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Confessions of a novice KEITH BRYMER JONES
IN THE FLESH!
F
or almost two years, I've seen my fellow local potters only via my computer screen, in a fortnightly Anglian Potters Zoom session. In the earliest days of lockdown, this was a great way to stay connected with the group. It was also the perfect opportunity for more experienced potters to share their knowledge with newer ones. People who wouldn't have known each other's names have formed friendships, and many of us have learned not just from our own questions but also from those asked by other members. But there's a
Delayed for a year due to Covid, a long-awaited Anglian Potters demonstration finally went ahead on January 16th
Andy Wright's brilliant hand-built teapot featured a detachable drip bucket. (Photo: Trudy Staines)
I was so pleased with the form,
and the huge crystals (my first ones not on test tiles), but it broke in the kiln. I took it along anyway, in the spirit of the Throw Down.
limit to the social possibilities of a video call. It's one big discussion, whereas if you had 20 people in a physical space, you'd end up with several smaller conversations. I haven't had any of those 'getting to know you' chats, other than asking new people, 'what's your name and where do you come from?'. Before the pandemic, Anglian Potters regularly met in person, with a series of demonstration days in a village hall deep in the Norfolk countryside. Up to about 140 members would get together, with a real sense of community as people brought food to share in a lunchtime buffet. I'd been to sessions with Niek Hoogland, Corina Ciscato, Ashraf Hanna, and Brendan Hesmondhalgh. In early 2021, we were due to be joined by the
inimitable Keith Brymer Jones, but that was transformed into a Zoom session, just like pretty much everything else at the time. It was great, but we were over the moon when Keith agreed he'd still make the trip to East Anglia in real life, albeit a whole year later. I don't suppose any of us quite believed it'd actually happen, but it did, and it was well worth the wait. Keith and Marj arrived bright and early on the Sunday morning in a borrowed car after theirs had collapsed on the way. I was immediately jealous of Keith's enormous brown coat that looked like it was made out of a thousand teddy bears. He told us it'd originally been for Siobhan but was way too long for her. The Anglian Potters team sprang
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