{{Infobox person | name = Robin Hopper | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1939|04|23}} | birth_place = England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|04|06|1939|04|23}} | death_place = Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works =
}}'''Robin Hopper''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|RCA|size=100%}} (23 April 1939 – 6 April 2017)<ref name="TC-obit " >{{Cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?n=robin-hopper&pid=185171753&fhid=16056 |title=Robin Hopper's Obituary |website=The Times Colonist |access-date=2018-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305142551/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?n=robin-hopper&pid=185171753&fhid=16056 |archive-date=2018-03-05 |url-status=live }}</ref> was a Canadian ceramist, potter, teacher, author, garden designer and arts activist.<ref name="TC-obit" /> == Career == Hopper was born in England in 1939, and died April 6, 2017, in Victoria, British Columbia.<ref name="TC-obit " /> He trained in pottery and ceramics at the Croydon College of Art from 1956 to 1961. In 1968 he emigrated to Canada. He spent the first two years teaching at the Toronto Central Technical School. He began his post-secondary educational career in 1970 at Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario where he founded and became head of the Ceramics and Glass Department. He resigned his post in 1972 to devote his time to his ceramics work. He relocated to Victoria, British Columbia 1977 to operate the family's 'Chosin Pottery Gallery'.<ref name="TC " >{{cite news|last1=Petrescu|first1=Sarah|title=Two Islanders named to Order of Canada|url=http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/two-islanders-named-to-order-of-canada-1.5888539?platform=hootsuite|work=Times-Colonist|date=December 30, 2016|access-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118161354/http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/two-islanders-named-to-order-of-canada-1.5888539?platform=hootsuite|archive-date=January 18, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
He was a founding member<ref name="Bronf " /> and president emeritus of the Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts. Hopper's work in ceramics includes a great deal of ceramic historical and technical research. Next to ceramics, his other lifelong interest was gardening, particularly the development of his oriental garden.<ref name="AmStMag " /> His fonds is in the University of Victoria Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fonds |url=https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/robin-hopper-fonds |website=uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org |publisher=U Vic |access-date=13 July 2025}}</ref>
==Work== Hopper had both a functional and a decorative side to his production of pottery and ceramic works. His functional works were produced on an artizan basis. His production of functional pottery was by hand craftsmanship for individual pieces of a like design. He wrote several books on the subject of functional pottery. This craftsmanship had a particular application in ceramic works, many of which were one of a kind pieces for artistic exhibition. In these works he used a combination of glazing techniques. These were mainly porcelain decorative plates but he also created specialty items such as glaze paintings. A number of these works reflect the northern imagery of Canada.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130411222839/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/contemporary-ceramics Contemporary Ceramics in The Canadian Encyclopedia]</ref>
==Academic and instructional positions== He taught throughout Canada, and in England, The United States, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, Japan and Israel.<ref name="Bronf " >{{Cite web |url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/bronfman/hopper1e.shtml |title=Bronfman Collection Bio |access-date=2013-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813063254/http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/bronfman/hopper1e.shtml |archive-date=2013-08-13 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Selected collections== His ceramic work is in public, corporate and private collections throughout the world. These collections include: *The Bronfman Collection, Montreal, Canada <ref name="Bronf " /> *The Greater Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, Canada<ref>[https://aggv.ca/emuseum/search/Hopper Robin Hopper] Art Gallery of Greater Victoria</ref> *The University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries, Victoria, Canada<ref>[https://www.uvic.ca/legacygalleries/collection/index.php Robin Hopper] University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries</ref>
