I make pots
Im getting quite good after 40 years. I think my interest started in Lincoln when I was a boy. My Dad joined the historical society and they were planning to recreate Roman pots. He ended up building his own kick wheel and kiln. He may have gone to night school or may have been self taught, I don’t know. We all had a go though, and I remember making a Dalek pot with white underglaze and scraffito. It was all red earthenware.
When I lived in Lancaster, running the shop there was an opportunity to go to night school, or Adult Ed. The facilities were fantastic, with a large studio and resident technician, who ran the kilns which offered gas reduction firing, which is the pinnacle of that part of the craft. There were maybe 10 wheels but the class was directed to start with thumb pots and coils, then slab work. I just wanted to go on the wheel, but not many did. The tutor, who really knew her stuff, finally relented after Christmas and I got to start throwing pots and never looked back. I’ve still got my first coil pot and some other work from that first term.
The studio got moved to somewhere new with less room and a new tutor who had been a production thrower. He brought my skills on no end. He moved on and following tutors were more hand build specialists and I helped support newcomers who wanted to throw. My final tutor Tess was keen for me to do exams but I shied away from that and she gave me projects to do. n a way, I wish that I’d put a portfolio together to go through the process of systematizing my work.
When I moved from Lancaster, I knew I would not find an adult ed class with the same resources, so I put aside £1k to buy a wheel andkiln, which I eventually got round to doing. I bought an 1980’s second hand electric kiln and wheel. I was also lucky to win an ebay auction for a gas fired raku kiln and equipment. My studio in Elland was in the cellar which was far from idea as it was damp and slowly rotted stuff. Also it flooded a couple of times in heavy rain and the sump pump failed. Not fun, but I churned out some nice stuff and had a shelf in an arty shop in Hebden Bridge for a while too,
Now I have my own studio. Its an area of the garage which I partitioned off just for pottery, but I do share it with some other things which are stored there. The kiln rot took over an it failed so I bought a new electric kiln which just works and needs no attention. I keep practicing and have been fortunate to sell stuff at the village Christmas Fayre for 3 years, taking well over £400 each time. I also sell on line a little.