From little things…

And so it all begins with an idea. This is my first time writing a blog and I’m thinking that just a little background might be kind of nice to start the process off.

I’m now nearly in my mid 50’s writing this. Time creeps up when you least expect it. My three kids are all officially grown up, and I have been becoming quietly and consistently obsessed and driven by this nubilous thing called clay, for the past eight years. I’d dabbled in ceramics back in the mid 90’s, and come from a long line of crafters, but something about it this time really got to me. My work running my own Interior Decoration business was gratifying but stressful and I just wanted to be able to make with my own two hands, and see where that would lead me.

It took me ages to get some consistency, ages to slow down enough to learn an entirely new skill, and longer again to accept that it was a series of repeated movements and steps…not just natural instinct or indeed wishful thinking, that would help me learn this new craft. A cranky yet astute regular at the centre where I did my classes, gruffly told me that it would take 20 years to call myself a potter. I was indignant but as time goes on, her words ring with truth.

It’s a journey. It’s messy, its uncomfortable, believe or not it’s not always cathartic and mediative as many like to imagine. It can be equal parts humbling with success as with failure, but those little wins make you want to try for more. Be a bit more adventurous, pour over glazing books till late at night and be restless waiting for a kiln to cool down to see what awaits inside. And those feelings just don’t seem to lose their allure.

I’m excited and also proud to have this webshop up and running. Happy that I have taken my time to reach this point and I am still bewildered by the kindness shown along the way. I am very grateful for this. I’ve left nothing on the table this time…well, apart from a bunch of ceramics.