get a few new pieces during that time. I think it is interesting to shift between teaching and making because by the end of the school year in May I’m really excited to get back into my studio again. I’m looking forward to the break from teaching. By the end of the summer I am looking forward to teaching again. Maybe I don’t have the time to make, make, make, I have time to think and look. When I get back into the studio again, I have mentally worked through those things and am ready to take the next step. I feel like time has to pass to allow time for change. Teaching certainly allows for that. I love teaching and I love sharing my work with my students. I think the fact that they get to see that I am a working artist is really important and inspirational to them. It gets them really excited about doing their own stuff. I think it’s nice that I’m able to make work in my studio here in the building where I teach. I can say, “this is what I am working on,” and I can bring them into my studio and show them what I am working on. It inspires what they do.

M: There is a lot of talk amongst artists and designers about real world training versus academic training. I would like to know what you think that art school gave you (besides the degree) that you might not have gotten in a non-academic setting.

K: I had experience in three different schools for my training. One of the most important things for me was being around other people that were really interested in making work. I suppose the traditional stuff would have been difficult to get if I had been out on my own. Like learning how to do glaze formulation, learning how to fire different kinds of kilns, learning how to talk about work, being exposed to historical and contemporary art… I think it would have been really difficult for me to get those kinds of experiences if I didn’t have that kind of training. It puts you in the situation where that stuff is much more readily accessible than it would be if you were out in the world on your own. One of the most important things for me was being in a system where I felt I was supported. I would say particularly in graduate school and in my post baccalaureate year where I really felt encouraged and enthusiasm from my professors. I was surrounded by people who were working really hard. That was motivational. It’s hard to survive as a studio artist. I knew I never wanted to try to make a living off of my work because I felt like if I did that I might get burnt out and not want to do it anymore. I hoped that would never happen. When I found out how much I really enjoyed teaching, I thought it would make sense to go that route. Graduate school seemed like a natural progression for me. Putting myself in the environment of education, learning and people that were all enthusiastic about similar things was really important. Without that I wouldn’t have been able to affect the change in my work as quickly as I have. For me, it was important to got through the academic system. I think its interesting, when you leave school then there you are, on your own. Finally nobody is telling me my work is bad, nobody is telling me I need to do this or do that, “What do I do now?” It is really wonderful and it is really scary at the same time. That’s why I was really lucky to end up at the Archie Bray Foundation. I was there with other artists who were in a similar situation. Being in a group, working together and working as hard as everybody did, there was fodder for the work to continue progressing. It wasn’t like I was out there on my own. I was part of this community of artists and for me it was really important to be part of a community, to have that experience--sort of a once in a lifetime experience--really helped my career in a number of ways. The publicity I received from being associated with the Archie Bray Foundation was wonderful. The connections I made with the other artists were also important. The Bray was a nice transition from academia to the real world, where now I am working in my studio on my own and facing a lot of these challenges alone.

M: Are there other benchmarks in your career since leaving school that have been major influences or career changing?

K: Being at Archie Bray was important in so many ways. That experience gave me time to make work in an unprecedented way. I didn’t have to deal with classes or other coursework I could just make work. I entered a lot of juried shows when I was at the Bray. I entered every juried show that there was. Initially, I got rejected from a number of them and I just kept doing it over and over again until I started to get accepted. Suddenly my work was being accepted into shows. By the end of my time at the Bray I was getting invited to participate in shows without applying for them. That gave my career a lift in terms of exposure of my work. The transition from that mode of working to working in an academic settling, doing the teaching, doing the administrative work, was a major change that I had to get used to. The first year was the biggest challenge. Now I have established a rhythm, I know what to expect with my classes. Since then, I would say the biggest challenge is not having as involved or as large a community where I teach, it is a little bit more difficult to get the kind of interactions I was getting at the Bray and when I was a student. This is the longest I have lived anywhere since I went to college. Reflecting on the completion of my fourth year here is almost mind-boggling, where did the time go? Here the change in the work is happening a little more slowly and that’s ok, that is to be expected.

M: Everyone has different things that mark their career. Sometimes it is moving somewhere…

K: I think about phases in my life as far as different places that I have lived, my time in Montana, my time in Colorado, and my time here. Being at the Bray was a wonderful little community, but it was so wonderful and so perfect it wasn’t reality. The reality is that sometimes I work long hours, that teaching and making work is a challenge and sometimes a struggle. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love because it is such hard work. I don’t think anyone would ever leave the Bray if they didn’t make you leave after two years. I was really fortunate to be there at the time that I was. The other artists there at the time were really devoted to their work. We had a really nice social situation, which was such a bonus.

M: I am curious about things you might have wished you had known when you were leaving school. How has your experience since leaving school different than what you expected it to be?

K:I am doing what I hoped I would be doing. I hoped I would get a college teaching job and I have a college teaching job, I feel really fortunate to have this job. When I finished graduate school there was a period where I was really ill, nobody ever found out what was wrong with me. I was kind of knocked out of my life for about three months. That was about the time I would have been applying for jobs and residencies and I couldn’t do any of it. I remember Jeanne (Quinn) saying “See if you can apply for the Bray. Just do one thing, I know you don’t feel well.” I went back home to stay with my mom for a while, she cared for me and helped me with my application for the Bray. I didn’t apply for any other jobs or residencies. When they accepted me to the Bray I was flabbergasted. I didn’t know where I was going or what was wrong with me. Being accepted to the Bray was so lucky for me because I didn’t have the energy to apply for anything else. From there I applied to every teaching job there was out there. I did 30 job applications. I spent $1000 on slides. My husband was very supportive of me. When I got this job I didn’t really know what to expect. I had never taught full time before. I didn’t have any idea about the obligations in addition to teaching associated with a position like this. When I left the Bray I didn’t really have any notion of wanting to end up in a specific geographic location. I think that some people decide, “I want to live here, and then I will look for a job in that particular location.” I never felt that way. My family is on the east coast and my husband’s family is on the east coast, so we were both really happy that I got a job here in Vermont.

M: How do you see your work in relationship to craft and design as well as the fine arts? I think that for me CU brought al lot of that to the forefront for me because they were questioning that so hard, specifically the relationship ceramics has to both craft and fine art.

K: I felt supported by the ceramics department when I was at CU and I was the only one making pots. It was interesting. Students in disciplines other than ceramics had a really difficult time talking about my work. One of my friends who was in grad school with me said one day, “I’ve got this idea.” I was frustrated some of my peers wouldn’t talk about my work. She said “Karen, take one of your teapots and put it on the floor and then they’ll talk about It.” and I said “Of course they will.” Taken out of context suddenly it was sculpture and she was right. In my M.F.A. thesis defense I remember Scott (Chamberlin) asking me what the difference was between my work and Eva Zeisel’s work. I admire her work and the work she does as a designer, the design of shape line and volume--those kinds of things. She casts multiples and my pieces are handmade, they have finger marks on them and the marks of my touch. There is a different kind of intimacy that is conveyed by my work.

As far as art versus crafts, I try to talk about this with my students. It is so over talked about that you should just get rid of these words and this language. If people can get past the past and the fact that something has a function and that that doesn’t detract from its value, we can appreciate all art in the same way. The problem is history. The hierarchy that has been established in the arts is part of the problem. If we could work to change that it wouldn’t perpetuate itself.

M: It seems to me that the fact that a large amount of your work is functional adds to the conceptual ideas that you are working with.

K: Functional pieces have a third dimension to them, another layer, not just concept and technique, there is a function to them as well. I am making both functional and sculptural work right now. I have been doing that for a while and I continue to do it. It doesn’t bother me. I have been thinking about it and I kind of keep wondering if I should abandon doing this kind of work or that kind of work. Sometimes I feel different ways about it. Right now I am excited about some of the vessels that I am working on that are not functional. But I don’t think that means I need to abandon the functional work. They inform each other. I do think that the venues the work can be shown in change. That is interesting and frustrating. I am still figuring out what venues are appropriate for my work. That continues to be a challenge--when its sculpture versus functional that changes where work can be sold and shown.

M: I am curious what you have done to develop relationships with galleries both on and off line. How that has changed over time?

K: I could probably do more marketing of my work and approaching galleries. I don’t do as much of that as I would like, primarily because I have a teaching job. I have been working with three galleries recently that I think do a good job of representing my work and I continue to keep those relationships going. As far as getting myself out there, I think the website is probably the best way to do that. I have had a website for four years or so. What is nice about the website is you can put work up there and you can let it sit there and people see it, then they contact you. I suppose a privilege of having a salary is that I can pick and choose the opportunities as they come to me. I can be a bit pickier, in terms of figuring out which opportunities are appropriate I’ll look at the work of the other artists that the gallery is showing and see if my work makes sense in that context. I want to make sure I am putting my work in a place where it can be best understood and displayed appropriately.

M: Are there places, artists or other sources you look at for inspiration?

