Friday, March 29, 2024

Empty Bowls is an annual event for Harriet Bullitt

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Harriet Bullitt remembers when she bought a kiln and installed it in her Boston kitchen to make a pottery studio. She had two young children, and they all made and fired pottery animals. Her first animal was a fox, standing on his hind legs. Making those clay animals in her kitchen is clearly a fond memory. Despite that experience with pottery, and taking a sculpture class as an undergraduate at Bennington College, and studying pottery with Ruth Allen in Wenatchee, Bullitt says she doesn’t consider herself an artist. I asked about her Snowy Owl bowl, which is displayed in the reception area at Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort. I told her it was pretty good for a person who wasn’t an artist. She replied, “I was pleased with that one.” She went on to say that she is proud of all her artwork. She works hard at it because she would like to be good at whatever she does.
Bullitt, the owner and founder of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort, enjoys it when someone buys her bowl at the Empty Bowls Artists’ Auction. The Leavenworth Empty Bowls Festival is in its 22nd year, and she has participated as an artist since the fundraiser began. Bullitt feels strongly that the event is worthwhile. For years, Sleeping Lady has donated the use of Woodpecker Hall where people buy and paint their bowls alongside other artists who paint bigger bowls, which they donate to the popular Artists’ Auction. Bullitt remembers at the very first Empty Bowls, there were only Artists’ Bowls. All the bowls were auctioned to the highest bidder. The individual bowls painted by community members came a few years later. Bullitt points out that it is the money raised that is the most important part of the festival, money that feeds hungry people in the Upper Valley. She wants people to be aware that in the midst of all the beauty and prosperity in Leavenworth and the surrounding area, there are many people who do not have enough to eat.
As for her 2018 Artists’ Bowl, Bullitt says potter Terry Porlier has created a flat, platter-like porcelain bowl for her. She likes to paint her bowl at home and will take several days to complete it. When I asked her about the challenges of painting the concavity of the bowl, she said she takes that surface into account when she plans her bowl design. She is influenced by the work of other artists, such as artist and master naturalist Tony Angell. This year her bowl will feature the top line of the nearby mountain known to me as Sleeping Lady. To see the work of Harriet Bullitt and more than 20 other local artists, visit the Upper Valley MEND website at uvmend.org. The online auction of these bowls begins at 8 a.m. March 7 and ends at 10 p.m. March 21. Buyers may bid in the online auction or choose to “buy it now” to secure their choice of bowl. The Artists’ Auction bowls will also be displayed in the windows of local businesses after March 5. Proceeds from the online auction and the rest of the Empty Bowls festival support the Community Cupboard food bank. A $1,000 goes to local arts education to fund small grants for youth art programs.

  

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