A Skyline of Pots

AS you know, I'm a bit of a potter on the side.

I love the work of Bernard Leach and his wife Janet, and the 20th century greats like Lucie Rie and Hans Coper.

This selection of pots, however, came from the fair hand of Yours Truly, an on-and-off potter for sixty years.

Way back in 1960, I gained my GCE O'Level in pottery, and my fanciable pottery teacher, Mrs Bell, suggested I make a profession of the ceramic arts.

When I told her I wanted to be a journalist, she said: 'What a wicked waste of talent.'

However, I was never quite able to shake off my love of studio pottery.

In the 1980s, I attended classes run by Colin Thorburn, a gifted pupil of Rie and Coper.

More recently, I was learning techniques at the hand of master ceramic artist Jason Wason at Penzance School of Art. I have also done short courses with Japanese masters.

Though I am a moderately competent thrower, I prefer hand-building pots, with coiling my favourite technique..

Here is a selection of my pots, some thrown, some coiled.

I've called the picture Skyline of Pots, for obvious reasons.