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!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

MISSA - Week One - Year 29


 Art Education in Paradise near Victoria on
 Southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia,
CANADA

MISSA (Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts)

 JULY 2013 



THE CONCEPT BEHIND MISSA WAS BASED ON A VISIT TO MacGREGOR COLLEGE, TOOWOOMBA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, WHERE I WAS INVITED TO BE A VISITING INTERNATIONAL GUEST ARTIST IN SUMMER 1983.  THEY USED A COLLEGE CAMPUS THAT WASN'T BEING USED IN THE SUMMER FOR REGULAR PROGRAM AND RAN A SUMMER ART SCHOOL WITH A DIVERSE RANGE OF COURSES. 

  I HAD LONG THOUGHT OF STARTING MY OWN CERAMICS PROGRAM AT MY OWN STUDIO, BUT WAS ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT THE LOGISTICS END OF THINGS. WHERE WOULD STUDENTS STAY, EAT, etc.,? ABOUT FOUR MILES AWAY FROM MY HOME NEAR BEAUTIFUL CITY OF VICTORIA, ON SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND, IN THE VILLAGE OF METCHOSIN, WAS THE BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS OF PEARSON COLLEGE. IT IS SET LIKE A SMALL HAMLET ON THE SIDE OF PEDDER BAY INLET. 

PRINTMAKING AND FIBER STUDIO - FLOATING BUILDING
 I FOUND OUT THAT THEY RENTED OUT SPACE IN THE SUMMER TIME. I TALKED TO THE ORIGINAL DIRECTOR AND ASKED HOW MANY STUDENTS WOULD BE NEEDED TO OPEN THE DORMS, CLASSROOMS AND DINING HALL AND RUN ART  COURSES. TWENTY FIVE, I WAS TOLD - TOO MANY FOR ME. 

 VICTORIA IS HOME TO MANY INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ARTISTS, WRITERS, POETS, AND MUSICIANS. I GOT A SMALL NUMBER OF THEM TOGETHER OVER WINE AND CHEESE AND TOLD THEM I WAS THINKING OF STARTING A HIGH-DISCIPLINED SUMMER ARTS PROGRAM AND ASKED OF THEY WERE INTERESTED IN JOINING ME. MY WIFE, JUDI DYELLE, WOULD ACT AS ADMINISTRATOR. THE ANSWER WAS POSITIVE. I WORKED OUT HOW IT MIGHT WORK, CONTRACTED WITH PEARSON COLLEGE AND IN 1984, THE METCHOSIN INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL OF THE ARTS WAS BORN WITH FOUR TWO-WEEK COURSES. RONA MURRAY TAUGHT CREATIVE WRITING, CAROLE SABISTON TAUGHT FIBER ARTS, FLEMMING JORGENSEN TAUGHT PAINTING AND I TAUGHT CERAMIC GLAZE AND COLOR DEVELOPMENT. WE ADVERTISED A VERY SPECIALIZED CHILKAT WEAVING COURSE WITH CHERYL SAMUEL, BUT DIDN'T GET ENOUGH STUDENTS TO SIGN UP. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, AFTER PUBLICATION OF HER BOOK "THE CHILKAT DANCING BLANKET", WE RAN THE FULL COURSE WITH MANY INDIGENOUS ARTISTS PARTICIPATING. 

THE CALIBER OF INSTRUCTORS, THE DEDICATION OF THE STUDENTS - MANY OF THEM PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS LOOKING FOR NEW DIRECTIONS OR UPGRADING OF OLD ONES, THE SMALL SIZED CLASSES, THE COURSE DISCIPLINES BEING OFFERED, IN A VENUE THAT IS AS CLOSE TO PARADISE AS CAN LIKELY BE FOUND, BROUGHT 53 STUDENTS THE FIRST YEAR. THIS YEAR - 2013 - THERE WERE 40 COURSES AND A TOTAL OF OVER 400 PARTICIPANTS FROM FAR AND WIDE.THIS BLOG REFERS TO THE FIRST WEEK OF DIVERSE PROGRAMS.  MY NEXT BLOG POSTING WILL SHOW ACTIVITIES OF THE SECOND WEEK.
Board Member - volunteer - Betty Burroughs plays many roles at MISSA and has been there almost since the beginning.
BIG Al Scott - large pot by Josh Deweese
Techie WALLA WALLA KEITH (moldmaking with Mavis Mooney
Techie Dan Severance