K: I am a bird watcher. That is an important influence on my work. I have been watching birds since I was a child. Why are they interesting to me? There is this amazing variation in their plumages, their shapes and their sizes. They are graceful and elegant. So when I am making work I am thinking about bird form, colors and shapes. It influences the design of the work. There is something about the act of bird watching that I equate with making work. There is this level of patience you need to maintain. Sometimes you will get a little glimpse of this amazing bird you have been waiting and waiting to see. It is this patient perseverance that gets rewarded…sometimes gets rewarded and sometimes it doesn’t. I think that makes it even more meaningful. In terms of thinking of how to mark different moments in time I remember the birds that I saw in Montana, the birds I saw in Colorado and the different birds I have seen here since I have moved to Vermont and how they mark different passages of time. I keep a “life list.” I have this dog-eared bird book. I think my parents got it for me when I was thirteen and I’m still using it. It’s horribly out of date. I should probably use a different book, but I’ve got my whole “life list” in there. Anytime I see a new bird I check it off and it’s a really important thing to me, like a catalog of my experiences. I can remember different places and specific moments in time. I can remember when I saw this bird and that bird—it’s like this cataloging of things collecting of things. I associate it with patience and passage of time. My favorite bird is a cedar waxwing. It’s a little brown bird that has these weird waxy tips on their wings and tails. Biologists think it has something to do with mating. You usually don’t see them when you are looking at them. We are fortunate to have them here so we see them from time to time. They flock high in the trees and they are hard to see but sometimes you get to see the red waxy tips. It is a very subtly colored bird, fleshy colored brownish. It looks like it has been airbrushed. Those subtleties inform glazing decisions that I make.

The influence of my professors was really important and of course my mom. The biggest influence of all, growing up around her pots. My dad too, in a more subtle way. He was a physicist so he had this analytical, scientific way of looking at everything. Before I decided to pursue a career in art I almost went to college for biology to study birds. I thought I would go into science. So there is a part of me that works in that way too. That probably has something to do with this collecting and cataloging of the birds. I think those are the fundamental influences, family. I can appreciate different work individually but experience was the most important influence of all.

Historical ceramics. I love historical ceramics, Islamic and Iznic ceramics in particular. I love that stuff. You might think that’s funny because it’s so heavily patterned. The calligraphy is just amazing. There is this beautiful gestural quality in it that I pick up and enlarge into the line of the form.

M: Any influential books or texts?

K: I just read for a second time now, this fabulous book “Only A Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art” by Alexander Nehamas. He’s a philosopher. He talks about the history of beauty in the art world. It’s amazing. His main point is that beauty gets a bad rap and it’s often seen as trite or insignificant. He goes into explanations about why this is and talks about Plato and Kant. I think that modernism was the death of beauty. What I like about it is that it is accessible and easy to understand. It is well written and thoughtful. I agree with his sentiments quite strongly because I want to put beauty into the work that I make, I think its important. What he concludes is that it’s a risk to look at a beautiful object or to own a beautiful object because he says beauty is only a promise of happiness. If you surround yourself with things that you think are beautiful, instead of being rewarded with happiness you are often disappointed. It’s a risk. It’s about love and relationships--all of these things that are all kind of put into these objects that you look at and want. That’s the most interesting thing that I have been reading recently.

M: Any last sort of nuggets of information you can offer up?

K: its funny to try to reflect on where I am and what I’ve done. I am grateful for the support of my family throughout my education. I wouldn’t have been able to end up where I am if it weren’t for them emotionally and financially. I don’t have large college loans. I am very lucky. It is hard enough to live off of a teacher’s salary. That family support was really critical to doing what I want to do. I was really fortunate to have a family that supported me and believe that this was a viable career path. For me now figuring out when to say when and devoting time to other aspects of my life is the next step. Finding a balance is important in everything that you do. I knew that if I tried to be a studio artist I would burn out. I go through phases where I am not excited about my studio work. I will admit that. But I know that that will pass and it does pass. I like the cycle.

Relative Permanence: The Vessels of Karen Swyler By Molly Hatch

2010-04-10T06:54:00.000-06:00

Working from her faculty studio at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, Karen Swyler employs what can be described as a thematic approach to her ceramic work. Concentrating on personal relationships and memory, her pieces rely on juxtaposition to one another to be complete both in concept and form. Swyler’s work is clearly grounded in the history of ceramics and the vessel, but through cutting and altering her thrown forms, much of Swyler’s work enters the realm of the sculptural. Her vessels act as metaphoric memoirs--as bodies relating to one another through proximity, palette, line and contour.

Swyler grew up on Long Island spending much of her time at local beaches collecting souvenirs of her outdoor excursions. With an art teacher for a mother and a physicist for a father, Swyler’s parents are no doubt a fundamental influence on her work. Her introduction to clay was crafting small clay animals as a child while her mother worked at the wheel in the ceramic studio in her childhood home. “(My father) was a physicist so he had this analytical, scientific way of looking at everything. Before I decided to pursue a career in art I almost went to college to study birds. So there is a part of me that works in that way too.” Swyler has fond memories of growing up surrounded by her mother’s pots, she and her sister thought nothing of drinking from their mother’s mugs. “I didn’t think that was unusual, that was just typical. Today I have her old dinnerware. It is a really wonderful experience to eat off of the same plates that I did when I was 12 years old.” The consistent conceptual thread of relationships in Swyler’s work is grounded in memory. “To be able to interact with these things again makes me think about the times I spent with my family growing up. I can place myself in those times with those pieces. Growing up surrounded by this stuff that has such a memory is poignant. It can be wonderful and painful at the same time. It has shaped the things that I am thinking about when I am making my work.”

For Swyler, growing up surrounded by pots naturally evolved into becoming a ceramic artist herself. As an undergraduate at Alfred University, Swyler focused on making functional pots and continued that focus through her post baccalaureate year at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and into her graduate studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Just before leaving the east coast to attend graduate school in Colorado, Swyler’s father passed away unexpectedly. With encouragement from her mother, Swyler attended the University of Colorado only two weeks after the loss of her father. “The first year of graduate school was me working through ideas, thinking about my dad, and the natural result of that was making pieces that dealt with personal relationships and how people relate to each other in familial and intimate (ways).” In this important transition time in her work, pots became metaphors for people. For example, through creating two cups with a shared saucer, two people having tea are forced to engage in a more intimate and controlled drinking experience. It was with the development of these pots that Swyler’s work began to foster prescribed interactions between people and pots as well as strong relationships between the pots themselves.

The raw porcelain surfaces and muted glaze palette of Swyler’s vessels developed later on in her graduate career with encouragement from professor Jeanne Quinn. “(Jeanne) had gone on sabbatical in Europe. She came back with all these really wonderful little pots she had collected. Some of them had light glaze colors and some of them were unglazed. She said, ”Karen you have got to try this. Look at these surfaces. They are sanded and smooth, there is no glaze on them. I want you to try this.” That was a really big breakthrough for me (because) I started thinking about glaze in the way that I was thinking about the form.” Swyler began to see raw clay as bare skin and glaze as a kind of clothing. Her use of the raw porcelain surface added a desired layer of vulnerability to the work.

Swyler’s use of color is inherited directly from her love of bird watching, an activity fostered by her parents as a young adult. Her favorite bird is the cedar waxwing for its subtle coloring that often informs her glazing decisions. The male waxwing is a little brown bird that has brightly colored tips on its wings and tail. These red and yellow tips are often hidden from view, tucked under its flesh and brown colored body and may be revealed in courtship. “There is something about the act of bird watching that I equate with making work. There is a level of patience you need to maintain. Sometimes you will get a little glimpse of this amazing bird you have been waiting and waiting to see. It is this patient perseverance that gets rewarded. Sometimes gets rewarded and sometimes it doesn’t. I think that makes it even more meaningful.”

After completing her M.F.A. in December of 2002, Swyler left Colorado for a residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena Montana. As a Lilian Fellow, Swyler took advantage of the creative freedoms integral to the residency. “(I had) time to make work in an unprecedented way. I didn’t have to deal with classes or other coursework, I could just make work. The Bray was a nice transition from academia to the real world. Now I work in my studio on my own and face a lot of the challenges (of making art) alone.” At the end of her two-year residency, Swyler sent out 30 applications to teaching positions throughout the country. Only two years after receiving her M.F.A, Swyler accepted a full time position at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont where she is currently the Program Director in the Department of Visual Art and is in the midst of her fifth year running the ceramics area.

Settling into juggling her career as a ceramics professor and artist, Swyler has deveopled two very different kinds of workdays. During the summer, she focuses on making work for shows that she has scheduled for the upcoming year. Spending roughly six days a week in the studio for eight or so hours at a time, Swyler’s studio practice is uninterrupted by the diversions of academic responsibilities. Her goal is to complete a body of work before school starts up in September that will carry her through until the winter break in December. She works less frequently in her studio during the academic year. “It is interesting to shift between teaching and making. (My) ideas that are fresh and new settle and I have some time to think about them. Maybe I don’t have the time to make, make, make. I have time to think and look at (the work). When I get back into the studio again, I have mentally worked through those things and am ready to take the next step. I feel like time has to pass to allow for change.”

Swyler’s elegant groupings of vessels continue to employ similar conceptual and formal elements to that of the traditional still life. By focusing on the nuanced relationship between two or three forms she encourages close inspection and even touch. Her employment of negative space, small concentrations of color and subtle lines drawn between pots encourage the viewer to look more closely as the pieces reveal themselves slowly over time. Inspired by ceramic history, family and ornithology, Swyler’s poignant vessels encourage the exploration of our intimate lives.

Molly Hatch at LOLA

2010-04-08T06:38:00.004-06:00

Catch me at NCECA 2010!

2010-02-28T19:12:00.004-07:00

It is that time of year again and I will be packing the baby up for the whole week and heading south to Philly for NCECA. You can find my work at the AMACO booth, Santa Fe Clay exhibit and at the The Clay Studio in the their shop. I will be hanging around the STUDIO POTTER table quite a bit, so be sure to stop in for a free poster!

