Copper to Potter

This is my first attempt at a blog so please be patient with me! I thought it may be of some interest to give a little background into how I got started in Ceramics. It all began at school with a brilliant teacher called Rachel Caruthers who taught Art and English. She had an art room filled with pottery equipment and she introduced me to throwing on the potters wheel. I just loved it and spent every hour I could trying to make something!! That started it.

From there I spent two years at Prinknash Abbey Pottery in Gloucestershire, learning to throw properly. From there I went to St Pauls College to take a teaching degree with ceramics as my main area. After three years teaching I realised I wanted to do something different and so I decided to try the police!! More money to support my growing family and at the time a free house!

Painting a vase with crystalline glaze before firing.

I took to policing like a duck to water serving in three different forces, Gloucestershire, Humberside and Wiltshire before ending up as the Chief Constable of my last force. On retirement, after 34 years, I decided to go back to my first love pottery and founded Herries Pottery.

Making pots that people want to buy is a real thrill. I love the use of crystalline glazes to add another dimension to the form. Crystalline glazes are rare and very difficult to produce but when they work they can be spectacular. So thats a very potted history of how I ended up making crystalline glazed ceramics and I will blog about how things progress both the successes and failures!

Hope you enjoy.

Patrick