With art abounding in the community around us, we sometimes forget to stop and consider what creativity means to those who create.

Local potter Andy Hampton, age 76, lives in Chichester. As he prepares to move to Brattleboro, Vermont, Hampton finds himself reflecting on over five decades of pottery and the role it has played in his life.

Read what Hampton has to say:

“I was born in Boulder, Colorado and raised mostly in the Denver/Boulder area. In junior high, I found a love for wood and craftsmanship, but when I attended ceramics class in high School, I found my creative materials.

Several years later, while watching The Today Show, I saw a potter being interviewed. He stated he had an apprentice program, so I went to visit and be interviewed. I was accepted for a two-year traditional Japanese apprenticeship. 

The potter, Richard Bennett of the Great Barrington Pottery in Massachusetts, had had a similar training in Japan and was now offering the experience here in the U.S.

Being trained in production techniques with an eye and understanding of Japanese esthetics of simplicity, balance and utility gave me the vision for my own work and launched my career.

My future wife came to the pottery six months after I had started, and, within a year or so, we were married. We continued to live in quarters Mr. Bennett provided until my wife,  Miriam, had completed her apprenticeship.

We moved to Maine, Colorado, NYC, Massachusetts, Colorado and, finally in 1985, to New Hampshire, where Miriam is from.

I have kept my hands in clay for the better part of 55 years. I have been a member of the League of NH Craftsmen since 1993 and the NH Potters Guild since 1988. My work can be found in the six league galleries and my studio in Chichester by appointment or when I have an open studio sale.”

Hampton will be downsizing frm his Chichester home and making the move to Brattleboro, where he and his wife intend to work in a cooperative pottery studio in the area.

“It is a very inspiring and creative community,” he added.

He will be holding a fall pottery sale from Saturday, October 11, through Monday, October 13. His pottery is located at 22 Hillview Drive in Chichester. The studio will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. that weekend.

Visit hamptonpotterystudio.com for details.