Hamish JacksonSpringfield, Oregon

BIOGRAPHY

My potting started at Winchcombe Pottery in the Cotswolds, England, in 2012 (just three miles from Stanton, the lovely village where my grandparents lived). Winchcombe Pottery is steeped in history. It was taken over by Michael Cardew in the 1920s and remains a studio pottery today. Working there, I got a taste for production pottery.

In 2015, my wife, Lauren, and I moved to Pittsboro, North Carolina so I could apprentice with Mark Hewitt. I spent four years apprenticing with him.

After my apprenticeship, in 2018, I worked in potteries in England and Thailand. In 2019, I did a residency at the Shigaraki Cultural Park in Japan, and followed this with a residency at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, North Carolina.

Over the past few years, I’ve become more and more interested in using local wild materials in my craft. This begins with the clay. In North Carolina, I began mixing my own clay and also experimenting with local rocks to make glazes.

In 2020, I began the MFA program in ceramics at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Over three years there, I studied glaze chemistry using local materials. I took geology classes, which helped me focus my research. My thesis show was titled “Tea time with the Devil;” it showcased four glazes made primarily with one local granite from Devil’s Playground in northwestern Utah.

In the summer of 2023, I began working at Pleasant Hill Pottery, near Eugene, Oregon, as artist-in-residence. This is a 2-3 year gig and I am very excited to be here!