April saw the re-opening of our pottery classes and courses at Eastnor Pottery. So wonderful to invite people back into our studio and teach the delights of the potter’s wheel. We are fortunate to have a large studio and a beautifully decorated, bake-off style ‘Potting Tent’ marquee. Our studio is set in the rural county of Herefordshire and is a stone’s throw from the Malvern Hills and the picturesque market town of Ledbury.
I’m really into making slipware. I use terracotta clay because it has a deep, rich depth of colour and is a dream to throw with. It feels like melting chocolate through my fingertips.
I’m very interested in surfaces. When you brush white slip over terracotta it has a deep earthy quality. I work quickly on this, scratching into it (sgraffitto) with random scribbles and doodles. It’s an instinctive and intuitive process. I do not deliberate or labour over the surfaces. I like to mess them up a little too with a few random splats of coloured slip or underglaze.
It’s all about the human element for me, layering up surfaces, rather like a painter at a canvas…. mark making and doodling.
I finish off my pieces with a clear lead-free earthenware glaze. This makes them smooth to touch and also durable for everyday use.
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