Farm Shop Practice

Handmade here by Kitt Barkley Gauthier

The studio is on land in Sonoma County that was once a farm filled with pear trees bearing heavy crops of high-quality fruit in the warm, dry climate. Amongst the owner’s books was one titled Farm Shop Practice, which inspired the company name. When the book was published in the 1930’s, the intent was to provide basic instruction on all kinds of work necessary to manage an effective farming operation. Readers were encouraged to learn new skills, practice, and acknowledge that “self-help develops resourcefulness and is better than too much reliance upon an instructor.” The title seems apt for a maker’s journey in clay; the material itself is always willing to give lessons about both possibilities and limitations.

Family summers spent on the East Coast have resulted in additional work being created in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Kitt has been involved with Arch Contemporary Ceramics, a fine craft ceramics gallery, studio and residency program located in a notable arts district, where artist and owner Charlie Barmonde, and gallery director Shauna Cahill, work to encourage ceramic artists at all levels of career development.