PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF,

I’M A MAN OF CLAY AND GLAZE

PUSHED MUD AROUND FOR SEVENTY YEARS

OR TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND DAYS.

Robin Hopper is a man of many parts, mostly worn out, rusty or dysfunctional, due to a lifetime of excesses! He started working with clay at the age of three and is still doing it over 70 years later. His lengthy, peripatetic career as a mudpusher has included side trips into working as a Professional Actor, Stage Designer, Property Maker, Stage Manager, Stage Carpenter, Grocer, Greengrocer, Jazz Musician, Teapot, Wine and Beer-Bottle, Trumpet, Trombone and Bugle Player, European Travel Guide, Founder of Several Clay/Art/Craft Organizations, Alchemist, Geologist, Primatologist, Linguist, Ornithologist, Botanist, Ceramic Historian, Educator, Author, Garden Designer, Lecturer on Japanese Garden Design, Laborer and Star of Stage, Screen and Potter’s Wheel!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

THE BATTLE BETWEEN ART AND CRAFT - STILL RAGING AFTER SIXTY YEARS



THE BATTLE BETWEEN ART AND CRAFT - STILL RAGING AFTER SIXTY YEARS

ARTS PAGE - RH WORK DONE AS A STUDENT AT AGE 20.



“TOAD PLATE”

STONEWARE

IMAGE BORROWED FROM A PICASSO LITHOGRAPH




                                         “PILGRIM BOTTLE VASE”

                                           STONEWARE














GUIDES, GURUS, MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS

THESE ARE SOME OF THE ARTISTS WHO HAD A MAJOR EFFECT ON MY THOUGHTS ABOUT FORM, SURFACE AND FUNCTIONALITY. I KNEW I WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO MAKE A LIVING DOING ONE-OF-A-KIND WORK, SO I DECIDED ON 50% FUNCTIONAL AND 50% ONE-OF-A-KIND, A PATTERN THAT STAYED CONSTANT FOR 45 YEARS. THESE ARTISTS ARE ALMOST ALL FROM UK.

TENMOKU PLATE BY HARRY DAVIS UK/NZ     CASSEROLE BY RAY FINCH

GOBLET BY ALLAN CAIGER-SMITH        VASE BY VIVIKA AND OTTO HEINO


 

PITCHER BY MICHAEL CASSON            VASE BY HANS COPER
 


VASE BY LUCIE RIE            VASE BY  THOMAS SAMUEL HAILE


WILLIAM STAITE MURRAY                                     PABLO PICASSO



PICASSO DECORATING LARGE PLATE                            PICASSO OWL

TO MY MIND, PABLO PICASSO WAS THE MOST UNDERRATED CERAMIC ARTIST OF THE 20TH CENTURY. HE WORKED CONSISTENTLY IN CLAY FOR OVER 20 YEARS FROM 1946 TO 1968.  AS A STUDENT, I WAS FORTUNATE TO SEE A PICASSO NEW CERAMICS EXHIBIT EVERY YEAR IN LONDON.  HE BROKE DOWN LONG-STANDING TRADITIONS IN CERAMICS, AS HE DID WITH VARIOUS MEDIA, AND ALLOWED A VIBRANT NEW ARTISTIC VISION TO DEVELOP.
FAVORITE PICASSO QUOTE:   
 “MEDIOCRE  ARTISTS BORROW, GREAT ARTISTS STEAL”.
______________________________________________________________________

TOMORROW

MORE THOUGHTS ON GUIDES, GURUS, MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS


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1 comment:

  1. UCSArtTeacherJanuary 25, 2012 at 9:55 AM

    Thanks for the visual feast today Robin. It is always nice to see an artist's roots.

    ReplyDelete

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