Kent

February 2016

I haven't posted in a long time, as my apprenticeship finished in June 2015.
I decided to let people know what I have been up to since then.

I continued to work full time at the Leach Pottery as part of the production team.
This was a great opportunity for me to continue learning. Lots of different things happened
during my extra time there. We gained a new SeaSalt Apprentice, Matt Foster, as well as another volunteer apprentice from Canada, Jordan Scott. Matt has no previous pottery experience and Jordan studied ceramics at University in Canada.

We had a resident artist from Japan, Shinichi Miyagawa. He is from a long line of potters and will soon take over the family business. His plan was to visit the Leach to gain inspiration and to decide what direction to take his work in.

Whilst Shinichi was with us he performed a tea
ceremony in the studio and gave us traditional
Japanese sweets. The were all served using
pots that he made at the Leach Pottery
during his stay.


I decided to leave St Ives and move to Kent,
where I can set up my own studio and begin to offer lessons to people wanting to learn
throwing skills. This decision was made just before Christmas, with a view to leave in
February. This gave me time to make plans and source equipment etc. I also spent a lot of time making my own work, so that I would have enough to leave some at the Leach to sell in the shop, as well as taking some with me to Kent to sell in the shop in Rochester that belongs to the Nucleus Arts Centre. These were some of my favourite pieces.

I am now in Kent, I am in the process of setting up a studio at Nucleus Arts Centre in Chatham.
This is the website:
nucleusarts.com

The studios seem pretty active, we will be organising open studios soon, as well as exhibitions
in the on site gallery space. There is a cafe for members of the public to come and relax.
This has all been made possible by the training I recieved as a result of my Adopt a Potter funding.
The Leach Pottery held a fundraising day for me, to help me raise the money to buy the equipment needed to set up. Lots of people have contributed to my new venture, so thank you to all of them!
I will be putting everything in to making it a success. Here are a couple of images of the studio.

This is the courtyard outside the studios, where
the cafe is. On sunny days, it will be a nice place to sit out and have a coffee! But in the winter, the inside is very cosy.

And here's my studio! I hav got another big
wheel coming soon, they just need new drive
belts, but I am in the process of sorting that.

Here's all the shelving! I just need glaze ingredients, I have bought the shleving to put them on, figuring out what to order and how much to order will be a big task!


So it's all exciting at the moment. I have got a few shows booked this year, so I already have something to aim for. And soon I shall put together adverts for throwing lessons. Fingers crossed it will all go well.