I have a strange relationship with teaching. I never want to do it, my heart sink at the thought, yet once I get there and actually start teaching I really enjoy it!
I have taught a couple of adult education “Introduction to Ceramics” courses recently at
Camberwell College of Art and they have been inspirational for me – and hopefully for the students too!
It’s always good to be back at Camberwell – I am a big fan of the place and of John Forde the department head who is one of the most dedicated people I have ever met. It was demonstrating slab building techniques and and watching the work of my students’ develop that so inspired me.
Once upon a time I used to throw (on the wheel) and hand build vessels. With the former the pleasure was in mastering the art of controlling the clay, and successfully making an elegant and well made pot – no easy matter as you’ll know if you’ve ever had a go! With hand building it was about the use of texture and glaze. Glaze – what a wondrous material, so many possibilities and the marvellous thing is that you don’t really quite know what you’re going to get until you open the kiln. Many a person I’m sure has been seduced by the alchemy of ceramics and probably just as many have been put off, frustrated by its unpredictability! Have too set an idea of what you want and you will almost certainly be disappointed. Be open to the possibilities and you just could be rewarded by something that surprises and delights. In ceramics there is always disappointment and frustration but there are also moments of joy and wonder.
I am drawn to two quite different aesthetics: one is 50s style graphics – with line and colour combinations; the other is organic with flowing glazes and rich fusions of colour – particularly blues and greens. Over the last few years the former has dominated and my ceramic jewellery is primarily 2D and pattern lead. Now I feel it’s time to get down and dirty with clay again. Making new work is challenging and exciting, and it is important to go with your creativity and not worry too much about the final outcome. If you make a lot of rubbish on the way to producing something that thrills you then so be it – that is all part of the process. In amongst all the rubbish will be a kernel of something beautiful which can be nurtured and developed. I am at the beginning of that process, unsure, scared but excited too. The longest journey begins with a single step – in my case wedging up clay. . .
