Pottery returns!

After two terms away from evening classes, on wednesday I shall be going back to pottery at Brixham College - hurrah!

I wasn't given the opportunity to do pottery at school (my school emphasised the academic and saw anything else as fairly useless - the art department couldn't cope with anything more exotic than paint and pencil) so I'm enjoying the chance to play and experiment with clay as an adult.

This...um...creation, came about towards the end of one term last year. I had made many small bowls, dishes, pots (and rabbits!) and thought I'd be adventurous, throw all my eggs into one basket by spending three weeks on one larger piece (roughly 14" tall). I was convinced it wouldn't survive the firing; the clay was so thick in places I knew a bubble was bound to be hiding somewhere (in case you don't know, any air trapped will expand and cause the clay to crack or explode during firing) so I was thrilled when it came through in one piece. The glaze was a mixture of about six different stoneware glazes, applied in rather a rush, overlapping and layered to create a variety of effects.

This unpredictability is something that really appeals to me, my paintings are so tight and controlled that this provides a complete creative contrast, but I think it's important for me in a broader sense as well. Call it a type of therapy or respite, but as someone with OCD I think any activity where I can let go of control even for a little while has to be good!