Clay – Page 24 – Bridget Macklin

At last there has been a bit of time to breathe! Yesterday I found time to just sit in my studio. The kiln was on its way down and I was keen to get the next load in but in an uncommon fit of patience I decided to just let the kiln do its thing. So there I sat, cup of tea in hand, mind in neutral. Then I reached for a bag of bits and began to play. I have so many treasured finds from my mud-larking and I am almost scared to use them in my ceramics in case I don’t make something good with them so I got a large sheet of white paper to cover up the table and tipped a couple of bags of treasures onto it and then I just let myself play. It is a while since I have done that – so long in fact that I could hardly remember how to. I have been putting such pressure on myself to get the greatest pieces ever made for the final push of the diploma -well that was bound to fail, DUH!

So here I sat, fiddling with bits of rusty metal and chipped ceramics. Not everyone’s idea of treasure but then, I am not everyone! I began sorting them out and then I started to position some of them more thoughtfully, wondering what they might become if I altered my understanding of them. Was this metal loop for tying a boat up? Was it an ancient Viking bracelet? Was it a handle for something? I reached up for one of my boxes. The poor old things have been a bit redundant for a while. I think I felt that they had had their day. I have been ignoring comments about them being what I do; my signature piece; some of my most successful work because I could not think where to go with them. In fact there was an element of panic when I though about them – Had I done my best work in the first semester of the course? Was I never going to achieve anything better? But here I had given myself permission to mess about and see what happened.

There is a really important message, well several actually, here. Firstly, Kate Wickam is right, we do have to go through the same old agonies over every new project. Sorry Kate, but there it is! Secondly, I should NOT give up on my boxes, they have massive potential so I just need to get on with it and stop fussing. Thirdly, creative people need TIME! Bucket loads of the stuff, with nothing to do but play. No schedule, no deadline, no ‘what are we having for tea’ type TIME. And finally, perhaps I should spend more sleepless nights browsing through books about people like Gillian Lowndes. maybe something will stick. What ever happens next, I feel another box coming!

And suddenly there it was - tea anyone? — And suddenly there it was – tea anyone?

In the words of Tom Learer, plagiarise, plagiarise, let no-one else’s work . . . . One of the great things about the world of ceramics, quite apart from the love of the material and the extraordinary things that can be done with it, is that people in this field are incredibly nice people! I have not met anyone who has not been happy to talk about their work, share ideas and recipes for glazes, give advice and so on. The tutors at City Lit have been extraordinarily generous in the information which they freely give to students who are interested, letting us in on age old secrets about particular ideas and contentedly allowing us to use their special techniques. Annie Turner, in particular, has given people an amazing amount of help and advice over the duration of the course. Thank you, Annie!

Annie Turner - recollection — Annie Turner – recollection

Last week I met Fred Gatley and he also spent a considerable time telling me about techniques that I could try and the ways in which he achieves his remarkable finishes. The trouble is, where does making use of another artist’s ideas and recipes become plagiarism? I would absolutely loath myself if I caused any offence to these lovely people but, having spent time in their company and being a very suggestible person, I find myself thinking more about their work than my own sometimes and this becomes a bit of a problem. To what extent is it ok to take a glaze given to me by Annie and use it on a piece to be displayed using a method which was explained to me by Fred? I love their work – that is why I have spent time with them and why they have been so generous with both time and information but because of that, there are days when I find it hard to think of my work as my own! Sometimes I feel that I am just making a poor imitation of something that they would have done when they were setting out. It is a fine line and one which I have no wish to cross! In other news, I have clearly caused a bit of entertainment with my post last week which contained a photograph of what looked a bit like a used condom hanging out to dry. So this week I thought that I had better put the record straight. The current status of said condom is that it has become a mould for a delicate and treasured tear – developments, which will hopefully look nothing like the work of either Annie nor Fred, will be shared in due course . . . . . .

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Three Dimensional Doodling

Let No-one else’s work Evade Your Eyes!