Visiting Julie MacKinnon’s Pottery Classroom
Images by Brette Little
With so many events being cancelled over the past few months, it’s heartening to discover that makers like Julie MacKinnon have been evolving their workshops to provide safe, creative escapes for fellow islanders. We met up with Julie in her sun-dappled garden as she was preparing to welcome students back for day two of her outdoor clay workshop, and learned about her return to teaching.
“It takes other people to fuel excitement and energy to create.”
-Julie MacKinnon
Julie is an accomplished potter and well-known vendor at the Saturday market, known for her whimsical and functional pieces that celebrate both refinement and imperfection. She loves to share her obsession with clay and teaches popular workshops out of her home studio throughout the year. Sessions run over 2 days: the first day for hand building, and the second day for glazing and throwing on the wheel. But when the province went into lockdown for COVID-19 earlier this spring, she had to cancel on 40 students and also found it difficult to create her own pieces. Having more time on your hands doesn’t always lead to more making: “It takes other people to fuel excitement and energy to create.”
Julie noticed an immediate need for clay therapy as the pandemic escalated and was in a unique position to help others by lending out her workshop equipment.
Reflecting back on those difficult early weeks, Julie noted that “the grief about not teaching was bigger than the grief around not creating.” When the pandemic measures began, “the first thing I did was freeze, took care of my family, then started lending wheels out to nurses and seniors.” Julie noticed an immediate need for clay therapy as the pandemic escalated and was in a unique position to help others by lending out her workshop equipment. Clay therapy is powerfully restorative; she recalls that while bringing materials to folks in isolation, they were sometimes brought to tears. Giving back to the community helped her get through that challenging time, and now she is back in her element: teaching and creating.
Julie has never taught her workshop outside, but since her pottery studio backs onto her lawn and garden it happens to be the perfect space for an outdoor workshop. The classes are capped at 6 people and students have individual stations under tents with seats 6 feet apart. One bonus of the delayed reopening of the Saturday market is Julie has more time to teach than the average summer and can offer more sessions (handy, since they fill up quickly!)
Students are finding more inspiration from nature while nestled in the forest, picking plants and natural textures from the garden to press into their work. It feels right to work with clay outdoors, a centering process while you mould the earth between your hands.
As we said goodbye to Julie her students started returning to the garden, delighted to revisit their creations in a new light.