If you are headed to the Pre-Conference at Montgomery County Community College “Making through Living- Living through Making” I will be there as well. I cant wait to check out the panel discussions and key-note speaker Mary Barringer of the Studio Potter.

I look forward to seeing you all there!

MADE IN CLAY 2010!

2010-02-28T18:58:00.003-07:00

Workshop with Molly Hatch at 4th and Clay

2010-01-25T17:28:00.007-07:00

Full Interview with Deb Schwartzkopf and Molly Hatch

2010-01-25T11:17:00.001-07:00

January 20, 2010

Interview with Deborah Schwartzkopf at Mudflat Studio, July 2009

by Molly Hatch Read Comments (0)

This is a full transcript of Molly Hatch’s interview with Deborah Schwartzkopf that was done in preparation for the article “Deborah Schwartzkopf: Full Circle“, which appeared in Ceramics Monthly magazine’s February 2010 issue. To get great content like this delivered right to your door, subscribe today!

Molly Hatch: Start by telling a bit about yourself and your relationship to clay. How you started…

Deborah Schwartzkopf: How I started…(the) first time I was ever in a ceramics class I was in high school in a running start program (you can take college classes while still in High School). But I didn’t really latch onto it (clay). I also took photography and political science and drawing.

When I was 19 or 20, I transferred to Alaska after a year and a quarter at school in Seattle. I needed to kind of have some space to away from, you know, the roots. I needed to have other people informing my life. I wanted to be alone which is a good place to do that, in Alaska. So I went there and took a class with Pam Pemberton–a beginning ceramics class–and I really liked it so I kept taking (ceramics) classes. I also took classes in sculpture and jewelry. Steve Godfrey and Robert Banker were my two main teachers up there. That’s where I really started studying intensively. I had two mentors up there Kris Bliss and Peter Brondz. So that really brought me into clay because I needed a practical application for my degree. I came from a real working family and the whole idea of being an artist was pretty foreign. So I needed something that was real and practical–a cause and effect situation. That was really what drove me into ceramics…

M: So that was part of your motivation to make utilitarian pots?

D: Huge motivation, because I felt like I had a way to exist I guess, it wasn’t just…. I loved it (making art) it was a way to make it turn into a life instead of just something you study in school.

M: Interesting parallel, I think I had a similar reason for making functional work as well…

D: Yeah I think that happens with a lot of potters. It’s not just the artwork you love the lifestyle. The lifestyle that sounds so wonderful like having a beautiful home, you know with a garden and having roots which I have, but they are all over the place. They aren’t just in one place.

M: I suppose that’s something they (universities) don’t really prepare us for…

D: No, not exactly, hah hah…

M: Do you think that your move to Seattle will slow some of that moving down for you?

D: I’m not exactly sure. I’m moving there with Daniel, my boyfriend and I’m reluctant to say I’m settling there but it is also something that I want. So I don’t know, I’m just going there with kind of open expectations to see what happens. I think we are hoping to stay there for two years, maybe a little longer. It’s different when you are making decisions with somebody. I have been moving every single year for the last three years. I’m really tired of that and I can’t say that is over. I’d like to not move around so much…

M: Right, but it’s an opportunity for a long-term position?

D: It’s up to two years.

M: So to get back to your talking about your interest in utilitarian clay, could you expand on your ideas, your making process, how you came to working the way you do and describe how your process has evolved?

D: In Alaska there were two ceramics studios because of a merger between a Community College and a Vo-Tech College. One studio was at one end of the campus and it was more predominantly hand built and sculptural (clay) work and the other side was high fire wheel thrown, functional. I took classes in both (studios) and I had two separate bodies of work. One was wheel thrown and the other was pots, but they were more sculptural than functional–they were only hand built. So I feel like that set me up for being able to experiment in a lot of ways. (It) was also irritating–having to work in two studios at the opposite ends of the school but it was good because I experimented a lot more in totally unrelated ways with the same material. I feel like as a process I merged those two things so now I do a lot of both within the same body of work. I throw a lot of parts but I also hand build a lot of parts with slabs. So that was the beginning of my process as far as construction goes.

M: Sewing and other craft processes influence your work as well?

D: I come from a family of people that make things. My mom taught me to sew when I was really young. My dad is a woodworker. I grew up making stuff. My grandparents immigrated, they came from a life where you make everything, all the blankets, I mean anything you can make, you make. So I did a lot of handcrafts like crocheting and other things. I feel like if there was an opportunity to make something for someone it was made. It was a way of showing affection and caring between people in my family. Food was the same way. Making as much food as possible was a way of showing love. It came out of a family that struggled, that food was a gift. Sewing was something I think particularly influenced the way that I see things because it starts with this flat 2-D piece that you turn into a hollow form that moves around and doesn’t just have straight lines necessarily. So learning how to fit flat paper like things to a body is really similar to making paper patterns into volumous pots.

M: This is a tough question to answer because you have been moving around so much…there are key aspects to each of our studios that we set up and always keep the same. What do you require in your studio space?

D: That’s interesting because this space is the smallest space I’ve ever worked in and it really taught me the baseline of what I need. I need a lot of shelving. I built all the shelving in the studio. I painted the walls because the color of the walls influence how big something feels I painted it yellow and white which makes it have a brighter feeling. I really want windows. Making every space do something. Every space has to have an actually function. I always need a table. I do so much slab work that I need a space to roll out slabs. A wheel and a banding wheel are two really important tools. I also have a small box of hand tools. It’s all I need every time I do a workshop….Square bats, I can throw 50 cups and not have them spread out really far.

M: So when you are throwing you would throw on a bat?

D: I learned not to throw on bats but I started throwing on bats because I throw a lot of my work without bottoms and its makes it more difficult to pick up with out squishing it. I don’t want that kind of fingerprint on the work, I don’t want it to look messy and sloppy.

M: So your forms are often made with the bottoms added?

D: Yeah…

M: What does your normal workday look like?

D: I’m a really bad person for routines. Seriously…I try to have some goals for the day, which is one of the only routines I have. It varies so dramatically. I can’t glaze and make things here. So there isn’t a steadiness for making things for deadlines. I try to make extra for deadlines. Here my rhythm has been really strange because I have to stop and then haul everything to another facility to glaze.

M: Which has been Mass Art?

D: Which has been Mass Art.

M: You really haven’t been doing firings here?

D: No, I only did one glaze firing here…Mass Art has this gigantic glaze room and a spray booth that works really well. I store all my glazes there. I have 20 glaze buckets. For me it just made sense. Even in other facilities where I have everything in the same space I always work cyclically and make work for three or four, maybe five weeks. In my best health I fire a glaze kiln every month and a half or two months. January, February and March I just got through Christmas and I have to breathe. Usually it’s pretty cyclic.

M: You are firing gas kilns?

D: I fire in oxidation. I find that gas kiln oxidation firings aren’t as clean as electric and I think that’s good for my glazes that they get a tiny bit of variation as opposed to an electric kiln.

M: Do you want to talk a little about your forms? You have incredibly smooth surfaces on your work, could you talk about that?

D: My glazing…I guess I want my work to look like it has a skin on it. Like it could be made out of the glazes. I don’t want it to look super plasticky. I want it to look somewhat natural, where the variation is occurring because of a natural process. Whether its because it grew like that, or because the wind blew on it which happens when you spray glazes…or because fishes have speckling on the top of their back and on their bellies. (I am) referring to those sorts of natural markings. I also want to reference the more technological world. That is where the accents (on the surfaces) come in. Well actually, those are similar to bird markings too, its kind of a combination between those two things. Looking at things like traffic lights or brake lights and what they’re telling you what they are lighting up. What other markers I see around. Even how extension cords are orange so you don’t trip on them as often. Like bird markings are a seductive call if you will, or even wearing lipstick. I want those accents to kind of float in the body of the piece so it creates depth based on color and shiny versus matt. So, often the accents are shiny the overall glazes are matt.

M: It seems like you are doing a similar thing in the forms as well. Where you have fluidity, or an organic quality, but then also a rigidity that you might find in architecture.

D: Yeah.

M: Do you think that living in Boston or living in the city has affected you one way or another or are you holding onto some space from before?

D: I don’t know. I have this personal theory that when you get out of the place you are is when it actually affects you more. I feel like right now maybe I am still thriving off being in Ohio and the country more you know? But I don’t really know, I do really like looking at the buildings here. I guess when I think of the technological aspect I’m not really thinking of it always in terms of buildings that I see. It is more the contrast I see between people-they are these soft squishy things but they have teeth. Or even with birds, they are these puffy, fluffy things but they have this (hard) beak. I really like Frank Ghery’s buildings. He is an architect that I seek out.

M: Is that because of his use of materials or shape?

D: Mostly shape. I feel like there is this great parallel between how buildings are often squares with box windows and box doors, but his aren’t. But (his) still function and they inspire people because of the space they take up and the space they give. I think pottery can do that too. Based on tradition, you can take (clay) and morph it into something that’s not necessarily what is expected of it. It can make you more aware. It can change the way you see what you are holding because its not what you would expect.

M: Like a traditional cup versus non traditional…

D: Sure. I’m really interested in form. I approach my work really formally. It is often out of shape and surface that I am moving forward. I really want everything to function. I am really fascinated by that tug of war between surface and form and form functioning.

