Gone to pot - in Penzance!

HAVING been an occasional potter since the 1980s, I'm glad to be back in action at Penzance School of Art under the tutelage of the brilliant ceramic artist Jason Wason.

Pictured above is my first 'product' of the course, a tall coiled honey-glazed pot with simple sgraffito fish design. I hope to produce a bigger, but complementary, pot over the next week or two to grace an alcove in our lounge.

My last ceramics course, circa 1983-4, was conducted by potter Colin Thorburn, a pupil of Hans Coper and Lucie Rie, two of the finest potters of the 20th century. Most of my pots from that period were given away to journalist colleagues who, I'm glad to say, still have them.

Jason Wason, a Coper fan, worked at the famous Leach Gallery in St Ives before setting up his own studio on the moors of West Cornwall, where he and his wife Joanna produce pots of the highest calibre. He has been conducting courses in Penzance for 25 years, passing on some of his priceless techniques to enthusiastic amateurs like me.