How and where I make my pots?

I make hand thrown pots and sometimes pieces using slump or wooden moulds using high fire stoneware clay in my studio which is based in Nottingham, England. I use an electric shimpo wheel and I produce small batches of work. I have become particularly known for my cut sided tea-bowl’s and yunomi’s that I decorate in the hakemi style. I use ash glazes, which, I make using raw materials discovered locally, or, at other sites around the UK. These raw materials are processed and mixed with wood ash from my stove to create the glaze.

I also use slips made from local clay’s and sometimes from bought clay’s, these are applied to the pots at leather hard, the purpose is twofold; to change the base colour of the pots and to react with the glaze to create a different overall look and feel, which in turn extends the range of a glaze and provides me with options when deciding how I would like the pot to look.

I will always continue to work and be inspired by the traditional style that came from the fusion of cultures brought together by Leach and Hamada, and the resulting studio ceramics potters that came from this. As a nod to this tradition, I try to draw from the wealth of knowledge, form and function that was explored by many incredible potters that where working at this time, such as my father Mike Dodd, Jim Malone, Michael Cardew, Svend Bayer, Bill Marshall, Lisa Hammond, Richard Batterham, Stephen Parry and Ruth-Anne Tudball to name just a few. Our challenge is to find our own voice and to follow our own aesthetic to create a style that becomes indicative and recognisable amongst our peers and the people that buy our pots.

Below are a couple of short videos that I wanted to share with you as it is a glimpse into where inspiration can be drawn from and the journey of learning how to make the vast range of complex forms that adorn our homes. To become a potter is a long journey that takes many years to achieve. From the days of struggling to centre clay to the heights of being able to make good teapots or to pull good handles, it’s a continual learning process that grows ever deeper within us, it’s a life of exploration and dedication to the craft with thousands of hours given in an attempt to hone and seek perfection in our chosen field, whether we ever do is of course subjective and actually it’s what fuels the drive in us all to continue to work and to play with clay.