==Awards== Robin Hopper was honoured for his contributions to the arts and public activities. *He was the first recipient of the Saidye Bronfman Award, 1977,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/bronfman/hopper1e.shtml |title=Saidye Bronfman Award |access-date=2013-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813063254/http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/bronfman/hopper1e.shtml |archive-date=2013-08-13 |url-status=live }}</ref> Canada’s most prestigious annual award in the crafts. *Granted honorary member of the National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts. *Member, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts<ref name=RCA1880 >{{cite web|title=Members since 1880|url=http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp|publisher=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts|accessdate=11 September 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526215339/http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp|archivedate=26 May 2011}}</ref> *Member, Order of Canada, 2017<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/order-canada-newest-appointees-2016-150-1.3916634 "Order of Canada's newest appointees include Paralympian, Supreme Court judge and astrophysicist"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213164902/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/order-canada-newest-appointees-2016-150-1.3916634 |date=2019-02-13 }}. CBC News, December 30, 2016.</ref>
==Garden== His interest in artistic gardens led to the creation of the ''Anglojapanadian Garden'' at ’Chosin Pottery.<ref name="AmStMag " >{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanstyle.com/2009/04/living-in-paradise-playing-with-mud/ |title=Garden article in American Style Magazine, Issue 67, June 2009 |access-date=2013-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221122302/http://www.americanstyle.com/2009/04/living-in-paradise-playing-with-mud/ |archive-date=2010-12-21 |url-status=live }}</ref> This garden at Metchosin, British Columbia has been the subject of publications and television programs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chosinpottery.ca/pages/garden.html |title=Garden Description with photos and publication bibliography |access-date=2013-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315121728/http://www.chosinpottery.ca/pages/garden.html |archive-date=2013-03-15 |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Further reading ==
===Publications by Hopper=== Robin Hopper wrote several books. Most of them deal with pottery and ceramics. *''Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface'' Hopper, Robin; Krause Publications, Paperback: 304 pages, October 1, 2004 {{ISBN|978-0873495042}} *''The Ceramic Spectrum 2nd ed.'' Hopper, Robin; Krause Publications, 2001, 256 pages, {{ISBN|0873418212}}, 9780873418218 *''The Ceramic Spectrum'' 1st ed. Hopper, Robin; Chilton Book Co., 1984, 224 pages {{ISBN|9780801972751}} *''Functional Pottery 2nd ed.'' Hopper, Robin; Krause Publications, 2nd Edition 2000, 256 pages, {{ISBN|9780873418171}} *''Functional Pottery 1st ed.'' Hopper, Robin; Chilton Book Co., 1986, 257 pages, {{ISBN|9780801974519}} *''Stayin' Alive'' Hopper, Robin; Krause Publications, March 15, 2003, 128 pages, {{ISBN|978-0873495714}} *''Clay and Glazes for the Potter'' 3rd ed. Rhodes, Daniel revised by Hopper, Robin; Krause Publications; 3rd Edition Revised and Expanded, November 15, 2000 {{ISBN|978-0873418638}} * ''Focus One: Contemporary Studio Ceramics''; Campbell, Kathleen; Hopper, Robin and; Heath, Terrence; Stoneware, raku ware, porcelain, and earthenware by Canadian and international artists, Goose Lane Editions, 112 pages, 1997, {{ISBN|9780889151802}}
===Video productions=== Hopper produced videos for the education of potters and ceramists<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.potteryvideos.com/programs.shtml |title=Video Availability List |access-date=2013-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330003558/http://www.potteryvideos.com/programs.shtml |archive-date=2013-03-30 |url-status=live }}</ref> *In 1993 he developed a series of six educational videos on ceramic decoration processes titled "Making Marks", based on research material for his book of the same title. *In 1994, he produced a second series of five videos on design and aesthetics was produced, titled “Form and Function”, based on his second book "Functional Pottery". *He subsequently produced: ** "Beginning to Throw on the Potter's Wheel", ** "Advanced Throwing".
==See also== List of Canadian artists
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * Wilson, Lara, ''[http://hdl.handle.net/1828/13454 “A Man of Many Parts: An Interview with Judi Dyelle about the Robin Hopper Fonds]”'', Number 3 in a series of interrelated booklets exploring the Artists‘ Archives at the University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections and University Archives, (2019) * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/result?q=%22%20Hopper,%20Robin%22 National Library of Australia Bibliography]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Robin}} Category:1938 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Canadian ceramists Category:Canadian potters Potters Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Canadian non-fiction writers