Monday 14 April 2008

Home again

We got home at about midnight last night after a lovely few days with my parents. The show went really well in London. It was a bit of a nightmare getting there as the marathon was in full swing and the tube stations were packed. By the time we got to the gallery there were spaces on the shelves where pots had been bought, wrapped and taken away, and lots of red spots too, many thanks pot-buyers. The show continues until 4th May.

Here are a few shots from both shows. The first one, taken at The Long Room is a bit of history, Blogger Matt(left) and Steve Tustin swapping phone numbers. The old picture beneath it shows Elijah Comfort(right), Matt's great, great, grandfather and my old friend, the late, great Sidney Tustin, Steve's grandfather, in the drying room on the upper floor of Winchcombe pottery in 1929.



I've got quite a few pots by both of these great craftsmen. Elijah had been a flowerpot thrower prior to working for Michael Cardew. I keep a sweet little plate made by him in my workshop as a reminder that a well crafted pot need not necessarily be overly refined - that's a quality I strive to demonstrate in my work.








It was important for me that my first solo show was held in Winchcombe, as it was a trip to Winchcombe Pottery at the age of eighteen, that prompted the realisation that I wanted to become a potter, so I greatly appreciate the opportunity John Edgeler has given me to have this show. Here's John standing infront of some of my pots. The show closes on 26th April.

The next shot looks like a dodgy bunch of geezers at an identity parade. It is in fact the Blogging Boys, left to right, me, Andrew, Paul and Matt. .


The next set of pictures were taken at the Harlequin Gallery yesterday. That's Blogger Margaret and her husband, it was good to see Margaret again.






Finally, here's a picture of my boys taken during a trip into the City earlier in the week, proving that Big Ben really isn't that big.



Back to work tomorrow, loads of pots to make for Clay Art Wales.

7 comments:

Ron said...

Well done Doug. Congrats on all your hard work and success at these two shows. Really nice to see it happening for such a great guy. What a special shot of Matt and Steve. And the 'blogger lineup' is pretty cool too. I'm sure you're happy to be home, good luck getting back to work in the shop.

brandon phillips said...

ditto what ron said. job well done. now we just need to get you a show stateside so the american bloggers can get some pots.

ang design said...

could be 'the usual suspects 2',....nice to see your lovely jugs in the window light.....time to get cracking paul reckons he's the only one working at the mo!

potterboy said...

Your gang-of-four picture is marginally better than mine, I suppose. *shudders*. I hate seeing pictures of myself.

Show looks good anyway. I almost came down but, after four days at the house, sans bathroom, I probably didn't smell to good. Thought the last thing you'd have wanted is some old tramp turning up.

I have an excuse to visit London, though, so might get there before the beginning of May.

Looking forward to trying out my new teapot... :)

klineola said...

I think your're right about pots not having to be refined to be great. Christopher Alexander wrote in his great book, "The Timeless Way of Building" of a quality "without a name". That quality speaks of the materials, the firing, in an honest straightforward way.

Looks like your hard work payed off. And I'm with Brandon, now we're ready for the North American Tour!

doug Fitch said...

Cheers all
I'd be too terrified to show my wares in America having seen the amazing stuff that you guys all make out there.

That's precisely what I was trying to say but you and CA put it much more eloquently Michael.

Becky said...

Doug, congrats! Ron tells me the London show is going quite well. And I'm with Brandon and Michael. America awaits.