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!

Friday, April 20, 2012

MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES

APRIL 20, 2012


MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES


IN JAPAN, THE TWO MOST HIGHLY VALUED AND RESPECTED FORMS OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION ARE FIRSTLY : GARDEN DESIGNER, AND SECONDLY : A POTTER


IN NORTH AMERICA, THE TWO LEAST VALUED AND RESPECTED FORMS OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION ARE FIRSTLY: A GARDEN DESIGNER AND SECONDLY: POTTER.


I HAVE KNOWN THIS FOR ABOUT HALF A CENTURY.  I HAVE DONE BOTH FOR ALL OF THAT TIME, AND MORE.  I WILL CONTINUE DO MORE FOR AS LONG AS I AM ABLE.


RECOGNITION IN BOTH AS ART FORMS HAS BEEN SLOW IN COMING. JUST ABOUT ALL OF MY WORKING LIFE HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO THESE TWO DISCIPLINES AND THEIR RECOGNITION AS BONOFIDE ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS.


I HAVE MISSED A COUPLE OF POSTINGS  IN FAVOR OF THE GARDEN.  I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE GARDEN AS AN ART FORM FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS AND IT HAS OFTEN BEEN FEATURED IN BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND TV PROGRAMS.  ANY ART FORM TAKES MUCH CARE AND ATTENTION TO LOOK AT ITS BEST. THERE IS A WELL KNOWN CANADIAN GARDEN WRITER WHO IS USING 0UR GARDEN AS PART OF THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE GARDEN AS ART. THE AMOUNT OF GARDEN LABOR HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLE TO GET IT UP TO SNUFF. I HAVE  A LITTLE FURTHER TO GO FOR A MAJOR GARDEN RELATED POSTING OR SERIES OF POSTINGS WHICH SHOULD START  ON MONDAY NEXT WEEK.  


THE GARDEN IS 2.5 ACRES IN SIZE AND HAS A BASIC JAPANESE THEME OF AN ARTIST'S IMPRESSION COMPRISING FIVE STYLES OF JAPANESE GARDEN. THE STYLES ARE STROLL, SCROLL, TEA, ZEN, AND COURTYARD GARDENS. ALTHOUGH I DESIGNED IT TO BE AN EASY MAINTENANCE GARDEN IT STILL TAKES CONSIDERABLE WORK. TO LOOK AT ITS BEST.


SINCE I NEED TO BE IN THE GARDEN FOR MORE MAINTENANCE TIME AS THE SEASONS CHANGE, I WILL HAVE TO CUT THE POSTINGS DOWN TO TWO PER WEEK ON MONDAY AND FRIDAY. I PLAN TO PHOTOGRAPH IT WEEKLY TO DOCUMENT THE CHANGES AND GIVE A SENSE OF THE CHANGING SEASONS.


I WILL SEE YOU NEXT MONDAY, WHICH, COINCIDENTALLY. IS ALSO MY 73RD BIRTHDAY. I SHARE   THE DATE ALONG WITH OTHER SUCH NOTABLES AS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ST GEORGE, AND SHIRLEY TEMPLE. SEE YOU SOON.
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1 comment:

  1. CyndiApril 21, 2012 at 11:03 PM

    I am so glad to hear that you are working in your beloved gardens. Such a good thing. Send pictures. One thing I remember is seeing the large Queens Anne lace. I felt that I was in Alice in wonderland.

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