2014 has been a very busy year for me! I’ve been privileged to run pottery workshops across Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire with 700+ people from children to adults of all ages and abilities.

I’ve worked with four Primary schools, four children’s centres, a home educated group at MK Gallery, charities including Mencap, Re -Think and a Young Peoples ME support group. I’ve worked with two Girl Guides groups, three local arts events including Art in the Park, Off The Wallverton and National Play Day. I’ve also had the pleasure of teaching pottery at Milton Keynes Arts Centre to children and adults at Evening Class, Art Camps and a Saturday morning kids group. For me it was a nerve-racking experience taking on teaching pottery at Evening Class at a designated and recognised Arts Centre. After all, it was where I first experienced pottery myself just a couple of short years ago. It really has been a fun, challenging but very rewarding experience.

My Icelandic inspired ceramics are now featured in ten Art Galleries up and down the country from Cumbria to Cornwall and I’m really humbled by the comments from staff and customers about my work.

I opened my studio to the public as part of Bucks Open Studios in June for three weekends and again was so pleased with feedback on my ceramics work. It was lovely to welcome lots of people into my working space.

I’ve held stalls of my ceramics at The MK Handmade & Vintage Market, Finmere Festival, Redbourn craft Fair, Great Linford Summer Fair, Woburn Folk Festival, Blisworth Canal Festival, Olney Craft Fair, Woburn Sands Christmas fayre, Olney Dickens of a Christmas, Best Made Local and Greenwich Market in London. I’ve really enjoyed the face to face contact with the public at these diverse shows. It’s a chance for me to get first hand feedback and responses to my work. Again, I’ve been completely blown away by the comments and in particular my customers wonderful stories of their own Icelandic adventures. It inspires me to carry on and try new things with my work. I’m so pleased the public understand the connection between my work and the landscapes of Iceland.

Another goal was achieved when I had a piece of my work featured in the Geometries MK exhibition at the MK Gallery Project Space. My ceramic bowl captured the feelings, colours, wildlife and environment of Willen Lake. It was a real honour to be part of this exhibition alongside my girlfriend and her mum too.

As I reflect on 2014 and all its activities I do hope my pottery workshops have made a difference to people in their lives and helped them release a creative side. For me this is such an important part of life. In the past I let it slip away from my day to day. It happens… I hope I can continue to support people to be creative, be inspired and have fun with all things clay!

Today, my 38th Birthday no less I thought I’d write about the incredible experience I’ve had working with communities across Milton Keynes this past year. I’ve been lucky enough to work with such a broad range of excited, enthusiastic (sometimes shy at first!) people of all ages. It’s a real pleasure to be there with people at the moment they realise there creative potential. That moment it clicks that “Hey I can do this”. The thing I’ve found most enjoyable is seeing families, friends taking part in something that puts aside all issues of age, gender, background or even ability. Art does have that going in its favour I think. The tactile, earthy nature of the clay gives people a real sense of connection with what they’re doing. They really are getting ‘lost in the moment’ from a creative perspective. This I would argue is something we could all benefit from. That chance to free the mind from the usual tasks of the day and immerse yourself in some creative practices.

The skill level and knowledge of the groups I’m working with has really improved over time. They are starting to understand how the different stages of pottery work. Especially that it’s not a quick process! I love the moment when I bring freshly fired work straight from the kiln back to the groups. Their eyes light up! Whether it’s a first fire or the completed shiny glazed piece.

Some weeks I’ll be working with a small group of six year olds and they’ll all decide for some reason today is about making snails. I literally had loads of snails to fire in the kiln one week! Then I’ll be at an adult mental health support group and the creative ideas, suggestions and finished work is a joy to see. I love the diverse, mixed and ever-changing nature of the groups I work with. I’ve really enjoyed the ‘Time For Me’ groups at Children’s Centres where parents are given an hour away from the kids to be creative. The ideas, individual creations and the hilarious conversations have been a pleasure to be part of.

I’ve been running an after school club for parents & their children at a local school called Great Linford Primary since September 2013. The club has grown from strength to strength and the parents love the clay making as much (if not more) than the children. It’s been a great way for me to support the school to strengthen the relationship between parents and the school itself. One little girl has already stated that the club must run until she leaves in year 6!

Even young people who are sometimes given the right off in terms of expression through art have taken part and engaged with the clay. Some of the youth workers commented on how they were able to use the opportunity to engage the young people in some serious, productive discussions during the workshops. I think the pottery sessions I run can do that. They almost become more about the social connection with others as much as the activity itself.

I have plans to enable the groups I work with to move to the next stages and begin theming there work and hold exhibitions across Milton Keynes. Exciting times ahead….

