So it’s that time of the year I trek across the Country from Coastal Lancashire to Nottinghamshire to go to Earth and Fire. This year it was at a new venue it had moved from Rufford Abbey to the Harley Gallery at the Welbeck Estate. It was a really different venue from before.
For the uninitiated, I should explain what a Saggar is, it is a big piece of pottery that smaller pottery is sealed in. Traditionally this was done in Stoke on Trent to protect the pottery from the coal fire that they fired their kilns with. Modern Potters use them to get a reduction environment inside an electric kiln, this stops the kiln from getting damaged and brings some different effects to the pots. I threw a a saggar a few years ago and it has been sat on the top shelf on my studio for a few years now, not…
In 2016 I started working as a Design Technology Technician at a local school, after I finished my Masters I felt like a change. The job means I work in a variety of materials, mainly wood and plastics but also metals. There is also an element of electronics which the department wants to expand in an I have qualifications in, so I am helping them expand what they offer to their students. The other main skill that they offer is computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacture (CAM), we have a laser cutter, cnc router and 3D printer that…
“Better to put Spirit into the Materials” -Jacques Kauffman This last weekend I travelled to Scotland and back to be part of a friend’s wood and soda kiln firing. The journey was a long one taking me 12 hours for the return trip, so I went well armed with a sketchbook and an iPod loaded with my two favourite podcasts The Potters Cast and Tales of a Red Clay Rambler. As I travelled I listened to the podcasts and sketched what I saw out of the window. It was a pleasant way to travel alone to somewhere I have never…
This week marks to start of the BBC’s Great British Pottery Throw Down, and from the pottery community there has been a mixed response as expected. Personally I am feeling more upbeat about the program.