M: Its rare that I see a physical texture in the surface of your work. I feel like there is a glaze that might have a texture but there is a lot of visual texture, through mottling or dots. Why no texture?

D: Well I just don’t have a knack for it. I think my professor Steve Godfrey in Alaska uses texture in a really beautiful way. I feel like that’s the only kind of texture I could imagine liking. Then it would look just like his work! So I guess its something I have stepped away from. I also like the feeling of the surface when its just this taught curve it feels like its opening, I’m referencing flower petals and how they expand and have that really high energy when they are just starting to pop. I guess I’m just not that interested in texture. And also my process doesn’t lend itself to texture because I’m always scraping and surforming. I want my pots to look fluid, but I’m not fluid. I have enough going on in the pots right now.

M: One of the things we have talked about is school and education. There is talk in the larger craft world beyond ceramics of real world training versus formal training. You and I have chosen academic routes. It would be interesting to hear about undergrad and continuing on to get your masters. What is some of your thinking around formal education and its relationship to teaching and making pots?

D: My experience in school was fantastic. Every place I went. In Alaska, in San Diego, in Pennsylvania…

M: Was San Diego a post baccalaureate?

D: It was an independent study for a year and I went there because I wanted to study glaze chemistry. In the programs I was in, there was a lot of freedom. They were really studio-based and I spent all my time working in the studio. I didn’t go to graduate school so I could teach. I went to graduate school because I wanted two years of feedback and practice before I had to be a real potter. It kind of led me into a deeper search of myself, which I found really meaningful. Being in the school system as compared to working on my own, I feel like my learning curve was a lot higher because everyone else around me was failing too and I could learn from their mistakes and get lots more feedback. I felt like it was a good opportunity. I guess I am also intensely competitive, so it was a way I was introducing myself to the ceramics circle, and that wasn’t working on my own– hoping they would find me. I was pushing really hard to get myself into every single circumstance that I could to grow and to get my work more known. I have to say though, without the experience of working for those two potters, I don’t think I would have done what I did….

M: The mentors that you had?

D: The mentors that I had taught me that I could make a living and have a balanced life. Which is not what I have yet, but it’s my goal and so that is what really keeps me going. Even though I have chosen a more academic route. My real hope is to someday offer some sort of work situation to somebody if they want to work in a ceramics studio and see how somebody actually makes it happen. I’d like to teach maybe one class on the side. I don’t think that full time teaching is what I’m the best at. I love it. My one year at Ohio was wonderful. I feel like I learned more than anyone around me. It was really challenging. I think that the school system is really important because it challenges you to think, to improve your ideas. I think that sometimes it doesn’t cover enough of the basics about efficiency. What you are actually going to do with this–how you can really live off of what you do? I think that learning how to live off of what you do can sometimes be really stunting. I think there is just a really fine balance that’s hard and I think it’s very individual. Some people do really well immediately selling work. I didn’t really sell my work a lot until I was at the Bray. I had a long time where I wanted to sell my work and I sold a few things. Most of it I gave to my mother and I think that was healthy for me because it allowed me to experiment longer without consequences and make things that didn’t really work for longer. I think everybody has to seek out their own way. I think both are valuable and if you can do both, so much the better.

M: One of the things I’m interested in your practice as a studio potter is what your relationship to marketing is, how you are using the internet as a tool and generally your approach. I have had to figure out the different ways to navigate my career as a potter on my own through talking with people. It sounds like you had somewhat of a similar experience?

D: Penn State is where I went to grad school. I feel like my professors were incredibly supportive but at the same time there wasn’t a lot of “in order to succeed you should do this.” And partly because I don’t think its that clear cut. Everybody’s paths are different. I was really lucky to get the Bray right away I didn’t have a reality kick as hard as some people might. When I was there I decided that I needed to get my work out there because I made a lot of work and nobody knew where it was and nobody knew who I was. I needed to change that, so I used the internet to research galleries. I looked at a ton of galleries and sent out about fifteen applications in January when I knew everybody was going to be slow because I don’t want to be sitting at the bottom of the pile. I wrote them a short letter saying “I think my work might do well here can you take a look at my images.” I was really well received, actually a little over well! I kind of got myself into a…I had five or six shows that year and its kind of snowballed from there. I also entered every single juried art show there was, which cost a fortune. At that point I felt like I was investing in my career. So that’s what I did. If the juried show went well and sold, sometimes I would call and ask if they would like more work. At the very end of grad school I got a website which cost me a fortune–well for me. I also paid the guy who built the initial page to give me lessons on how to maintain the site. He taught me how to make the gallery with images. Now I can add and totally change everything. I keep up with that which makes me insane. Every time I move, I send a card which keeps people updated as well.

M: Describe some of the more career changing moments or places since leaving school. Clearly the Bray and teaching. Is there anything else since leaving school that stands out in your mind as career changing?

D: I feel like I am more of a cumulative effect person. The Bray was a huge thing for me to launch myself off of, but Ohio was equally difficult and wonderful at the same time. Being in a school system after two years of making was a challenge. Learning from having to do critiques was really amazing and being in the atmosphere of questioning every single thing again. I hadn’t been really doing that as much. I had just been living off of all my questions from grad school at the Bray. Then coming back here, I felt like I have got to do the same thing, I’ve got to let go of the questions, at least internalize them. I feel like that is something that I really enjoy, although I don’t want to keep traveling for a job and keep doing residencies. I’ve got to figure out something else…

M: Well you have done a lot of travel–we haven’t really talked about that …

D: I feel like that affects me more than anything. Each time I think this time it will be easier because I have done it so much and its not. There’s a whole new system to learn a whole new social circle to learn and a whole new everything. The things that should be easy aren’t, then you break your foot (Schwartzkopf broke her foot shortly after beginning her residency at Mudflat in the fall of 2008)…every single move has taught me so much even simple things like learning what other people are into like restaurants or music. It s amazing to be in this city and learning about all the museums and how to get in free. The traveling stretches me a lot. I really like it. It makes me nuts but right now I’m completely ready to move. It’s not because I don’t like it. I’m just ready. When I say that I’m not sure if I’m settling in Seattle its because I’m not sure that I know how.

M: What were your expectations for your career as an undergrad and how have they been realized or not realized now that you are here?

D: As an undergraduate I wanted to be a potter. Just like my mentors. I actually built a cabin, a studio and a kiln up there (in Alaska) and left it all because of relational difficulties and because I realized I needed to be in a more “in the loop” atmosphere. I mean, Alaska is fabulous, but one of the reasons it’s fabulous is because it’s removed. That’s also a less wonderful thing if you are trying to learn and inject yourself into a community that is not where you are. I took down my kiln and rebuilt it in someone else’s place and left. I did that special student (in CA). It was difficult but good for me. My expectations when I got out of graduate school…at that point I got into the Bray and got a fellowship which was my highest goal–and it happened! It seems completely unbelievable. I didn’t really now what I would do after that. I am swayed easily by people and opportunities. That is kind of what I am doing right now. I am working intuitively at this point.

I really want to make pots the most. I really feel like I need the social part of being an artist which being a potter doesn’t always give you. Whether it’s teaching or something else.

M: So we talked about a few of your influences. Are there other artists or designers or places you look for inspiration?

D: I really appreciate strong women like Lucy Rie and Eva Zeisel. I’ve read up on a bit and look to for inspiration. The fact that they succeeded in their age and the age they lived in. They made work that’s beautiful in really different ways. I have to say I’ve had so many good teachers. In grad school I had Liz (Quackenbush) and Chris (Staley). But John Utgaard was there. I have just gotten to work with so many great people.

When I was first starting ceramics I took every single workshop I could possibly afford. I like paying attention to what people are making but I really try hard to just be in the world. I’m really interested in the slow food movement. My hobbies take so much of my extra time.

M: Future projects? Anything under wraps that you are working on?

D: I’m trying to figure out working larger using similar techniques which is difficult, it is not similar. Someday I’m going to go to Kohler. When I first applied there I had this (she points to a large hand built piece in her studio) in my brain but I didn’t have any sort of image to apply with. I want to get a studio. I want to try to have a home.

M: So we’ll keep an eye out for bigger pieces?

D: Yeah.

M: Are there any books or texts that you read for inspiration?

D: I have been reading Eva Zeisel “On Design” It’s really a good book. I recently read a “Natural History of the Senses.” Studio Potter-Everybody should get Studio Potter.

M: Do you have any advice for people launching themselves or getting started?

D: Work hard. I think hard work pays off. I don’t have any tricks. I feel like putting yourself into really educational situations that will make you go insane will stretch you really really hard. I think being stretched hard–as far as how much information you can absorb and learn from is really important for me. Inundating yourself, because you can never absorb everything, even if you’re only giving yourself three things. If you are giving yourself 25, then maybe you are absorbing 20 of them.

M: It seems like you have persisted. Working hard is an underlying thing you appreciate…

D: Yeah, I feel like you have to strive and its worth it. All the time I go around here and I look at all the jobs that people do, and I feel so lucky that I get to make clay. I enjoy the process as a whole. Other people value potters bringing attention to what we do every day.

M: Thanks….

This interview is supplemental to Molly Hatch’s article, “Deborah Schwartzkopf: Full Circle“, which appeared in Ceramics Monthly magazine’s February 2010 issue. To get great content like this delivered right to your door, subscribe today!

