Veggies versus meat

I promised I would post a pic of a jar by my favourite potter Richard Batterham. He makes what I call a celery handle. It looks like a piece of celery bent over backwards. I am from the Cardew school of handle making. Cardew maintained that a good handle “ought to have a backbone”. Meat versus veggies. I am a meat man.   I have broken two Batterham pots in my life and both almost brought a tear to my eye. One was my favourite dinner plate that was used daily. The other was a faceted bowl. The bowl I would lay on the couch with usually at this time of year. I would feel the foot, the rim , stare at the glaze and wonder if I would ever be able to make such a fine bowl. That bowl always inspired me to keep making pots even when it didn’t look like I could hold on much longer.  

Getting his jar down off the cupboard today made me feel like making pots. That is the magic of a great pot!  It makes you want to be a better potter.