Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts in the hamlet of Maplecrest, town of Windham, held its 9th Annual Pottery Festival, recently, drawing hundreds of visitors over two days and artisans from throughout the Northeast. Serving as hosts were director Kulvinder Kaur Dhew (center), head of ceramics Bruce Denhert right) and intern Riley Walzer who, in his artistry says, “I am always thinking of water and earth interacting,” such as rain eroding cliffsides or sand and gravel at the bottom of a river bed. The festival is popular because “people are interested in good, quality handmade items,” Denhert said. “Working with clay is about being in touch with the earth and getting that ‘Aha’ moment.”
Susan Beecher was present in spirit if not in person, founding the event over a decade ago before lately moving to the West Coast while serving as mentor to scores of burgeoning potters including Flo Gillen (left) and Tess Charbonneau. Gillen is a self-described “retired computer nerd living in a converted barn known as the Jewett Branch of the Jeff Shapiro Museum and Amusement Park,” being an avid collector of the internationally known potter. “I like anthills and termite mounds,” Gillen says, explaining the piece she holds, topped with a President Trump penthouse. Gillen also crafted the mask held by Charbonneau who lives within an easy bike ride of the Sugar Maples studio and is an ardent pottery practitioner. Beecher, as a teacher, is “welcoming and sweet,” Charbonneau says. “We love her dearly.”
A sea theme was expressed by Patrica Kerns with her octopus, seahorse and fish. Kerns and her husband Bob operated Kerns Nursery in the town of Jewett for 45 years. She is now opening Greyrock Gallery, Greenhouse & Gardens on October 10 for Columbus Day weekend at the same site, along Route 23C, featuring fine art, pottery, bonsai and house plants. The ceramic artistry of local artists Tess Charbonneau and Bob McAllister will be an ongoing presence at the new gallery.
“To live in the modern era is to be enmeshed in Syncretics,” says Great Barrington, Massachusetts-based potter Harry Levenstein, a regular visitor to the festival. Syncretism blends different beliefs, cultures and schools of thought, finding an underlying unity and inclusiveness. “My work is inspired by traditional ceramic art forms across the globe,” Levenstein says.
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