Resources I Books & Videos
A Potter’s Garden
REVIEW BY STEVEN BRANFMAN
A Potter’s Garden: An Artist’s Approach to Creative
Garden-Making by Robin Hopper, photography
by Judi Dyelle and Robin Hopper. Additional
contributions by Kehler and Sarah Hopper.
Smashwords Publishing e-book — $9.95
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/502522
T
his is a first for me ... actually, two firsts:
reading an e-book and reviewing an
e-book. To be perfectly honest, if it weren’t
for Robin Hopper being the author, I probably
wouldn’t have read it.
It’s not that I have any objections to e-books.
On the contrary, if the e-book phenomenon
brings more literature into people’s lives, then
I’m all for it. For me, though, I am drawn by the
magnetism of the book as an object, both visually
and tactilely. I love handling the book, feeling
its warmth, turning the pages, touching the
surface of the paper, and resting it in my lap. The
physical presence of the book as an object helps
me connect with the writer, the subject, and the
theme. It puts me in a certain place. The e-book
doesn’t do that for me. But having gotten that out
of the way ...
A Potter’s Garden: An Artist’s Approach to Creative
Garden-Making is a unique book. Robin opens
the book with an introduction and preface that
These early experiences are not to be minimized
or taken lightly. Robin was a child of WWII, living
under the bombing of London and often fending
for himself with minimal adult supervision. He
was drawn to art, and as a teen, his reaction to
the death and destruction he’d witnessed as a
child led him to devote his life to the opposite:
making beautiful things and surrounding himself
with the same.
A Potter’s Garden is organized into five parts. Part
one, “Garden Tour,” introduces us to and takes
us on a virtual narrative and visual tour of the
author’s home, his “Chosin Pottery” studio, and
his garden. He quickly explains the origin of the
name he has given his garden:
continued on next page
CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015
If you aren’t familiar with Robin Hopper, you must
either be a very young potter just getting into the
clay world milieu, or you’ve been squirreled away
in your studio, isolated from the greater clay
world. Robin is an internationally known ceramic
artist, teacher, and workshop presenter. He has
authored a collection of what could arguably be
the most important and influential books for
the contemporary potter, including The Ceramic
Spectrum, Functional Pottery, and Making Marks.
He is also responsible for the updated edition of
Daniel Rhodes’ classic book Clay and Glazes for the
Potter. Enough about Robin.
explore the origins of his home and garden. Also
shared here are references to his childhood and
early life, which have served to shape his future
creative endeavors.
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