Artist's Statement     Bio

From Bridget

My story is one of a childhood fantasy. I love making pots that are used to enhance and adorn the daily lives of my collectors. While some may shun the production of a mere coffee mug and table ware, I still am thrilled to do so, and to that end, so are the talented craftsman that I work with everyday in my studio.

My living is made through the making and selling of a functional line of stoneware and maintaining of a gallery for clay arts and other fine craft. However, my emersion in clay as a life is total. I teach at my studio as well as at St. Edwards University.

I carve out time for workshops and associations to continue my never-ending education in the ceramic arts. I have always tried to make time for the creative expression of myself and my dreams in clay outside of the “making a living” framework. Some years I am more successful at this than others. Some years may yield a piece or two, others an entire series.

I am, and have always been influenced by nature and the environment. My functional line of ware invokes glaze combinations that reflect landscapes and skyscapes. The series of forms that I am exploring more personally are gourd forms, seedpods and cactus. These forms from nature seem to promise bounty and continuity with the future. The life cycles in nature are spiritual to me and are signs of constant hope.

I feel challenged on a daily basis to find the balance in my life between all the different aspects of my interests in clay. The business of production, teaching and creative work each demand a modicum of time. Throw in family and friends to round out a very full life. It’s all good.
Bridget Hauser

Personal Bio
My love of clay began as a child of 8. Living next door to two ceramic artists, playing in their studios and taking advantage of the generous time they would spend with me, gave me a life long direction After Graduating from Indiana University with a B.A. in ceramics and spending a couple of years starting a family in northern Indiana, my husband Bill and I found our way to Austin, TX, with our two infant daughters.

I spent 10 years working for, and then becoming a partner, with the original owners of Clarksville Pottery. In 1996 my husband Bill and I established the Sunset Canyon Pottery. Our dream was to bring together my love for clay and pottery with my husband’s dream of having a family business.

The facility we built houses a gallery of approximately 1000 square feet and a working studio 3000 sq. ft. We create and market the Sunset Canyon Pottery line, represent a little over 100 craftsman within the gallery and provide classes for the community. As a family business our youngest daughter manages the gallery, my husband the finances and physical plant, and I the creative end and staff. It keeps us all very busy.

I enjoy teaching as well and the business and creative aspects of the ceramic world. I teach in my studio and as an adjunct in the Ceramics dept. of St. Edwards University and have served as the Austin regional director for the Texas Clay Arts Association (TCAA). Currently I am also an active member of the Greater Austin Area Clay Artists (GACA).

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