Molly hatch writes about Deb Schwartzkopf for Ceramics Monthly

2010-01-25T11:12:00.002-07:00

January 20, 2010

Deborah Schwartzkopf: Full Circle

by Molly Hatch Read Comments (0)

Pitchers, to 15 in. (38 cm) in height, wheel-thrown and altered parts combined with patterned slabs that were shaped with hump molds.

Deborah Schwartzkopf seems to feel most at home in the back of her glossy black pick-up. I met her for the first time as she was pulling pots out of the back of her truck to set up our shared sale table for “Salad Days” at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine. In the back of her truck under the cover of a cap, a platform was installed to create a comfortable place for sleeping during her long drives across the country and weekend-long pottery sales. Under the sleeping platform, Schwartzkopf stores everything from a small bag of camping spices to her glazes and a back stock of pots. That evening, we were both invited to stay with fellow potter Ingrid Bathe. I happily accepted the cushy place to sleep while Schwartzkopf opted to make her bed in the back of her truck parked in their driveway, insisting that she would be most comfortable there. Her truck has likely been the most consistent roof over her head since Schwartzkopf finished her MFA at Penn State in 2005.

Schwartzkopf darts a thrown cylinder that will become a tapered section of a pot at the Walnut Creek Art Center.

Schwartzkopf’s first introduction to ceramics was through a high school running start program in Seattle, Washington. She transferred to the University of Alaska in Anchorage in 1999 where her studies in ceramics intensified after taking a beginning-level course with visiting artist Pam Pemberton. While her studies at the University of Alaska were mainly with Steve Godfrey and Robert Banker, Schwartzkopf worked with Kris Bliss and Peter Brondz who mentored her career as a studio potter outside of the University. “(Working with them) really brought me into clay, because I needed a practical application for my degree,” she explains, “I came from a real working family and the whole idea of being an artist was pretty foreign. . . . My mom taught me to sew when I was young. My dad is a woodworker. I grew up making useful objects. My grandparents immigrated, they came from a life where you make or grow what you need. To give handmade gifts was a way of showing affection and caring in my family . . . so I needed something that was real and practical. That was really what drove me into ceramics,” she continues, “I felt like I had a way to exist. I loved it. It was a way to make it turn into a life instead of just something you study in school. I think that happens with a lot of potters. It’s not just the artwork, you love the lifestyle.”

This article appeared in Ceramics Monthly magazine’s February 2010 issue. To get great content like this delivered right to your door, subscribe today!

While living in Montana, Schwartzkopf transported ware to the Archie Bray kilns through the snow in her truck—in four-wheel-drive, low gear.

It was during her undergraduate career that Schwartzkopf developed her distinct approach to her complex utilitarian forms. As a result of the separate handbuilding and wheel-throwing studios in the ceramics department at the University of Alaska, Schwartzkopf developed two bodies of functional work, each constructed in very different ways. “It was good because I experimented a lot more in totally unrelated ways with the same material.” As she grew as a student, Schwartzkopf merged those two processes within the same body of work, incorporating her inherited skills as a seamstress into her process. “Sewing is something I think particularly influences (my work). It starts with this flat two-dimensional piece that you turn into a hollow form. So learning how to fit flat material to a body is really similar to making paper patterns into voluminous pots.” Inspired by industrial designer Eva Zeisel and the buildings of architect Frank Ghery, Schwartzkopf’s pots marry the clean lines of modern architecture and the asymmetry of the natural world. The result is a vocabulary of forms that sing of the softness and malleability of wet clay and retain the rigidity of vitrified porcelain.

Vase, 5½ in. (14 cm) in height, thrown and altered base with slab-built openings.

Shortly after finishing school, it became clear to Schwartzkopf that she needed to develop the surfaces of her work and refine her handbuilding skills. In a move that introduced her to the ceramics community beyond Alaska, Schwartzkopf packed up her truck and left to do a year of independent study at San Diego State University in California. During this time, Schwartzkopf focused on glaze chemistry, creating her distinct vocabulary of oxidation glazes ranging from glossy bright accents to soft pastel matts. “I want my work to look like it could be made out of the glazes. I want the work to look natural—where variation is (seeming to) occur because of a natural process. Whether it is because it grew like that or because the wind blew on it . . . I want the (glaze) accents to float on the body of the piece so it creates depth based on color and contrasts of shiny versus matt.”

Teapot, 11 in. (28 cm) in height, handbuilt with multiple slabs shaped over hump molds.

This concentrated effort to develop her palette proved worthwhile as she was accepted to the MFA program at Penn State University starting in the fall of 2003. Schwartzkopf is clear that her reasons for attending graduate school were grounded in developing her career as a studio potter. “I wanted two years of feedback and practice before I had to be a real potter. It led me into a deeper search of myself. I feel like in the school system (compared to working on my own) my learning curve was a lot higher. . . . Everyone else around me was failing too, and I could learn from their mistakes and get more feedback.” Her graduate school experience pushed her to refine conceptual ideas about the relationship between form and surface as well as the importance of color in her work.

After finishing her MFA in 2005, Schwartzkopf traveled to China as a resident artist at the San Bao Ceramic Art Institute in Jingdezhen, directly followed by a residency at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana, as a Lilian Fellow. Schwartzkopf describes her experience at the Bray as a career watershed. “When I got out of graduate school, I got into the Bray and got a fellowship, which was my highest goal. It happened, and it seems completely unbelievable . . . the Bray has given me a supportive community. It was amazing interacting with so many artists and meeting people from all over with so much energy, experience, and skill.” To propel her career forward and begin to earn a living as a potter, Schwartzkopf researched galleries that she felt her work might fit into and sent out over 15 packets in January of her first year at the Bray. “I was really well received—actually a little too well; I had five or six shows that year and (my career) kind of snowballed from there.”

Vase, 3 in. (8 cm) in height, thrown and altered base with slab-built openings.

Since leaving the Bray in 2007, Schwartzkopf has taught as a visiting professor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston as well as the Harvard Community Arts Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition to teaching in universities, she has taught numerous workshops. She has also been a resident artist at the Ceramic Center in Berlin, Germany, and Mudflat Studio in Somerville, Massachusetts. Schwartzkopf has come full circle in her recent move across the country back to her hometown of Seattle, Washington, where she is an artist-in-residence and instructor at Pottery Northwest for the next two years. The nomadic nature of her lifestyle has become an important part of Schwartzkopf’s understanding of her place in the world as a potter. “I feel like you have to strive, and it’s worth it. I look at all the jobs that people do, and I feel so lucky that I get to make pottery. I enjoy the process as a whole.” With her approach to clay, Schwartzkopf stretches, cuts, and folds the material into new and exciting utilitarian forms, challenging us to pay closer attention to the moments and places that accent our day to day.

For further information about Deborah Schwartzkopf, and to see more of her work, see www.debspottery.com.

the author Molly Hatch is a potter and author living in Florence, Massachusetts. See www.mollyhatch.com.

Want to read more about what Deborah has to say about her work?
Check out the full transcript of Molly Hatch’s interview with Deborah Schwartzkopf.

Pottery Making Illustrated

2009-10-16T20:05:00.001-06:00

Pottery Making Illustrated November/December 2009

Theme: Fun and Function

In this issue we have a little fun with functional work – treating forms and surfaces with a twist. First of all, Michelle Erickson and Robert Hunter lead you on a journey of discovery about an 18th century technique called “laid agate.” The detailed step-by-step makes it possible for you to duplicate. Next, you’ll discover a complete description of the mishima technique presented by Molly Hatch (see the cover), followed by Clay Cunningham’s description of Posey Bacopoulos’ majolica technique. And we’re fortunate to once again have Keith Phillips (Pancaker, Gumball Machine) return with another how-to project – the American Butter Dish. So, whether you’re throwing a simple tumbler and dedicating a lot of time to the decoration, or throwing a complicated butter dish and using a single glaze for decoration, you’ll enjoy the hours you spend picking up some of the great techniques in this issue.

To purchase this back issue, call 1-800-340-6532.
Get great content like this 6 times a year: subscribe today

A Pot, A Drawing
by Molly Hatch

Molly Hatch finds something magical in her ability to interpret what she sees through her hands. Using drawing as a visual language similar to writing, she’s often surprised by the small narratives that appear in the patterns she draws using a mishima technique. Choose your own narrative using her detailed step-by-step technique to tell your story.

Ceramic Arts Daily

2009-10-16T19:50:00.003-06:00

October 7, 2009

2-D to 3-D: Using Image Transfer and Mishima Techniques to Make Drawings on Pottery

by Molly Hatch

If you’re drawn to drawing on clay surfaces, but haven’t quite mastered the ability to get your two-dimensional ideas onto your three-dimensional forms, this post is for you. During her undergraduate years at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, potter Molly Hatch mostly focused on drawing. Then in her final year, she learned how to combine drawing and printmaking skills for surface decoration on pottery, and the rest, as they say, is history. Molly went on to earn her MFA in ceramics and just recently finished a residency through the prestigious Arts/Industry Program at John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

In today’s post, an excerpt from the November/December 2009 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated, Molly explains how she uses image transfer and Mishima techniques to create her drawings in clay. Plus she shares her slip and engobe recipes. - Jennifer Harnetty, editor.

Mishima is a traditional Korean slip-inlay technique. The Korean pots you see with mishima decoration typically use several colors of slip in the same piece. I basically use the same black slip recipe for all of my mishima drawing. I always reference a pattern when I am drawing on my pots and sometimes I use a template to transfer a detail of the pattern.

