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Remembering Robin Hopper

By Joshua Speers

Apr 11, 2017

Robin Hopper, from his Facebook page Canadian potter Robin Hopper died on April 6, 2017. Hopper was a much beloved and internationally recognized artist, teacher, and author. Born in England in 1939, Hopper’s early childhood was marked by the Second World War and the bombing of London. It was in that destruction caused by daily bombing raids that he first discovered raw clay. Speaking to the Times Colonist in December of 2015, Hopper said, “That’s when I found clay. You couldn’t buy anything; nothing available. Food was almost minimal. The only toys that I can remember [were] hot shrapnel and blue clay.” This early resourcefulness continued throughout his entire career and Hopper was known to challenge his students to make glazes using only materials found at a grocery store and a creek bed.

A lifelong educator, Hopper taught at the Central Technical School in Toronto before founding and heading the Ceramics and Glass Department at Georgian College, Ontario. In 1972, he left Georgian College to focus on his own work and Chosin Pottery, the studio he set up with his wife, Judi Dyelle. In addition to teaching workshops around the world, Hopper helped found the Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts (MISSA) on the campus of Pearson College UWC, in Metchosin, British Columbia.

The author of seven books and many articles – including three in Studio Potter – Hopper was deeply devoted to the field of ceramics and passionate about sharing his knowledge of technique, materials, and glaze recipes. Among his many accolades, Hopper was an honorary member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), the first recipient of Canada’s prestigious Bronfman Award (1977), a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and most recently he was invested into the Order of Canada.

Robin Hopper wrote, “However one equates success, there is really nothing that I have found in life that gives me as much satisfaction as the practice of being a potter.” You can read his article “Roots, Growth, Rhythm, and Balance: The Working Potter” from Volume 13, Number 2, June 1985, here.

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Remembering Robin Hopper

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