I am attracted to Bernard Leach’s approach as expressed in his ‘Potters Book’: that pots should be for use and well designed and made with reference to tradition.

The problem for a potter in the west is to find his/her ‘own voice’; given that, especially in England, we have to a large extent lost our tradition and must dredge our art from within ourselves - influenced by the manifold expressions that exist in the country and in the world.

So we tend to copy and try to make it ours. The Japanese have a long tradition - are extremely well trained and in turn tend to continue the tradition often without artistic development. I am also much influenced by the work of Hamada who, with Leach and Yanagi, fostered the folk art (mingei), movement in Japan. Although I do not yet feel I have found my “own voice”, my pots are in the style of Hamada /Leach

Latterly I have become interested in extending Tenmoku glazing, particularly oil-spot which I studied intensively during my last trips to Japan.

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