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Date: 5/12/2022
BRIMFIELD/WARREN – Visual art reflects creativity, substance, and connection. Whether’s it’s photography, filmmaking, design, sculpture, drawing, painting, or pottery, it strikes a chord with viewers leaving them wanting more. Reminder Publishing spoke with two local art studios about their love and passion for pottery.
On May 1, Nature’s Gallery & Gifts, Primarily Pottery, opened its doors for the new season. The business is a two-car garage that has been converted into a studio to show and sell pottery and jewelry created by clay artist Linda Early, along with other artist’s creations.
Early’s work has been described as “organic and fluid.” She shared with Reminder Publishing that she likes to make bowls that are shaped like leaves, bird baths and garden ornaments and comforting diffuser birds wrapped in gift boxes with essential oils included.
“I tend to be more decorative and whimsical,” Early stated. “I call myself the moody potter. I can be very serious and make something like a birdbath. Then I can get very whimsical and make little houses that have candles in them. I also like to make hand painted lanterns and luminaries. Whatever mood fits me.”
She continued, “Everything I make comes from my head, hands and my heart. If I throw a regular bowl, I’m going to alter it and do something different to it. To me a bowl is kind of boring unless it has something special to it.”
Early was a hairstylist and owned her own business for 40 years. Throughout her life she has made paintings, done wood burning and worked with copper, but always wanted to try pottery. She took her first class at the Worcester Center for Crafts for hand-building pottery in 1996 and it instantly became her passion.
Pottery challenged Early’s creativity, she explained. She shared that feeling, molding and shaping clay soothed her mind. She described pottery as a medium that “if you can think it, you can make it.” In the early years when she first began, Early would create and give her creations away. Then, she said she thought to convert the large barn on her property and make one large room to make it her gallery.
Early opened her gallery space in 2000 and did charity events once a year. For Cups of Kindness, she would sell coffee mugs she made and the proceeds went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. When Early took full custody of her special needs granddaughter in 2007, she closed the gallery to take care of her, and was able to reopen years later in 2019.
In the coming months, Early will be attending the Sturbridge Farmers Market every other Sunday throughout the summer to share what she loves.
“Going to the Sturbridge Farmers Market gets me out there to meet the public and share the whole experience of hand building pottery,” Early said. “Creating is my passion, sharing it is my joy.”
Nature’s Gallery & Gifts, Primarily Pottery is located on 270 Brookfield Rd. in Brimfield. The studio is open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from May until October. Appointments are welcome to purchase gift items as well. Make an appointment to shop by calling 508-736-1656 or email naturesgallery@charter.net.
Master Potter Richard Hamelin of Pied Potter Hamelin Redware Pottery and artist Gariné Arakelian of Kulina Folk Art share a studio creating lead-free authentic redware reproductions and original red earthenware pottery using their own special clay mix and unique lead-free glaze.
“I started Pied Potter Hamelin in 1985,” said Hamelin. “Gariné and I met in 1987 and married in 1990. Together we’ve been creating variations in the redware pottery technique through our skills of artist and potter.”
Pied Potter Hamelin and Kulina Folk Art have made award-winning lead-free sgraffito and slipware redware pottery, which is a style based on the local clays of New England produced by potters dating back to the 17th century in Massachusetts. Their pottery’s richness in form and decoration can be said to reflect the past, and is an heirloom for the future generations.
“We find that there are stories being told behind the simple patterns which sometimes are reflected in another culture,” Hamelin explained. “When someone collects our work, they want a piece that reflects a particular time or people, or the fact that it’s made in Massachusetts.”
Hamelin grew up in Sturbridge and attended Tantasqua Regional High School. He graduated in 1979 and worked at Old Sturbridge Village for 10 years where his appreciation for redware grew. Arakelian is a third-generation artist and potter. She earned her bachelor’s degree with a concentration in commercial art. Her work is influenced by folk art, animals, nature and everyday objects. She’s developed her own palate of techniques for decorating in the tradition of redware found domestically and internationally. Arakelian and Hamelin have worked in numerous art museums and organizations and have been honored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as “Keepers of Tradition” and as “America’s Best Artisans” in Early American Life Magazine.
In addition to pottery, they also offer workshops in schools, senior centers, museums and libraries. Their programs generally try to blend cultural and ethnic histories of Massachusetts as it relates to pottery, as well as creating a sense of place in the community. Additionally, they work to inspire confidence and motivation.
Hamelin is the recipient of over 1,000 Massachusetts Cultural Council grants for bringing programs about Massachusetts pottery-related history into a range of venues. While Arakelian offers a variety of creative workshops for lye-free soap making, candle making, paper quilling classes, decorating bandanas for children and painting silk scarves for teens and adults.
“Our customers want our pottery to become a part of their lives and that’s something which rewards us with happiness,” Hamelin said. “This connection is the most rewarding part because we get these wonderful letters from folks especially now on Facebook. People are always posting photos of our pottery in their homes.”
Pied Potter Hamelin and Kulina Folk Art Redware Pottery is located on 751 Main St. in Warren. Call at 436-7444 for an appointment. Their main website is AmericanRedware.com. From there it will display all of their other websites for pottery and workshops.