Lockdown life on the Isle of Skye, doesn’t seem very different from life as normal. At least not in the daily routines and pace of life. Meeting people for a blether doesn’t happen often in the best of times, we’re at the top of a steep road and gossip doesn’t flow uphill! The Postie still…
2018 – a year of milestones
Looking back over 2018 I realise that it has been a year of milestones in my pottery path. Where my work is concerned I have spent many years in the mind set of ‘maybe one day’ – trying to protect myself against disappointment I suppose. It is ingrained in my psyche. For a few…
From the Isle of Skye to Venice
From one watery world to another, thanks to an obsession with clay. I am not long home from visiting Venice for the second time in my life. The first was 30 years ago with a friend from art school. I never forgot the experience. Silent waterways, Piazza San Marco flooded and empty, a gondolier singing…
Visiting Kanzaki Shiho (1942-2018)
I had the priviledge to visit Kanzaki Shiho at his studio last November. Hearing that he passed away I want to share this. I visited Shigaraki for a day, 4 years ago and left dissatisfied – a wander around the cultural park with not a lot happening, and a sprawling, seemingly empty town. It was…
Day trip to Bizen ware
Bizen ware was not high on my list of priorities when we were deciding our itinerary. What came to mind was naked beige clay body with random lines of shiny red/orange scorch marks reminisent of sunburn on a pale Scottish body. However JG was very keen having become excited about the work of Isezaki Jun.…
Hagi part 3 – more pots
I’ve heard three theories about the tall foot with the deep cleft of many Hagi bowls. One is that it was to facilitate tying a stack of bowls for transportation, another is that it allowed people other than the overlords to possess the bowls as they were imperfect (the perfect wares being reserved for the…
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