2022-2026 Sandy Beach Teapots
In Hudson Quebec there is a small, sandy beach, situated by a forested piece of wetland. The area is filled with wildlife. There are foxes, frogs, birds, turtles, beavers, owls, and so, so many hares.
A few years ago, a proposal began circulating in the community. The land by the beach is privately owned and the owner decided to develop a 300-unit housing complex.
Public opinion was split. Some people sided with the housing complex, saying it would bring in needed tax dollars. Others wanted the land to stay as-is, worried about the wildlife and the water.
My work contains sand, clay, and wood from this beach. I think about the connections this small beach, along the Ottawa river. I think about how the water passing by me eventually falls into the St Lawrence estuary, home to a sensitive system with threatened beluga whales.
One of the great things the arts can do is to bring compassion and connection to the greater natural world by plucking something out and asking us to look at it and engage with it.
I made these teapots with this in mind. a pot made with elements from this threatened beach, the tea inside shared between two people that maybe don't agree but are willing to sit down and talk.
