Page 236

I don't know what it is about winter that has had me read Page 236 of Michael Cardew's Pioneer Pottery. It is a page that I can remember more than 30 years ago lying on the couch with a faceted Richard Batterham bowl resting on my chest and  reading that page. One sentence reads " The potter's maxim should be one which says: "The world only follows those who have despised as well as served it." This is followed further with a paragraph about how the potter does not only follow what his public wants but leads it. Heavy thoughts to be sure but with the snow piling up, people's credit cards piled even higher it is a good time to think lofty thoughts. It will  change when the Christmas leftovers are gone and the wine cellar empty. Cardew is my favourite pottery philosophers.

One of my former students gave m the heads up on a new Cardew book "The Last Sane Man- Micheal Cardew Modern Pots, Colonialism, and the Counter Culture- author Tanya Harrod. It is not out till Jan 13th but you can order it on Amazon with free shipping.  It promises to be an interesting read.  I hope it is full of quotable stuff for the next 20 years.