MISSA COURSES 2013 - FIRST WEEKEND AND FIRST WEEK



CATHI JEFFERSON - THE FLIP SIDE OF BIG BOWLS 


CATHI JEFFERSON - THE FLIP SIDE OF BIG BOWLS - IN THROWING STUDIO


ANGELA PISTRUCCI - SCULPTURED TILE




KAREN ALBERT - KELP AND FISH
DANCE LADY


SAM DICKIE - 
PAPER PLASTER MOLDMAKING 
SAM DICKIE - MOLDMAKING COURSE - TEACHER
AS THE LARGEST SINGLE FACULTY, THE CERAMICS PROGRAM IS CO-ORDINATED BY MEIRA MATHESON, FORMER MISSA DIRECTOR AND C.E.O.


FIRST WEEK FACULTY 2013


LINA DE GUEVARA - STORYTELLING 
CATHI JEFFERSON - CERAMICS
GRETCHEN MARKLE - PAINTING
CHIARINA LOGGIA - PRINTMAKING
CLAUDIA LORENZ  - PHOTOGRAPHY
ANGELA PISTRUCCI - ARCHITECTURAL CERAMICS
SUZANNE NORTHCOTT - PAINTING
HEATHER ASTON  - PRINTMAKING
JOSH DEWEESE - CERAMICS
DEB SCHWARTZKOPF - CERAMICS
BETSY WARLAND - CREATIVE WRITING
DEBRA SLOAN - CERAMICS
JULIA LOWTHER - JEWELRY
LANA WILSON - CERAMICS
CATHI TEREPOCKI - CERAMICS

HANDBUILDING
DEBORA SCHWARTZKOPF - HANDBUILDING CERAMICS
HANDBUILT CLAYWORK DRYING

Students in Handbuilding course -
In Background - Ceramics Coordinator Meira Mathison CCM and Tech for Life, Peggy Elmes TFL


THROWING STUDIO - POTTERY AS EXPRESSION
Josh Deweese - Master Potter - Bozeman. MONTANA
dressed and ready for the Ambassador of the Arts Dinner and Dance
FAY AND LISA CONCENTRATING
MONOTYPE PRINTMAKING WITH HEATHER ASTON








JEWELRY WITH JULIA LOWTHER 
SHOEBOX  STUDIO TWO


 LANA WILSON 
 INNOVATIVE  HANDBUILDING PLUS COLOUR

THE LOVELY LANA WILSON
LANA DEMONSTRATING

DEBRA SLOAN - CLAY SCULPTURE SAMPLER
DEBRA SLOAN
GRANDAD

OTTO  WITH FEED-ME FROM THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
SEAL-BASHING
PLEIN AIR PAINTING


SUZANNE NORTHCUTT
CREATIVE PROCESS - THE SPACE BETWEEN





CREATIVE PROCESS IMAGES

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
AMBASSADOR OF THE ARTS DINNER 
AND BEAUX ARTS BALL


PARTYGOERS

OWEN
DAUGHTER SARAH AND SATCHMO SOCRATES DAD




DAVE AND KAREL - CO-MC'S
LAUGHING LANA SPEAKS

AMBASSADOR OF THE ARTS 2013

PREZ-TONY, CEO-DAVE AND BETTY PRESENT  ROBIN WITH A GARDEN BENCH

MAUREEN WASHINGTON AND HER TRIO

DANCE IMAGES CENSORED?? 

OR WAS I TOO TIRED TO SHOOT 
 PICTURES BY THIS TIME AT THE END OF THE FIRST WEEK?

I PLAN AN OVERVIEW OF THE SECOND WEEK ACTIVITIES AS SOON AS I CAN GET IT ALL TOGETHER. PROBABLY IN A WEEK'S TIME


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

COMING SOON TO A COMPUTER NEAR YOU!

SUMMERTIME, AND TOO MANY THINGS HAPPENING AROUND HERE!!

I GOT FAR BEHIND WITH THE MISSA BLOG FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS;

I PLAN TO HAVE IT UNDERWAY IN ONE DAY'S TIME  
IT IS A LENGTHY ONE ABOUT PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES AT 
METCHOSIN JNTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

BEST WISHES, SEE YOU ON FRIDAY,  ROBIN