The Great Pottery Throw Down

I was fortunate enough to be selected to take part in series 5 of the Channel 4 programme, The Great Pottery Throw Down.  My journey took me right through to the quarter finals, taking part in a myriad of challenges including designing a pair of vases in the style of 1960s West German ware; designing an animal table lamp; decorating a utensil jar which was judged by Orla Keilly; pulling handles under the expert eye of Florian Gadsby.

 

Week 1 - A children's dinner set.  Thrown and then altered.  I chose to make a set based on the theme of space with a lidded rocket shape egg cup; a star and moon side place; a world bowl; a sun plate and a shooting star mug

 

Week 2 - A slab built wall clock.  I based my make on my hobby of bird watching with a 30cm x 30cm x 20cm cuboid shaped main body adorned with sprig moulded birds and carved to give the clock face and surrounding forest branches.

 

Week 3 - Porcelain paper clay - an inanimate tribute to my locality.  This make was designed with the steel industry in mind.  The steel industry is important in my local town - Scunthorpe as well as the city where I trained as a teacher - Sheffield.  Outside Kelham Island Industrial Museum is a huge steel ladle which was used in production of steel.  It was this vessel that I chose to replicate

 

Week 4 - Raku week - a decorative teaset.  My set had the title a world of contrasts. 

 

Week 5 - Winter Olympic Gnomes - I chose to construct a toboganning gnome, an ice-skating gnome and a ski-ing gnome.  The ice skating gnome was based on Christopher Dean in his bolero outfit with purple chiffon.  The ski-ing gnome was based on Eddie the Eagle Edwards.

 

Week 6 - 1960s week - A pair of vases inspired by West German ware and glazed in lava glazes.  I was potter of the week this week and couldn't have been happier.  Doughnut vases are one of my favourite things to make and I managed to get them in to this brief.

 

Week 7 - Animal table lamp - Angler fish - a light in the dark. 

 

Week 8 (quarter finals) - Self-sculpture - Mother Me

 

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