Pottery Workshop with Brenda Hill
SATURDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 12:30PM —
LOCATION: Brock University’s Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts — Room 416 (Painting Studio).
Led by Brenda Hill of the Grand River Tuscarora
Make your own clay pinch/coil pot inspired by old-style Haudenosaunee pottery. Learn about the shapes, designs and uses of pottery amongst the People of the Longhouse. Pottery was an important part of everyday living and seed storage in the past and revitalizing these ways of living in the present helps to maintain our cultural identity in North America.
Brenda Hill Pottery
Brenda Hill, Six Nations of the Grand River Tuscarora, Choctaw and Cape Verdean, is a contemporary First Nations potter practicing traditional techniques to create clay forms influenced by the past and present. Inspired by her late mother and grandfather respectively; Diosa Summers and Stan Hill Sr. (Mohawk), she uses pottery to continue the legacy and to teach others the traditions of her Native culture. Brenda is an award-winning potter who honors her family and culture with her simply, elegant art.
Her current work incorporates aspects from historic Haudenosaunee wampum belts, beadwork, and pottery. While utilizing more contemporary shapes and forms evolved from Brenda’s own creative style. A complimentary juxtaposition of old and new. Her interaction with the clay of the Earth reflects a strong spiritual connection to her ancestors, Native traditions, and the natural world. She uses wampum in her clay work, a way to pay homage to the centuries old form of communication for the Haudenosaunee. It also speaks of the talent and skill of her ancestors to create intricate beads from one of the hardest shells known. It reflects the understanding of our relationship with the natural world, there was no waste when harvesting from the earth and waters, the food of the clam was eaten, the shells used as tools or temper for pottery. And the beads made of the quahog speaks of many beliefs of her culture.
As a teacher, she shares these elements with students as well as the basic methods in pottery making. Brenda’s goal in the art is to maintain and continue cultural survival and continuity. She has been recognized as a successful Tuscarora and Mohawk potter and teacher by receiving several rewards, grants, and fellowships from her peers in the Native Arts field on a local & national level. Over the years, she has also established a strong clientele of collectors and customers who continue to show support as her art evolves.
