Welcome to our “Monthly Mini Feature”! We are highlighting different local artisans and crafters who have been busy imagining, creating, dreaming, and doing. Our local artists have been and always will be important facets of our community and valuable contributors to the rich artistic heritage of our county.

Our Maker of the Month for August 2021 is Barbara Hak of Occasionally Round Pottery!

Barbara started creating much of her hand built and wheel thrown pottery pieces following her retirement in 2010 from an extended career at a local hospital. Her husband Larry was worried that she would be “very bored” after switching from a full-time job to full-time retirement, so he encouraged her to explore her interests before the upcoming big transition.  

Mrs. Hak had held a longtime curiosity about working with clay but with time constraints due to work obligations her interests were more just thoughts than actual endeavors.

Shortly before retiring, she had enrolled in a few pottery classes and found herself hooked! It was but soon after that she dove in and started experimenting with different designs and glazes and started to create a unique style all of her own.

By 2013, three years into her retirement, Larry had helped to design and transform their home basement into a full studio complete with a potter’s wheel, kiln, and plentiful storage space, a potter’s dream workshop!

Barbara has since created a wide variety of mugs, cups, “Mommy & Grandma Vases”, bowls and platters, plus much more! What started out as simply a joyful hobby evolved into gifts for family and friends, special requests, and for the past few years a growing business given the popularity of “Occasionally Round” handcrafted items.

 One of Barbara’s most recent exhibits was at “The Cat’s Meow”, a kitty themed art show and fundraiser in May of 2021 hosted by the St. Mary’s County Arts Council and Feral Cat Rescue of SoMD. Barbara generously donated a large variety of pottery pieces of which all proceeds from sales were given to the rescue group to help purchase food, medicine, and offset medical costs for the kitties.  Pictured below is one of the kittens helped by the pottery sales! (kitty photo by Jenn Dorsey)

Barbara Hak is an active member of the Color & Light Society and an artist at the St. Mary’s County Arts Council Gallery & Gift Shop. Her beautiful pottery pieces can be found at several upcoming events and locations including:

·       The Coastal Arts Market (select months, email barbhak@gmail.com for dates booked at the Market or visit https://www.coastalartsmarket.com/ to view current list of vendors per event). 

 ·       The Riverside Winefest at Historic Sotterley (Hollywood, Maryland) on Oct. 2nd and 3rd, 2021 – details to be announced at: https://www.sotterley.org/

 ·       Various exhibits and shows sponsored by The Color & Light Society (http://www.colorandlightsociety.org/)

 ·       St. Mary’s County Arts Council Gallery & Gift Shop located at 22660 Washington St. in the Arts & Entertainment District of Downtown Leonardtown. (www.stmarysartscouncil.com/ FB - https://www.facebook.com/smcacgallery

 Barbara will also be featured in the August edition of Discover Southern Maryland!