I caught an early train to Stoke-on-Trent yesterday. I tried to buy a coffee from the buffet bar. ‘The machine is playing up, what do you want to do?’ the inattendant enquired, before resuming her hilarious phone conversation. Was she suggesting I might want a tea instead? I wasn’t sure.
It was pouring when I reached [...]
I remember my first development trip to Stoke. I drove up the M40. Repeatedly listening to the same CD, I’d achieved a meditative high of anticipation and excitement, when the phone rang. It was a Stoke-on-Trent number. ‘Hello duck’ said an unfamiliar voice. ‘Snow is forecast. Best get here early.’ It was the landlady from [...]
Yesterday’s post was the first of a series on Made in England. I explained how I came to use ceramic tableware. Today I am going to look at the content and context of the material, to help to explain what the finished work is about. I’m also going to continue the discussion about the use [...]
Now and then I am going to look at a single piece of work, and explain the thought process behind its making. This week I am going to talk about my project Made in England. It is the first of five posts.
I often explain to students that their work is likely to be most effective [...]
Fascinating series on Radio 4 this week. Whatever Happened To The Teapots by Roger Law, of Spitting Image. Apparently he went first to Stoke-on-Trent (the birthplace of the English ceramic industry) in the 80s to have a Thatcher tea pot produced by Moorland Pottery — still a thriving small potbank. (Moorland features in my project [...]