30.11.2019 New decade of pottery End of the year this time is also the end of the decade and it feels more important to look back and evaluate whats been done and maybe draw some lessons for the years to come. In the recent years studio pottery has come to the forefront of many galleries and museums all over the world. There are TV shows and competitions that are promoting pottery and potters. Number of articles talking about the health and mental benefits of pottery are growing every day. More and more people deciding to take up pottery as a hobby because of its therapeutic and meditative effects. But even more than that more and more poeple want to use and surround themselves with handmade and artisanal as opposed to mass produced and machine made. It all goes hand in hand with the rise and popularity of boutique wineries, small breweries, artisanal chocolats, soaps, candles, breads, jams, condiments, etc. It is sort of the opposite of globalisation. There is a rising popularity of buying local, shopping small, supporting the local farmer and maker. And pottery industry is benefitting from all of these trends tremendously.
As a pottery teacher and a maker I am seeing the rise of interest in pottery amongst general public over the years and feeling very lucky to be involved in this work. I love ceramics regardless whether anyone else likes it or not as I have developed my interest in pottery in my own way and my own time. But seeing something I love growing and gaining more popularity is very very rewarding. As I teach a lot of beginners I often wonder how many of them will continue on this path and will turn pottery into their own hobby or even full time occupation. Almost everyone leaving my classes tells me that they enjoyed the classes and had fun and definitely would like to come back. Not everyone will come back as we all have busy lives already and adding one more hobby on top of all the other ones we already have is not always easy. But a big number does come back, some immediately after finishing their beginners classes and some a bit later, after they have dealt with all the other pressing life matters and when they have time for a regular new hobby.
And then there is a third group, which have alredy decided after their beginners class that this is what they want to do. I think I may have been one of those people, who after the first encounter with that addictive feeling of moulding clay with your own hands into usable objects, thought I do not want to stop, this is what I want to do. People in this group go home and start the research for their next project. They study for hours on end pottery made by other potters, around them or abroad, in our life time or centruries ago. It starts with looking at photos, then you start reading books, take more classes, attend masterclasses with amazing master potters all over the world and it turns into a never ending learning and growing process and a lifestyle. Every time I meet someone whose work I have been admiring for years and hear them saying that they are still learning only validates my own insatiable appetite for new knowledge. I think this is a wonderful place where to end a decade and to start a new one, having learrned and discovered heaps and knowing that there is a lifelong more learning to do. |
