Meet Amanda, one of our Clay Warriors. Amanda has been with us since before our big re-design and has focused on learning throwing and experimented with glazing, she loves colour as you can see.

Why did you start pottery?

I bought a candle/relight making class for myself and my two daughters for a Christmas present about 5 years ago at the wonderful Ceramics Studio. I loved it and wanted to try more because it was a form of art I finally found I might be able to do.

What is your favourite thing to make?

This is a difficult thing to answer as it very much depends on the mood. Sometimes it will be a vase, or a bowl, sometimes a mug. I like curved shapes and like trying different variations of similar shapes.

What is the hardest/ most frustrating thing?

Working with Raku clay for the first time! I found it so hard to centre and couldn’t get it to form the shapes I wanted. I was so frustrated that I doubted my ability to throw and asked myself what was I doing there, that I was an idiot for thinking I could throw or be a potter at all.
I managed to pull myself together and make some pots that I thought were acceptable.

How do you judge a successful session?

When I leave feeling happy and smiling. It could be because something I had planned came out as I had hoped, or that I tried a new shape and it went well. Sometimes it’s managing to turn a difficult shape and making something ungainly into something attractive.

What s your biggest achievement ?

Making a large canister with a lid after doing a ‘Going larger’ class at the studio. It is the biggest thing I have made so far and was one of my objectives for this year. I am so pleased with it and look forward to glazing it!

My favourite music to do pottery by?

My music taste is quite eclectic but my favourite music while I’m doing pottery is mostly Indie, like The Killers, Maroon 5, Kings of Leon. Especially if I can sing along to them.

What does pottery mean to you?

It is my haven, my ‘me’ time. A place where the world outside is put on hold. A place where I only need to think about what I’m doing and nothing else, no demands on my time and attention. I enjoy sharing ideas with like-minded people and discovering that I too have a creative side albeit more practical than arty.

Her experimenting with our house materials has really paid off!

I do feel particularly proud of Amanda because she didn’t find throwing easy in the beginning - lets face it it’s not!

She never gave up or got frustrated, she has stuck with it and attended all of our focused Throwing Skills session and really put her trust in our new teaching set up.

Amanda was also the first to leap at the opportunity of our flexible larger member’s’ space downstairs, at the time Gaye & I were not sure if we were doing the right thing as the climate was so bad (Covid).

As scary as it was we both believed in our gut it would work out and we are grateful to Amanda for backing that instinct!

Come and visit her work when we have an open day, if you are lucky you might catch her demonstrating : )

Spreading the Clay - Amanda's Story