Aisjah Hopkins

by Sarah Judson December 27, 2016

California painter Aisjah Hopkins paints large abstract works and also plein air landscapes in oil, gouache and acrylic. She started out in ceramics, having been inspired by the subtle, vigorous pottery of Shoji Hamada. After earning her MFA in porcelain & stoneware, she also earned a Master of Arts in Education and later a MFA in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute.

"Perhaps the restraint experienced during long years of centering and forming on the potter’s wheel exploded into painting swirling brush marks on the large canvases before me, and I had learned to make the transition of my expression from clay to paint."

"I am currently involved in an abstract use of plein air studies where I make as accurate as possible sketch of the scene, currently at the Hunters Point Navel Ship Yards (SF), using charcoal. After I return to my studio I reduce this captured scene to planes (taken from the buildings I sketch)."