In this case, I am using the template to transfer the bird in the pattern onto the cup surface. I make my templates by laminating my own drawing of a found pattern. This is helpful if you are trying to make multiples, but still requires a lot of drawing and interpretation because you are drawing on a three-dimensional surface.

Be sure to download your free copy of the Buyers Guide to Ceramic Supplies and Materials for a comprehensive listing of manufacturers and suppliers, along with valuable studio resources.

	A laminated paper template of your drawing can help maintain consistency in a design when transferring images to a set. All of my mishima is done when the pots are a dry-leather hard. Usually they are ready to draw on just after trimming is finished.

	Gently wrap the laminated pattern around the cup and use a quill or dull-tipped pencil to trace the image, taking care to position the image exactly where you would like it to be on the cup.

	Remove the template to reveal the transferred tracing image. Use the transferred image as a guide for drawing deeper lines into the surface.

	After going over the tracing, finish off the rest of the drawing freehand, using the template as a visual reference. You do not need to draw very deeply into the surface for mishima to work. I often feel as though I am just scratching into the surface of the clay.

	Brush the surface of the pot with a soft-bristled brush to get rid of crumbs, which could mar the surface.

	Apply a layer of stain over the drawing using a wide brush. Once the pot has dried back to the dry leather-hard state and any sheen on the slip has gone, wipe away excess slip from the surface of the pot using a clean sponge. You need to clean the sponge often during this process to avoid streaks on the surface of the pot

Drawing Tools
There are many tools you can use to incise the surface of the pot for mishima. I have gone through stages of preferring particular tools. Pencil-style X-Acto knives, commercial stylus carving tools (sold in ceramic supply stores), African porcupine quills (available at Santa Fe Clay) amongst others. My current drawing tool of choice is a calligraphy pen with exchangeable metal tips. It is the same kind of pen that you dip in ink and would use to do traditional calligraphy; I just use it on clay instead.

Pictured here (from left to right): X-acto knife for drawing into the leather-hard clay; African porcupine quill (I got mine from Santa Fe Clay) for drawing and transferring images into the leather hard clay (different line quality); $1.00 Chinese brush for brushing on the slip after I have drawn into the leather hard clay; Extra soft men’s shaving brush for brushing away the crumbs of clay (I got mine at a flea market because really nice ones are really expensive!); natural sponge: for wiping away the slip after I have brushed it onto the pot.

Adding Color
On many of my pots, I add color accents to the mishima pattern through painting. I do all of my painting after the pot has been bisque fired and before I do any glazing. For the color, I use a cone 04 vitreous engobe that I mix myself, but commercial underglazes also work well. If you use an engobe, combine it in a 1:1 ratio with mixing-medium using a palette knife until it is well mixed. The mixing-medium helps make the engobe more brushable and thins it out so that you can build up color in layers, similar to painting on canvas. This layering makes for more solid colors with less visible brush strokes. The engobe recipe that I use tends to flux a bit at cone six but it can still be used to fill in the line drawings on the bottoms of pots. After I finish adding the color, I use a clear glaze over everything then fire the work in oxidation to a hot cone six.

Slip and Engobe Recipes

Andrew Martin’s Brushing Slip (up to cone 10)
Raw Material
Ferro Frit 3110				30%
Ball Clay				20%
Mason Stain (for black use MS 6600)				50%
Total				100%
Add:
CMC Gum				2%

Vitreous Engobe (cone 04 to cone 6)
Raw Material
Talc				15.3%
Ferro Frit 3110				18.4%
Ball clay (Kentucky #4 or OM 4)				15.3%
EPK Kaolin				5.1%
Glomax (Calcined Kaolin)				25.5%
Silica				20.4%
Total				100.0%
Add:
CMC (dry)				1%
Macaloid (dry)				1%

See images of Molly Hatch’s finished work at www.mollyhatch.com.

An expanded version of this article is included in the November/December 2009 issue of
Pottery Making Illustrated.

Subscribe today to get great articles like this delivered to your studio door!

Studio Pottery Invitational and Ferrin Gallery

2009-10-07T10:20:00.003-06:00

There has been lots happening in my studio recently! I am now showing with Ferrin Gallery in Pittsfield MA. There is an upcoming show with a preview this weekend! I would be excited to see any and all of you there at the gallery on Saturday the 10th of Oct. for the preview of the show. Click here for more info about the show and Ferrin Gallery.

Studio Pottery Invitational

Group Show of Functional Ceramics by American Studio Potters

October 17-November 18

Opening October 17, 4-6pm

Ferrin Gallery's Studio Pottery Invitational introduces a group of studio potters who have not shown previously at the gallery. Each year ten artists are invited to show a series of 10-25 functional pots that are related by forms and surface. This year's artists include:

Mary Anne Davis
Sanam Emami
Steve Godfrey
Molly Hatch
Kristen Kieffer
Seth Rainville
Kevin Snipes
Gwendolyn Yoppolo

Dates: October 17^th - December 31^st, 2009

Artist Reception: October 17th, 4 to 6:00 pm

Preview: October 10^th, 4 to 6:00 in conjunction with Locally Thrown/Locally Grown: a series of events on Columbus Day Weekend in partnership with IS183 Art School focused on ceramics.

Photo Caption: Chris Gustin, "Vessel", Ceramic, 2009, 29 x 17 x 17"

2009 Featured Artist: Chris Gustin

Chris Gustin grew up in Los Angeles, California where his family were part owners of several commercial whiteware ceramic manufacturing companies. Immersed in the beauty and function of ceramic tile manufacture from a very young age, Chris Gustin has held a lifelong love of the art of ceramics. Gustin started Gustin Ceramics Tile Production in 1996, and now devotes his full time and energies to his studio work and tile production company in South Dartmouth, MA.

Click here to link for more information on Locally Thrown/Locally Grown

Watershed Auction

2009-06-09T06:53:00.003-06:00

For those of you interested in keeping Watershed going--please visit the auction online! All the information is below and the events on June 20th are going to be really fun.

This piece is featured in the online preview auction so check it out! Who knew my work looked so good in woodfire?

Saturday, June 20th
4 - 7 pm

Please join us at my studio and gallery
for the Opening Reception and Party in celebration of

The Watershed Gala Wood Fire Benefit
Exhibition, Raffle and Auction
We've invited 125 of the best potters from the United States, Canada and Australia to send work
to be fired in the Anagama Wood Kiln in May. Each has generously donated their work to support the
facilities and programs of the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts.
Watershed is a premier arts center located in Newcastle, Maine. It's mission is to provide both time
and space for artists to work in clay. An international program located in the beautiful coastal
Boothbay region of Maine, Watershed offers residencies for artists to explore new ideas and
possibilities within their work. All proceeds from this event will go to help fund the programs at
Watershed and the construction of Watershed's new kiln facility.
The wood kiln will be opened on Saturday, June 6th. We'll unload the kiln at 9 am so join us for a preview of the work. The exhibition, raffle and auction finale will take place the following week on June 20th.

100% of all sales from the Auction and Raffle
will go to benefit Watershed!

The On-line Auction

A select group of pieces from the firing will be auctioned on-line beginning June 12th and ending June 20th.
Please visit our auction website at:

http://gustinceramics.cmarket.com

The Gala Raffle

100 pots will be raffled off, with each ticket purchaser getting to choose their piece as their number is drawn. We've invited some of the best potters from around the country to participate, so there'll be some wonderful pieces to choose from. Buy a ticket, hear your number, pick a pot! Everyone who purchases a ticket will receive a piece. A "special" piece will be saved for last, going to the person with the 100th number!

The Raffle ticket price is $50.

You do not need to attend to participate! A proxy (a Watershed Board member) will pick a piece for you when your number is called, and we'll send it to you. Tickets may be purchased in advance by emailing me at cgceramics@aol.com or calling the studio at 508-636-6213.

Artists who have committed to sending work are :

Ted Adler
David Alban
Dan Anderson
Chris Archer
Christa Assad
John Balistreri
George Barecca
Mary Barringer
Ben Bates
Peter Beasecker
Eve Behar
Birdie Boone
George Bowes
Lori Bradley
Bob Brady
Anna Calluori Holcombe
Mary Louise Carter
Linda Casbon
Doug Casebeer
Bruce Cochrane
Tom Coleman
Malcolm Davis
Bruce Dehnert
Josh DeWeese
Jeremiah Donovan
Judith Duff
Rod Dugal
Lynn Duryea
Susan Filley

Angela Fina
Tyra Forker
Terry Gess
John Glick
Steve Godfrey
Scott Goldberg
Angus Graham
Silvie Granatelli
Ryan Greenheck
Steve Grimmer
Tyler Gulden
Chris Gustin
Sam Harvey
Molly Hatch
Ryan Hereth
Jon Higuchi
Ayumi Horie
John Jessiman
Judith Pointer Jia
Nick Joerling
Frances Johnson
Randy Johnston
Karen Karnes
Beth Kendall
Diane Kenny
Jay Lacouture
Stacy Latt Savage
Jim Lawton
Suze Lindsay
Liz Lurie

Ben Maier
Janet Mansfield
Meira Mathison
Joe McCaffery
Jan McKeachie-Johnston
Sequoia Miller
Maureen Mills
Daniel Molyneux
Dan Murphy
Steven Murphy
Matt Nolen
Shawn O'Conner
Jeff Oestreich
Lisa Orr
David Orser
Denise Pelletier
David Pier
Pete Pinnell
David Pinto
Seth Rainville
Don Reitz
Don Ridley
Steve Roberts
Louise Rosenfield
Tim Rowan
Judith Salomon
Shane Savage-Rumbaugh
JoAnn Schnabel

Brad Schwieger
Mika Seeger
Bonnie Seeman
Nancy Selvin
Ellen Shankin
Jeff Shapiro
Jane Shellenbarger
Sandy Simon
Chris Singewald
Nancy Train Smith
Rosanne Sniderman
Vicki Snyder
Tom Spleth
Bryan Steinberg
Phyllis Kudder Sullivan
Rob Sutherland
Sharon Townshend
Becca Van Fleet
Holly Walker
Hong Ling Wee
Matt West
Adero Willard
Rhonda Willers
Tara Wilson
Lisa Windman
Bruce Winn
Paula Winokur
Robert Winokur
Arnie Zimmerman

"American Story" at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

2009-04-21T13:39:00.001-06:00

click here to see other artists in the show

Molly Hatch (VT; b. 1978)

April 26, 2009–January 17, 2010

Six Cups, 2008, porcelain, 18 x 24 in.; installation view of the exhibition, Salon Familiar; Willow Pattern Saucer, 2008, porcelain, 14 x 10 in., 2008; Courtesy of the artist.

