The Ghosts of Christmas Past
I joined my
two kids, and my 3 grand daughters in Toronto for Boxing Day. For my American
friends that is the day after Christmas Day.. Robin’s house is a shrine to my
pots and visiting there is like seeing the Ghosts of Christmas Past.
Scrooge
pleads with the spirit to show him no more, to which the spirit replies
“ These are
the shadows of things that have been. That they are what they are, do not blame
me!”
Firstly a
large vase that was inspired by my love of the ash glazes of Richard Batterham.
I loved his work and still do to this day. I probably had just bought Phil Roger’s book
on Ash Glazes which I still think is one of the best books out there for
looking at nice pots.
Then my crusty as a bear’s arse and gnar- gnar
series. I started to absolutely fill the firebox chock o block at the end of
the firing to create a reduction cool and a bear rug surface of ash that didn’t look melted but
more likely sintered. The ceramic phone
on the wall is the work of former student Amber Zuber.
Then a
couple of cups that were made on my treadle wheel. I love these cups. They are
low and somewhat bottom heavy but peek inside. You can see the marks of a slow
wheel not this machine like thousands of circles look you get with a fast wheel.
I can tell by the feel of these cups
they were made on my slow wheel. I hope I have access to a slow wheel at Star
for some cups. I’m not good at big pots with a slow wheel but the cups are
something special. These cups were also made at a time when everything I did
was carbon trap shino. I remember frantic emails from Malcolm Davis about what I
was doing that he wasn’t. He would have some glorious carbon trap firings and
then some bright orange ones. I did too but I never told him about those ones.
I liked it when he begged. He was such
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