Who knows what creatures you will find hiding or showing themselves in the corners of the Meekins Library? There may be a munching racoon, or a stripy chipmunk, a red fox, or a green turtle, or a little seal, or a black and white kitty, or a gray bunny, or a smiling meerkat, or flock of owls, or a family of penguins, or even a stately black and white panda! And of course, that pensive mouse.
This month of January 2023, Haydenville sculptor and potter Marty Phinney’s creatures will be visiting Meekins—a bit of cheer in this new year. Marty Phinney has been creating and crafting wonderfully inventive animals and more—making magic with clay for more than 40 years.
In a 2017 “Daily Hampshire Gazette” interview by Steve Pfarrar, Marty described her creative process: “I work with several blends of clay, each of which is suited to a different use. I might choose to make a family of rabbits and “throw” (form) some of the hollow torsos and heads on the potter’s wheel one day, then assemble the forms — legs, tails, ears — when they’ve stiffened a bit by the next day.”
And every May on Memorial Day Weekend, you can see everything she makes at her annual Haydenville Craft Fair—when the yard behind her house becomes a magical habitat.
Be sure to come in and enjoy a visit with these welcoming and whimsical creatures in the Library’s Cabinet of Curiosities and brighten your winter day. Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist and creature collector. #throwbackthursday; #tbt.
Posted to Facebook 1/5/2023
