The importance of a narrow focus

ByJoseph Travis

I didn’t know it at the time but James Hake gave the best advice to me when as an art student and I told him I wanted to be a Potter. His advice was simply that you should start off small, making only a small variety of objects, at most five or six. Those objects should be developed to the highest quality you can make before adding more objects to the range. I have to admit I didn’t listen having a whole shop to fill and I was too busy listening to the voices of potential customers, make this make…

Making as a Performance

ByJoseph Travis

Making by throwing or hand building is the only part of the process where the clay feels alive to me. As soon as it dries out to greenware, my love for it wanes. Generally all love is destroyed as it changes chemically and becomes set in stone. Sometimes the glazing can bring a sense of liveliness, but it doesn’t have the same sense of being alive that fresh clay has. When I was a full-time maker I made a lot that I thought would sell. The problem is as I created these objects I lost part of the passion that…

The Rhythm of Making

ByJoseph Travis

One of the advantages of going back to a form of making I haven’t used much and I am not comfortable with gives me fresh insights into the making process, for me hand building is something I never really pushed on with like I did with throwing. Each part of the hand building process has its own rhythm; it doesn’t matter how fast or slow. What is more important keeping a steady rhythm, rhythm improves the flow of making, in fact trying to go fast and misplacing hands can cause the mind to pause and wonder what it is you…