Its March of 2022 already and in the UK its starting to feel like Spring is just around the corner. My partner Kristina has been bringing fallen branches (collected from the nearby woodland) into the house to place in a handmade jug or bottle thereby enlivening the interior of our house. Enlivening is a choice verb as the most recent ‘exhibition branches’ all had multiple and neatly arranged tight buds along they’re branches. With the warmth of the house and generous pool of water to drink from within the handmade pot the buds have burst forth over the days. It’s a wonder to notice one morning after the next this steady but inexorable springing forth of colour and texture.  

There's certainly a spring in my step and that's been accentuated by the completion of the first firing in my new studio space. Before moving house in January I had been hand-building at the kitchen table as cold temperatures forced me away from my pottery wheel. Alongside making the more familiar Japanese style rectangular slab-bottles I tried a new technique to make cylindrical forms. All the pieces were bisque fired just in time to pack for moving day.  

They had been waiting patiently and desperately for two months in all they’re white purity for the unavoidable splashes of colour - Bring on the colour! The background scene is a transparent glaze with speckles of black which works great over the white Earthenware clay I’ve used for these pieces. The blue, yellow and red colours I enjoy using so much are brush-on glazes though alongside brush stokes were dabs and splashes to create the pattern and composition needed. As ever I only had vague direction and undetailed forethought for this decoration process, for the most part Instinct and presence call the shots over this crucial and penultimate process. Having said that there may have been something more at play when decorating this March. The isolated use of yellows and blues together were perhaps inspired by my compassion for the people of Ukraine. 

I’m really pleased with the pieces and could proudly display them at a local market on Saturday the 5th. Though not before capturing them digitally as I’ve learnt that my favourite pots tend to sell fastest and I’ve been caught out before going to market with work that I’ve yet to photograph. Pleasingly Friday was a sunny day and so presented the ideal lighting to test-out some different places for photographing. These images were taken in direct sunlight up against the back wall of my house.  

Hand-building in recent months has been fun and fruitful but I’m starting to get into the rhythm of throwing for the first time since November last year. A return to round and functional pots is more than likely moving forward into April. But it certainly won’t be until next winter before more slab bottles and hand-built cylinder forms feature on the Pottery Conway website again.  

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