Iceland truly is a magical place. A scary barren, unforgiving place. Let me tell you, driving along its winding, curvy roads and suddenly being enveloped in a snow drift with visibility at zero is quite a thing not often experienced where I live. Looking over razor-sharp black rock ledges with sheer drops into the icy ocean below and the feel of the wind roaring against your face makes you realise your place.
Iceland is a relatively small island but it’s not difficult to find yourself feeling like you’re the only one for miles. In parts you can drive for an age and barely see another soul until you reach the areas of interest where suddenly coaches, cars and tours appear seemingly out of nowhere!
I was eager to return and this time I aimed to bring some of my ceramics with me. I wanted to capture images of it immersed in the environment that inspired it. I can’t tell you what a feeling it was to retrace some of my footsteps and reconnect with the place that has inspired my creativity.
We visited many great places during a few days in March and here’s my experience of them.
Heading to Gullfoss and Geysir first we ventured along through to Pingvellir National Park on an epic clear blue-sky day; however it was a touch windy and on the exposed open roads we encountered a howling, snow-drifting blizzard which covered the road completely and took visibility in front to zero. Scary stuff for a moment or two! My friend Damien handled the road like a pro! Pingvellir itself was breath-taking and that clear blue sky day offered our first views across snow-covered valleys, mountains and lakes. Simply stunning.
The Gullfoss waterfalls are a sight I doubt I’ll ever tire of. The sound and scale of the falls is quite something. It was a delight to return. The colours, even on a cloudy day run from icy blue-grey to dark matt black from the waters to the rocky edges.
Just down the road Geysir has some truly epic geothermal pools which bubble, boil and blow up almost on cue. They have even changed shape, colour and strength since my first visit in 2012. It’s great to watch people’s anticipation of the largest Geyser as it’s about to blow out. The sulphuric smell here can be intense and it’s remarkable to put your hand in the waters on a cold day and feel the temperature like that of a hot tap.
The long road trip to Vík is mainly that of endless lava fields with only a covering of green moss in between mountainous ranges. Here the tiny roads are almost swallowed up by these mountains which slope downwards right to the very edge of the land. On route we stopped to enjoy the epic view of Skogafoss waterfall with its icy cold spray freezing at its base and covering the surrounding rocks in a white blanket of ice. It was just beautiful here. Vík itself is the southern-most village and has a huge black sand and rock beach with the wind and ocean howling towards it. I love it here. The three beautiful Reynisdrangar rock formations in legend were said to have been formed by Trolls attempting to drag three ships ashore! The black volcanic sand here is just something else. No sun bathing here that day though.
The Reykjanes Peninsula in the south west was somewhere completely new for me and I’d heard it had some of the ‘best kept secrets’ of Iceland. Yet more tiny winding curvy roads snake across and through mountain areas and bring you to the beautiful area of Krýsuvík with its wondrous sights - like that of Kleifarvatn and Grænavatn lakes (don’t worry, I can’t pronounce them either!) which rest on the fissure zone of the Mid-Atlantic ridge no less. They were completely covered in blue ice but still so magical. Here we also discovered the delights of Seltún and its geothermal boiling mud pools. The colours on the ground, covering rocks, emanating from its surface (even on a rainy day) were yellow, red and blue-grey. It was quite ‘other wordly’ and like nothing I’d seen before. At Reykjanes we experienced the delights of Gunnuhver Hot Springs where the legend goes that a female ghost caused a great disturbance there until she was pushed in to the geyser itself. Interesting! The black rock and lava craters here underneath the Reykjanes Lighthouse are like the surface of another planet. Seabirds nest on the quite frankly ‘vertigo-inducing’ rock ledges that provide such a beautiful view out to sea.
Even when completely relaxed in the beautiful milky-blue warm waters of the Blue Lagoon you’re still reminded of Iceland’s raw, rough edges - the wind howling over your cold, exposed head which peeps just above the water and the black volcanic sand and rock beneath your feet. It’s outdoors and pretty wild. I’ve probably never felt as relaxed as I did in that Lagoon though…
I know I’ll be back. I’ve still got the north of the island to see yet….

Just over a year ago on March 18th 2013 I ran my first pottery activity as a self employed person. It was a Pottery Social for the lovely ladies at the Woughton W.I.
Since then I’ve had the pleasure of running Pottery Socials for individual families, groups of friends and the wonderful folk at the knit Natter & Stitch group.
From that moment too I began to lead community engagement pottery workshops that enabled people to explore their creativity. Since that first activity I’ve worked with five Children’s Centres, three youth groups, 3 women’s support groups, Re-Think a mental health awareness group, four primary & special schools including small group and full class workshops to a large parent & child after school club. I’ve run workshops at an assisted living facility for adults. Workshops with Brownies and Guides groups. A series of workshops for 60+ Home educated children & their families, summer schemes and local Fun Days in Broughton, Oldbrook and the huge National Play Day event at Campbell Park.
In between all of this I have been busy making and selling my own pottery too! In the last 12 months I’ve had the pleasure of holding stalls at 29 different weekend shows and events from handmade & vintage markets, summer village fetes, Christmas lights switch-on’s to most recently getting a monthly slot at Greenwich market. My pottery is now featured in a number of galleries from Dorset to the Lake District and I hope for more soon!
It’s been an incredible, life-changing 12 months for me. I’ve met so many wonderful people from customers, organisers to fellow stallholders. I think the activities have made a difference to the people who’ve taken part in them too. I thank all who have supported me, particularly those before all this ‘pottery stuff’ started… Friends and family, you know who you are! I thank those who have been buying my work or attending my workshops and being so creative and full of energy. I really hope there’s more to come this year!