Re-centering

This photo from the summer perfectly captures the peace and quiet of my home studio that fosters the making of my work. It reminds me of the time I had set aside to work on my surface book, and how great that felt earlier this year.

With the recent move of my ceramic studio to a new building at the beginning of January, I am facing the challenges of setting up my studio to best meet my needs. I have forgotten the little challenges that arise when moving into a new space--and in re-arranging an existing space (I have kept my home-studio for drawing and painting and computer work). I have been working to rewire to make kilns work, finding enough chairs and work tables, drapes for projecting--and even negotiating relationships with my new neighbors (last week I dumped a bucket of water and it went right through my floor onto my downstairs neighbor! Not exactly how I had envisioned meeting her!).

I'm working hard to settle into two new studio spaces with a new making routine in each and at a time when I'm busier and more in demand than ever both with my one of a kind artwork and with my brand. Today, I'm feeling overhwhelmed by all that is going on--but also thankful I have so much choice and so many opportunities in an art career that is supporting me and my family.

I have reached a point where I'm having to pull back from saying "yes" to so much and start advicating for a bit more balance. This is such a scary place to be--saying "no" or "not now" always feels like I'm shutting a door on a great opportunity. Intellectually I understand that my fear of shutting doors on opportunities shouldn't govern my decisions, but in reality it sometimes does. I am going to continue to strive to re-center myself and push aside this fear. While I don't believe true balance is achievable, I do believe that I can start to trust that my business is going to continue to support me and that setting aside enough time for each project I'm working on will result in good work and good designs....wish me luck!

Decal-a-thon! New Work coming to my shop this week!

I have been working hard on a limited edition of plates for an upcoming launch at C-File (click here to find out more) and in order to have the decals printed for the edition, I had to fill a huge sheet of decals. So I will be making some limited editions of tableware using decals!

Keep an eye on my blog for an announcement later this week for when to get your hands on my new work!

New Work: London Design Festival

As many of you likely know, Anthropologie hopped the pond a while ago with several UK stores and a European online shop. My work has been well received abroad and I have to admit, I have had my eye on having a solo exhibition in the Anthropologie King's Road shop in London ever since I watched my first "Man Shops Globe" episode. The Sundace Channel program followed Keith Johnson, art and object buyer for Anthropologie all over the globe as he purchased items to make the Anthropologie stores so gorgeous. There was one episode in-particular where Keith helped curate a show in the King's Road Gallery.

Well, a few years later its my turn! My solo is happening during the famous London Design Festival, to add a cherry to the sundae treat--Polly Leonard the editor and founder of possibly my favorite magazine will be interviewing me in the gallery about the work from 6-8pm on Tuesday September 17th. I am one very excited lady!

I wanted to share the work with you--its a small gallery so there are 5 pieces:

Here is the press release:

ANTHROPOLOGIE PRESENTS
MOLLY HATCH FOR LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2013
Anthropologie is delighted to announce that to celebrate London Design Festival 2013, we will be hosting an inspirational exhibition by the celebrated international artist Molly Hatch.
Art and creativity are at the heart of the Anthropologie ethos, meaning that London Design Festival is always an important and exciting time of year for our customers and staff, and we are proud to be bringing work by Molly to London to coincide with LDF.
At our King’s Road Gallery, the artist-designer and Massachusetts resident, Molly Hatch, will be presenting a collection of her celebrated ‘plate paintings’. Entitled Render, the work will take inspiration from the vintage textiles and ceramic archives Molly has been unearthing in the collections of the V&A.
Molly will discuss her influences and artistic career in an interview with Polly Leonard, of Selvedge magazine, in our King’s Road store on Tuesday, 17th September from 6 – 8 p.m.

STATEMENT:

MOLLY HATCH - RENDER
In an effort to claim the functional surface as a painting surface, RENDER is a new collection of plate
paintings and vases made sourcing the textile and ceramic collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In the translation and re-working of historic fabric patterns to the ceramic surface of a group of plates, Render becomes an exploration of the relationship between the historic and the contemporary with artworks crossing over categories of decorative art, design and fine art. Through shift in scale, color and context, the compositions of plates both abstract and highlight aspects of the textile patterns, encouraging a new dialogue in pattern.
Fascinated by how we live with objects, how and why we acquire objects and what happens to them throughout history, I see this exhibition as a reflection of the life of surface pattern through the decorative art continuum. 

Welcome Elena!

Off and on over the past few years I have had interns and assistants who help me in the studio. This June I hired Elena Zachary to work with me on some exciting new projects coming up and she has been a pleasure to have in the studio! I wanted to introduce you to her work-a large part of why I hired her! Her skills as a mold-maker have already proven to be a huge asset.

A little about Elena: 

Elena was raised in Northampton, Massachusetts. Her father a woodworker and her mother a jack-of-all-trades, she grew up making mazes for her pet rodents and architectural models of landscapes described in books. With a childhood filled with handmade and home-made objects, clothes and foods, it was a natural choice for her to go to art school. She received her BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2011 with concentrations in painting and ceramics. After graduating, she was an intern at Salem Art Works in upstate New York and then completed a nine-month residency at the Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, California.  She is excited to be back living in Northampton.

Welcome Elena!

Click HERE to view more of Elena's work

Island studio

The last month or so has been a hectic one of meeting shipping deadlines for my upcoming solo exhibition "Render" at Anthropologie UK's King's Road gallery for London Design week as well as tidying up some design obligations. I'm working on resting up a bit this week while making a bit of artwork on an island in upstate NY.

Here are some shots of the studio before I get going--I will share more images as the week continues!

It's weeks like this that we live for! I hope all of you are enjoying your end of summer days? I'm sharing photos of the space I'm using in a skiff house as a pretty elegant make-shift studio. I'm enjoying the time here so much I'm not wanting to leave!