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, April 11, 2012

A TINY GLIMPSE OF NCECA

WEDNESDAY, 11THAPRIL 11TH 2012

A TINY GLIMPSE OF NCECA - 2012 - SEATTLE 


  HEAD BY TIP TOLLAND

SINCE GOING TO MY FIRST ANNUAL NCECA CONFERENCE IN TORONTO. CANADA AT THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FORMATION, I HAVE PROBABLY ATTENDED UPWARDS OF HALF OF THE ENSUING YEARS' CONFERENCES.
THIS YEAR IT WAS ONLYA 3 HOUR FERRY RIDE FROM HOME JUST OUTSIDE VICTORIA BC., CANADA. ALTHOUGH I HAD BEEN SICK SINCE THE PREVIOUS CONFERENCE IN TAMPA, FLORIDA WITH SOME STILL UNKNOWN BUG, I DECIDED THAT I HAD TO MAKE THE SEATTLE SESSION AS IT WAS SO CLOSE. I MADE GETTING THERE A GOAL AND FELT THAT I WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE THE HUSTLE. A LONG TIME STUDENT AND FRIEND OF MINE, CYNDI, WAS RENTING A VAN TO GET AROUND EASILY WITH A FEW OTHER FRIENDS IN ORDER TO SEE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FROM THE 190 EXHIBITIONS THAT WERE ON.  WE STARTED ON THE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND BY MID - AFTERNOON I WAS ALREADY MORE TIRED THAN I EXPECTED TO BE AT THE END OF THE WEEK. FURTHERMORE, AND PARTICULARLY ANNOYING AND FRUSTRATING, A SIDE-EFFECT OF THE "BUG" IS SPORADIC TREMORS IN THE HANDS AND FEET. TAKING PHOTOS WITH SHAKING HANDS  DOESN'T PRODUCE GOOD IMAGES! UNFORTUNATELY I FORGOT TO WRITE DOWN THE NAMES OF MOST OF THE ARTISTS CONCERNED.








TUMBLERS BY JULIA GALLOWAY

TRIO GROUPINGS

ARCHITECTURAL FORMS BY SEQUOIA MILLER







TEAPOT BY PETE PINNELL


INSTALLATIONS BY YING YUEH CHUANG

THE ABOVE IMAGES WERE TAKEN IN VARIOUS EXHIBITS IN THE DESIGN CENTER. I DID GO TO A FEW OTHER EXHIBITS, BUT I WAS EITHER TOO TIRED OR TOO FRUSTRATED TO DO MUCH FURTHER PHOTOGRAPHY.  I SPENT MOST OF THE TIME IN THE TRADE SHOW IN THE CONVENTION CENTER, UNTIL I HAD TO CRASH FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS AND BUILD ENOUGH ENERGY TO DO JUSTICE TO THE GREAT RESTAURANTS THAT SEATTLE HAS TO OFFER.  THANK GOODNESS THE MAIN HOTEL, THE SHERATON, WAS JUST ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER.

ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T SEE OR HEAR AS MUCH AS I WANTED TO,  I DID FEEL THAT THIS PARTICULAR CONFERENCE WAS ONE OF THE BEST THAT I'VE ATTENDED.


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MY NEXT POSTING WILL BE ON FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012. ITS THEME WILL BE "NCECA FOR NEWBIES! - OR HOW TO GET THE MOST FOR YOUR TIME AND MONEY. THERE WILL ALSO BE A FEW IMAGES FROM THE ECHIZEN WOODFIRED EXHIBIT AT THE DESIGN CENTER.

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