Molly Hatch was raised in a Quaker community in southern Vermont. Her ceramic installations stem from a family history that bestowed value on handmade items that were created for both use and contemplation. In a new series of work made this winter in the Arts/Industry Pottery program, Hatch delves into ideas of use and beauty, the handmade vs. the mass produced. Hatch transforms traditional tableware—from dinner plates to tea services—into items that, when not in use, decorate the domestic realm by being installed on the wall.

Recent Move and BIG NEWS for Molly Hatch!

2009-04-21T10:33:00.003-06:00

As many of you might already know, I have been bouncing around the US this winter. I have just returned to New England from an amazing 3-month residency at the Kohler ceramic factory in Kohler WI.
I will be flying back out to WI in June for the opening of a new show at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center titled "American Story." There will be a full catalog of the 12 person show that I will keep you updated on as the time gets closer.

While I was away in WI, my husband Oliver set us up in a new apartment which meant a move. We are now living just a bit west of Northampton MA, just around the corner from well known potter Mark Shapiro. I have a small studio set up in Northampton in the Maplewood Shops near Main street until August.

The big news is that we are expecting a baby girl in mid-August! Of course potting will be on hold for a few months as I get used to having a little one in my life, but I will be back on the making wagon for Spring 2010 no doubt! There are lots of other fabulous and pregnant potter moms sharing similar due dates: Kari Radasch is due in May, Erin Furimsky is due in the early fall, Bonnie Seeman is due for twins in July....I'm sure there are more than I am listing. It seems to be a good time to have babies!

Keep in touch and keep an eye on my etsy shop--new work will be posted in the next month!

Happy Spring!
Molly

Last Days for Auction at Greewich House Pottery

2009-04-21T10:22:00.004-06:00

LAST DAYS TO BID! AUCTION ENDS AT 10pm ON APRIL
26th!

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A BID OR LOOK AT WORK!

Artstream on Facebook and at NCECA!

2009-03-29T11:06:00.002-06:00

Artstream Nomadic Gallery Images of artists who will be in the show this spring.
Artists for this tour are:
Albion Stafford
Alleghany Meadows
Andy Brayman
Angus Graham
Ayumi Horie
Beth Robinson
Bernadette Curran
Christa Assad
Jen Allen
Josh DeWeese
Lisa Orr
Lorna Meaden
Michael Connelly
Michael Corney
Molly Hatch
Richard Notkin
Sam Harvey
Simon Levin
Steven Colby
Tara Wilson

Art-Stream Spring Tour

2009-03-29T10:29:00.004-06:00

UPCOMING EXHIBITION and TOUR

NCECA 2009 TOUR
April 6 - 11

Tour Schedule:

Potters as Sculptors, Sculptors as Potters

- FLAGSTAFF, AZ
  Northern Arizona University
  Stay tuned for location and times.
- Contact Jason Hess for details and conference registration: 928. 523.2398, jason.hess@nau.edu
NCECA 2009
- PHOENIX, AZ
  Exhibition: 9 am - 6 pm Wed - Friday 9 am - 12 pm Sat.
  Stay tuned for location, it will be within spitting distance of the conference.
- www.nceca.net
STAY TUNED FOR MORE TOUR INFO>>>

2009 Artists:

Alleghany Meadows
Albion Stafford
Andrew Martin
Andy Brayman
Angus Graham
Ayumi Horie
Bernadette Curran
Christa Assad
Elizabeth Robinson
Jen Allen
Josh DeWeese
L isa Orr
Lorna Meaden
Michael Connelly
Michael Corney
Mollie Hatch
Richard Notkin
Sam Harvey
Simon Levin
Steven Colby
Tara Wilson

Molly Hatch in "Small Favors IV" at the Clay Studio

2009-03-29T10:23:00.001-06:00

Krista Grecco

Small Favors IV: Reed Smith Gallery

May 1 - May 31, 2009
Opening Reception, First Friday,
May 1, 5-9pm

Molly Hatch at "Made in Clay 2009"

2009-03-29T10:17:00.002-06:00

MADE IN CLAY: BENEFIT SALE

MADE IN CLAY: ANNUAL BENEFIT SALE AND AUCTION FOR GREENWICH HOUSE POTTERY!

APRIL 3-30

Molly Hatch Workshops at Dartmouth College

2008-10-31T10:29:00.005-06:00

SPECIAL WORKSHOPS IN

CERAMICS

WITH MOLLY HATCH

Rethinking the Ceramic Surface: Laser printed decals
October 29, 5-7pm

As you look at the creative world there are trends of both artists and designers looking to re-use and recycle materials in their objects. We often consider a ceramic object finished once it has gone through the final firing stage. Through the use of decals and other processes, you can approach the “finished” ceramic object with new possibilities. In this two-hour workshop we will look at ways to transform and re-invent objects that already exist using laser-printed decals.

Mishima: The Slip Inlay Process
November 5, 5-7pm

In this two-hour workshop traditional Korean and Japanese slip techniques will be demonstrated on greenware. These traditional surface decoration techniques are ways one can use the ceramic surface as a place to draw and paint. The graphic quality of “mishima” is similar to printmaking techniques, allowing for similar lines to those found in intaglio and woodcut. Though best on porcelain, use of slip can be just as effective on stoneware and earthenware clay bodies.

Both workshops will be held at the Davidson Pottery Studio, the site for the Hopkins Center Student Workshop in Ceramics, on the Norwich side of the river, a 7 minute walk from the green. phone:802-649-2447 or contact Jenny Swanson for more information.

Fourth and Clay mentions Molly Hatch on their blog

2008-10-31T10:23:00.003-06:00

Thanks to my gals at Fourth and Clay in Berkeley for the fabulous mention on their blog recently. Fourth and Clay is a great studio shared by three amazing ceramic artists: Rae Dunn, Josie Jurczenia and Christa Assad. Thanks ladies!

Pinkkiss pottery writes about Molly's salt and peppers

2008-10-31T10:20:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Shawna Pincuss of Baltimore for her mention of my Finch Salt and Pepper Shakers for sale on Etsy (gone for now but more will be back soon). Check out her blog here.

One and Only: Gifts made by Hand featuress Molly Hatch on their site!

2008-10-31T10:19:00.003-06:00

One and Only:

Gifts Made by Hand

October 26, 2008–January 4, 2009

left to right: Flower Earrings by Keiko Mita; Lace Cuff Bracelet by Janet Huddie; Porcelain Tea Cup by Molly Hatch.

A holiday tradition of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, the exhibition One and Only: Gifts Made by Hand brings you an exceptional collection of jewelry, ceramics, painting, photography, fiber works, wood, and glass by more than 50 artists from across the nation for your holiday shopping pleasure. Including extravagant jewelry designs in gold and sterling, pearls and gemstones, ceramic work in a range of brightly colored patterns and textures, and charming hats, scarves, and throws to keep you warm-give the gift of original works of art this year. There is something for every age and every taste!

All works in One and Only are available for purchase. Arts Center members receive a 10% discount on all purchases. As always proceeds from sales at ARTspace support the Arts Center in its educational mission.

Kansas City Art Istitute writes about Molly on their Blog!

2008-10-31T10:14:00.001-06:00

The Kansas City Art Institute had me for a visit last spring and I got a little mention on their blog recently. Check it out here. Carrie wrote:
"Molly Hatch came to KCAI on April 25th and demonstrated her throwing and mishima techniques for the ceramics department students. Molly recently recieved her MFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder and recieved her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. She is currently in New England working in her studio, getting ready for a 3 month Residency at Kohler this winter."

Molly Hatch on Apartment Therapy:The Kitchn

2008-10-31T10:11:00.002-06:00

A friend pointed out that I got some good press yesterday on Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn! I love it when that happens!

Come January 1st, Molly is off to Kohler!

2008-10-15T09:31:00.004-06:00

I received that glorious phone call from Beth Lipman last week letting me know that I was awarded a three-month residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan WI. I leave by the new year and return to New England in April. My plan is to work on developing my tile work a bit more, not so secretly, I am hoping I can convince the folks at Kohler to invite me to come and do a bathroom! The bath room pictured here is done by Cynthia Constantino an artist who I worked with at the Museum School in Boston. Her work is fabulous in and out of the bathroom!
I will be out of my studio as a result of this, so i will be keeping you all informed of my progress via blog...check back in January!

