Natural Elements Pottery

Hilltown 6 Pottery Tour and Open Gallery Sale!

Saturday July 28, Sunday July 29, 2007 10AM - 5PM

The Hilltown 6 is a group of six nationally renowned potters who make their homes and create their fabulous artwork in the Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. The prodigious list of artists includes Constance Talbot, Hiroshi Nakayama, Michael McCarthy, Mark Shapiro, Sam Taylor, and Christy Knox.

The works of these artisans can be found exhibited in notable galleries, museums, and private collections across the country, and on occasions through the year at high quality craft exhibitions.

These artists will be opening their studios to the public for two days, July 28th and 29th from 10-5PM both days.

The opportunity to meet the individuals and to see them in their "home" studio setting is certainly eye opening. It provides the often-missing physical context for understanding the comprehensive nature of the artist and their artistic creations. This can enrich and increase the appreciation for who these artists are and the unique quality of what they produce.

It also provides the curious and selective buyer a special viewing of work that is not available to be seen in any other place.

Here is some of what you can look forward to seeing:

Christy Knox, Natural Elements Pottery, has been producing high quality functional stoneware for over 20 years. This is not you're your mother's stoneware, thick, monochromatic and plain. Christy's work is sleek, colorful, incorporating impressions from local leaves and blossoms in intricate and mesmerizing patterns. The shapes and styles are reminiscent blend of Arts Crafts Pottery with an eastern aesthetic. Her studio, located in the woods behind her home, is a lively extension of the work she produces.

Constance (Connie) Talbot, of High Hollow Pottery, also has her studio located near her home in a secluded and lovely corner of Windsor, MA. Kilns? She has plenty, including the finishing touches on a new wood fired kiln that she is building. Connie's work runs the full range from classic, to whimsical, to sublime. Her use of reduction glazes, brushwork, resists and more produces work of museum quality; she has been producing this high quality of work for more than 25 years.

Hiroshi Nakayama's work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Beautiful, subtle and hard to believe unless you see it, Hiroshi's work is something to behold. From his studio in Worthington, utilizing specialized glazes and repeated firing techniques, developed by the artist, the results are objects which, in his own words, "...aim for the Japanese idea of beauty, Shibui, a quality of understated elegant simplicity that speaks quietly for itself with inherent meaning and utility, unobtrusive sophistication, refined maturity, spirituality rooted in the quiet appreciation of nature".

Mark Shapiro, Stonepool Pottery in Worthington, has become something of a wood-fire potter legend. Mixing time between teaching high level workshops in such places as Penland School, Haystack, Anderson Ranch, and producing wood-fired work for select galleries, Mark is a busy and hard-working guy! Even getting a look at the traditional wood-fired kiln is a profound experience to see where the exquisite finished work appears.

Michael McCarthy's studio is next to the river in "downtown" Cummington, MA. He occupies part of what was once a local wood manufacturing mill. Recently renovated, the building is now a stunning home for Michael's studio where he produces his own variety of functional ceramics. A former apprentice to Mark Shapiro, Michael has continued to develop his own specialized style and is highly regarded in the ceramics community

Sam Taylor was interviewed for the May 2007 issue of The Artful Mind. Sam's Dog Bar Pottery is another pillar of the wood-fired pottery world. His Studio in Westhampton is idyllically placed close to a picturesque waterfall and river; a lovely place to visit and view Sam's brilliant artwork at the same time.

Each of these artists is worth a visit on their own merits. To be able to string them together in a "tour" will make for a day or weekend adventure that will be well worth the effort. To add one more piece to the pie, your tour will take you near to the Old Creamery Grocery (Rt. 9 in Cummington), where you can lunch, dine, or snack on gourmet and homemade healthful foods and treats.

Highly recommended.

Click here for a detailed map showing all six studio locations.

Any questions, please call Christy Knox at her studio. 413/ 634-5770

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Natural Elements Pottery
110 Mount Road
Cummington, MA 01026
413.634.5770