Pottymouth - A Pottery Podcast

Richenda MacGregor has set up and run numerous pottery studios and been a production thrower. She has since stopped working in the field of pottery as plants took over. In this episode we talk about sustainability, plants and the connection Richenda found between throwing and spiritual practice.

Linda designs and makes ceramic art and porcelain tableware. She uses a tactile satin matt glaze outside and colour on the inside. Linda makes her own range of glazes and is particularly interested in the translucent colours obtained using oxides rather than commercial stains. In this episode we talk of many things from juggling kids, work and pottery to glazing, Linda's love of porcelain and why sharing your wisdom is something to be celebrated.

Toby is the Business Manager for the Craft Potters Association who run the Contemporary Ceramics Centre, Crafts Review Magazine and Ceramic Art London (CAL). We meet during CAL to discuss the logistics of running the fair and about the CPA, past, present and future.

Verran is a potter living and working in Totnes, Devon. He's takes his pots into the landscape and films them and he has a passion for teaching.

Dylan Bowen comes from a long line of potters and found a way to go from a very British tradition in slipware to a radically modern approach. In this episode we discuss that journey.

Raphaela aka Raphy is a full time potter living in Bristol. She started as a  apprentice and went on to run a busy pottery studio in Devon. Now based in Bristol her practice is inspired by her connection to nature (Dartmoor in particular) Mythology and meaning making. Raphy teaches classes from her studio, workshops on the land using natural materials and primitive firing techniques and two courses at Coombe (one in intermediate throwing and one on Glazing)  In this episode we talk about her pathway from studio manager to the development of her creative practice including production ware and receiving funding from Arts Council England.

Fran Sandover is a potter running a studio at Outside- a multi-use space, home to a cafe, pottery studio, surfboard shaping bay, on-site growing space and concrete skate bowl in South West Devon. Her work has a playful and industrial aesthetic and is evolving with her career as a studio manager, teacher and technician. In this episode we talk about her pathway from degree to studio manager and building resilience.

Sabine is a wood firer that completed an apprenticeship as a thrower in East Germany in 1998 with Hans Joachim Grünert in Waldenburg(Sachsen) where she underwent a three year long training in producing domestic ware exclusively on the wheel and was then for the first time introduced to wood firing. In this episode we talk about wood firing and how she juggles approach to making and earning whilst also being a mum and developing a unique voice in her work.

Anna Lambert is a nationally recognised full time maker. She makes hand-built earthenware ceramics using various techniques including slab-building, modelling and painted slips. She has been making and selling work over many years and is the membership secretary at the Craft Potters Association (CPA). In this episode we talk about Anna's approach to making and how her work has changed, and the reasons behind those changes, over the past few decades. We also talk a bit about the CPA - a membership organisation for potters that also runs the Contemporary Ceramics Centre opposite the British Museum and Ceramic Review Magazine.

Gay Watson is a writer concerned with the dialogue between Buddhist thought, psychotherapy and the Mind Sciences. She also lives with a huge amount of craft in her home including ceramics. She is the author of a number of books including A Philosophy of Emptiness (an exploration of ideas of emptiness from early Buddhism and Taoism and Greek thought through to contemporary philosophy, science and art practice) and Attention - Beyond Mindfulness (an exploration of attention through many disciplines and ways of life). Attention contains interviews with many scientists and artists skilled in practices of attention. We talk about her ceramics collection and how she came to bake cakes from a Lucie Rie recipe, own a Picasso edition and why living with pots supports embodied attention.

A conversation with Kevin Rouff of Studio ThusThat, talking about Red Mud, a project that questions our notion of ‘waste', and shows the unexpected value of these stigmatized materials in a world of finite resources. Working with factories and research labs, Bauxite aka Red Med, a byproduct residue of the alumina industry, is transformed into ceramic bodies and glazes.

A conversation with Jodie Crook Giles, owner of the smallest pottery shop in the world (maybe) during the Mud & Water course at Coombe Farm Studios. In this episode Jodie talks about career choices and energy use.

Tim Andrews is a raku master potter. This conversation takes place whilst he's teaching at Coombe Farm Studios and just after his solo show at The Contemporary Ceramics Centre in London titled Linear Non Linear.

In this episode I talk with Laurel Keeley at her home and studio in Devon and we talk about creative block and her long career as a potter.