16 Stokers: Collaborative work of Scott Parady and Molly Hatch

2008-10-02T08:26:00.003-06:00

October 6-31 Check out the work of the 16+ artists who fire in Scott Parady's wood kiln in CA. The work will be shown at the Robert Else Gallery at California State University, Sacramento. The opening reception is October 6th 6-9pm.

Scott and I started doing collaborative work last summer (07) while we were both at Anderson Ranch in Snowmass CO. We are hoping to continue the collaborative work--Scott makes the forms and I draw on the surfaces--then Scott fires the work. This group of work that is being shown is mostly done with a porcelain slip inlay on the surfaces of Scott's work.

For those of you in the Berkeley area, Scott and I are also in a show with our individual work at TRAX gallery.

Ten Invite Ten: TRAX Gallery

2008-09-09T08:27:00.002-06:00

For all of you that are in the Bay area, I have some work in Ten Invite Ten at TRAX Gallery in Berkeley opening September 13th. I have sent along some new vases thanks to my invitation from Scott Parady, a Sacramento wood-fire potter who I have done some collaborations with recently. Unfortunately I wont be at the opening, but for those of you that can make it, the artists that will be there will be giving a gallery talk around 6pm.

American Craft Magazine to Publish my Interveiws

2008-08-15T11:23:00.005-06:00

This fall seems to be a good one for me in the magazine world! I have been working closely with Andrew Wagner, the new editor of American Craft Magazine on the publication of four interviews I did recently. Christa Assad will be on the cover of the Oct/Nov issue thanks to her wonderful interview! The photography crew for American Craft spent two whole days with Christa in her new Berkeley CA studio doing photo shoots. Christa felt like the rock star we all know she is! Be sure to go online and look at the three supporting interviews with Ayumi Horie, Jeanne Quinn and Sanam Emami.

Molly Hatch in September issue of Ceramics Monthly

2008-08-15T11:03:00.003-06:00

For those of you that are readers of Ceramics Monthly, I am in the September issue! It is a review of my solo show at Vertigo Artspace in Denver back in June. I am very excited about this! As a young potter, I would look to Ceramics Monthly for inspiration and to get to know the community. In my mind back then, you had MADE it if you were one of the artists reviewed in an issue. I certainly don't feel as though I have made it quite yet, but it sure feels good...Click here to read the review.

Take a Course with Molly Hatch!

2008-07-17T12:33:00.003-06:00

Starting in September, I will be teaching several ceramic courses throughout New England. You can take both academic and non-academic classes ranging from handbuilding and wheelthrowing techniques to surface decoration.

I will be teaching an eight week course in Hanover at the New Hampshire League of Craftsmen. For the times and listing see their website here.

I will be at Dartmouth College, also in Hanover NH. So if you are attending Dartmouth and need instruction, come on down to the Davidson Studio and I will be there 1-2 afternoons a week going over beginning to advanced techniques.

On Monday evenings for the Fall semester I will be teaching a course titled "Ceramics: The New Canvas" through the Continuing Education Department:

Ceramics: A New Canvas / CER 2043 1

Molly Hatch

M 6:30PM - 9:45PM Building A A005

9/8/2008 - 12/15/2008

CER 2043 C1: 2.00 Credits

$895

CER 2043 N1: 0.00 Credits

$685

Have you ever thought twice about the cup you drink from or the tiles in your bathroom? Ceramics could be your new canvas. This course is an opportunity for students with a love of painting, drawing, and printmaking to apply their concepts and skills to ceramics. You will be introduced to contemporary and historic ceramics through lectures and readings. Students will acquire basic hand-building and surface decoration skills and an understanding of the ceramic process. Open to all skill levels.

Molly Hatch Ceramics Relocated to Vermont

2008-07-17T12:01:00.005-06:00

It is official, I have left graduate school and all of its comforts to a life as a potter in Vermont. You can now find me in lovely, historic Bellows Falls Vermont, just off of I-91 N, just over the Massachusetts and New Hampshire borders. My website will be updated soon with new contact information, my cell phone and email remain the same. If you are interested in stopping by to purchase work or see me and my work in progress, my studio and gallery are now located at 4 Atkinson Street, Bellows Falls VT 05101.

I have included some images of Bellows Falls for you to look at as it is such a lovely old factory town with an immense amount of Victorian brownstone charm. Real estate here is CHEAP, for Vermont, just to let you all know. Bellows Falls is lovely for a visit or a stop through on your way to Saxtons River or Grafton Vermont--the home of the Grafton Village Cheese Co. You can stay at one of the many B&Bs that Vermont is famous for, or the Old Tavern at Grafton is spectacular with an amazing dining room. Or the Inn at Saxtons River also has great accommodations and dining.

I hope you can all stop in for a studio visit!

Find me at Harvey/Meadows!

2008-05-12T10:24:00.003-06:00

I have just found out that I am now represented by Harvey/Meadows Gallery in Aspen. Alleghany and Sam are both ceramic artists running the gallery with just about all of the who's who in the ceramic world. This is a major kudos for me and my work!

Alleghany also runs the Art-stream which is a nomadic gallery of ceramic work that is set up in an airstream trailer. You might have seen it at NCECA or elsewhere. I will also have work in the trailer at the Aspen farmers market and NCECA....Look out world here I come!

Molly Hatch Ceramics

A Day in the Life of Molly Hatch

Q&A: Ceramicist Molly Hatch

Molly Hatch Ceramics Monthly Cover Feb 2012

Molly Hatch at Art Miami

Winters Florifertum at Red Lodge Clay Center

New Work at Anthropologie

Molly Hatch on Decor8 Blog

Workshop and Lecture at Museum School this week!

American Pottery Festival

New Molly Hatch at the Clay Studio in Philly!

SIP II at TRAX up September 10th.

Molly Hatch in FOR THE FLOWERS at Schaller Gallery

MOLLY HATCH SOLO @ MUDFIRE!

Canelle et Vanille

Art of The Pot coming up!

Molly Hatch "Double Dare Ya" at SOFA NY in Ferrin Gallery Pursuit of Porcelain

Molly Hatch "Double Dare Ya" at SOFA NY in Ferrin Gallery Pursuit of Porcelain

Molly Hatch in Design*Spnge ITKW!

In the Kitchen With: Molly Hatch Spaetzles

Molly Hatch in Design*Sponge 2010 Gift Guide for the Kitchen

New Tattoo Flash: VASES From SOFA now at FERRIN GALLERY

Molly Hatch in Form Follows Food at Greenwich House Pottery NYC

Form Follows Food Opens December 3, 2010

Molly hatch at Artisan Gallery Cup and Mug Invitational

Molly Hatch @ Lyons Wier Gallery NYC

Molly Hatch: MIMESIS at Ferrin Gallery THROUGH DEC 31

Molly Hatch: New Work in CLAY STUDIO SHOP

Molly Hatch plate in "In the Kitchen With..." column on Design*Sponge

Molly Hatch Presenter at Potters Council Conference: Splendid Surfaces

See Molly Hatch at Schaller Gallery

Molly Hatch at PINCH Northampton

Molly hatch and Bonnie Seeman at Red Star Studios

Red Star Studios

First Friday in September

Molly Hatch and REAL SIMPLE MAGAZINE

Molly Hatch on Decor8 Blog

SIP at TRAX Gallery

Domestic Beauty: Molly Hatch in American Craft Magazine!

Molly Hatch on Design*Sponge Today!

Clay Studio Page for Mimesis

Molly Hatch: New Work at The Clay Studio

Article by Molly Hatch in June/July/Aug Issue of Ceramics Monthly

Work in Progress for Clay Studio Show opening June 4th!

Molly Hatch at the Clay Studio Philadelphia!

Molly Hatch on Design*Sponge!

Molly Hatch at LOLA

Interview with Karen Swyler, by Molly Hatch July 22, 2009

Relative Permanence: The Vessels of Karen Swyler By Molly Hatch

Molly Hatch at LOLA

Catch me at NCECA 2010!

MADE IN CLAY 2010!

Workshop with Molly Hatch at 4th and Clay

Full Interview with Deb Schwartzkopf and Molly Hatch

Interview with Deborah Schwartzkopf at Mudflat Studio, July 2009

Molly hatch writes about Deb Schwartzkopf for Ceramics Monthly

Deborah Schwartzkopf: Full Circle

Pottery Making Illustrated

Pottery Making Illustrated November/December 2009

Ceramic Arts Daily

2-D to 3-D: Using Image Transfer and Mishima Techniques to Make Drawings on Pottery

Studio Pottery Invitational and Ferrin Gallery

Studio Pottery Invitational

Watershed Auction

"American Story" at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

click here to see other artists in the show

Molly Hatch (VT; b. 1978)

Recent Move and BIG NEWS for Molly Hatch!

Last Days for Auction at Greewich House Pottery

Artstream on Facebook and at NCECA!

Art-Stream Spring Tour

UPCOMING EXHIBITION and TOUR

NCECA 2009 TOUR April 6 - 11

Tour Schedule:

2009 Artists:

Molly Hatch in "Small Favors IV" at the Clay Studio

Small Favors IV: Reed Smith Gallery

Molly Hatch at "Made in Clay 2009"

MADE IN CLAY: BENEFIT SALE

Molly Hatch Workshops at Dartmouth College

NCECA 2009 TOUR
April 6 - 11