This gorgeous black stoneware and porcelain will stop you in your tracks. Minimal but powerful, there is a friendly, almost helpful sort of austerity to these pieces. It’s easy to imagine that a few of them in your home might be the catalyst for a household-wide calming and decluttering. Maybe the Zen is contagious!
And of course, potter Beth Hawthorn does feel that having lived in Japan for a year in her early twenties influenced her taste. She describes a strong attraction for the “sense of restraint and love for minimalism” she found there. She has been involved in the business of creating for many years, but recently circled back to pottery, one of her first loves. Introduced to clay in high school, back in the days when school arts programs were thriving and really gave young people a taste of creative life, she discovered a talent that was encouraged by mentors and instructors. She followed her passion into college, but then life happened.
“Working in clay requires a good sense of timing and flow. Being a mom of two young kids, I found time to pull out the clay for them to play, but didn’t make the time for myself to do it to the extent I would have liked. So my wheel and clay sat in storage. I knew there would be a time when it was going to come back into my life. Well, this is the time, and it has come back with a great surge of energy.”
Hawthorn is drawn to neutral colours and the extremes of the black and white forms, glazed and unglazed. Her work is quite transfixing. The creamy almost ethereal white porcelain contrasts with the elemental, from-the bowels-of-the-earth impression of the black clay. She loves how viewers respond.
“People are really drawn to the black clay and they immediately reach out to touch the pieces. The white clay feels cloud-like, and in contrast, the black clay feels very much like it is from the earth. Black offers a sweet mix between a modern style and yet still has an earthy feel. It seems to appeal to both men and women.”
Hawthorn has lived in Roberts Creek for twelve years and has been working in craft and design for more than twenty years. She divides her creative time between rolling up her sleeves in her ceramics studio and working on her computer (another contrast) at her freelance graphic design and branding business.
Words | Nancy Pincombe Photography | Beth Hawthorn
