And off yet again to the Potfest in the Park, held each year at this time, at Hutton-in-the-Forest in Cumbria. The sun doesn't always shine, though it did this year, and the rain doesn't always hold off, though again it did this year, even if the ground was distinctly soggy.
It wasn't a vintage year, but it's asking a lot that every single year should provide me with something to obsess about. Anything I might have liked to take home either cost a lot! full stop, or a lot for what it was, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment. Son and I went around disagreeing on almost everything, which is half the fun. I would like the boat-like ends to a pot, he would opine that the boat-like ends ruined it for him; I would claim that I could not understand why this exhibitor was here at all, he would like the colours of the glazes. It was great.
There's always a competition, with a theme - this year's was 'Journeys and Pilgrimages' and, as usual, some potters appeared to think that calling their work by some name related to the theme was effort enough (or perhaps I was missing something), some helpfully explained why their piece fitted the brief, and others went all out to match the title. The works do vary enormously - some make you think, others make you admire their skill and all of them help you to consider what you might produce. I like the limitations of having to work to a theme - it concentrates the mind, stops me feeling that I'm floundering about in the infinities of time and space. That might, however, say altogether too much about my lack of unprompted inspiration.
Anyway, a good day as ever. The Potfest in the Park is on today and tomorrow, and next weekend, friday to sunday, is Potfest in the Pens, in Penrith - quite different, but also worth a visit.
It wasn't a vintage year, but it's asking a lot that every single year should provide me with something to obsess about. Anything I might have liked to take home either cost a lot! full stop, or a lot for what it was, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment. Son and I went around disagreeing on almost everything, which is half the fun. I would like the boat-like ends to a pot, he would opine that the boat-like ends ruined it for him; I would claim that I could not understand why this exhibitor was here at all, he would like the colours of the glazes. It was great.
There's always a competition, with a theme - this year's was 'Journeys and Pilgrimages' and, as usual, some potters appeared to think that calling their work by some name related to the theme was effort enough (or perhaps I was missing something), some helpfully explained why their piece fitted the brief, and others went all out to match the title. The works do vary enormously - some make you think, others make you admire their skill and all of them help you to consider what you might produce. I like the limitations of having to work to a theme - it concentrates the mind, stops me feeling that I'm floundering about in the infinities of time and space. That might, however, say altogether too much about my lack of unprompted inspiration.
Anyway, a good day as ever. The Potfest in the Park is on today and tomorrow, and next weekend, friday to sunday, is Potfest in the Pens, in Penrith - quite different, but also worth a visit.
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