NederlandsHi! Nice to meet you on my website.
What can I tell you about myself?
My name is Paulien Hakkert. I am, and have been for a very long time now, a Dutch part-time potter, disposing of my own workshop at home. I live in a small coastal town, some 25 kilometres north of Amsterdam.
What do I expect of my clay objects?
I want my vessels to be inviting, to be touchable. Therefore, I have a great fancy for curved, rounded shapes, testing very high on the strokability scale. My objects should also show my strong predilection for the finess and delicacy of leaves with their intricate linear interplay of veins. Last but not least, I want them to be firmly grounded, providing them with a solid base. Only in my latest work, I suspect some of my vessels to slightly disagree though; that, in spite of the legs I gave them, they’d rather become airborne instead… For all their wilfulness, I love them all the same!
What about size?
The size of my objects vary considerably, highly depending on the inevitable fluctuations which tend to govern one’s heart and hand. Some vessels are pretty large, but I also love to make small playful objects fitting in any domestic environment.
Do I have a favourite method of working?
I have a distinct preference for hand-shaping. I mostly start working rather intuitively, being inspired by nature and the succession of the seasons and, more recently, by mental images of the world around me. The second step consists of expanding, elaborating, exploring the possibilities hidden in the unfinished object in front of me. This procedure often leads to objects coming into being that have an unmistakable likeness and yet subtly differ at the same time.
What’s my ultimate challenge?
What I would like to achieve is for technical craftmanship, appearance, and emotion in my clay objects to converge.
What about sharing my love for working clay and my expertise in pottery?
Since the opening of my new studio on the topfloor of my home a few years ago, I have started giving evening classes, teaching small groups of not more than three or four people interested in finding their way in ceramics. My longstanding experience in education certainly comes in handy! Hopefully it will be possible to restart the courses next September.
