She used the same technique on the flowers and the dots so she needed to bring something else to her design. The host said they had seven days. Anna McGurn is a talented home potter who has arrived at The Great Pottery Throw Down to display her skill. I liked it. Associate Artist at British Ceramics Biennial. Season 5. I know about Civil War reenactment enthusiasts in the United States, but I didn't realize there were War of the Roses reenactment enthusiasts in the UK. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. saoirse, November 12, 2015 in Other Competitive Reality Shows. Keith Brymer Jones, Sara Cox, and Kate Malone. I really liked Clover's galaxy theme. After 20 tough challenges filmed at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke on Trent, it was AJ from Aberdeen, who emerged triumphant as the winner of The Great Pottery Throw Down 2022. Episode 3. This series has been great and it's just now that I'm beginning to appreciate the personalities of the various potters. I had to roll my eyes a little when she said she didn't know how the others had time for chit chat. A farmer's daughter, Jane describes her family as 'grubby, dusty and with clay in their curly hair'. Meanwhile, in a fiery Throw Down, the potters attempt to craft sky-high cylinders while blindfolded. The format will be soothingly familiar by this point: each week there are challenges both technical and creative that decide which potter will have to put down his clay and head home. Despite always been artistic, James says he chose to 'play it safe', going to veterinary school rather than art school. The search for a top home potter begins with a four-day assignment to make stackable kitchen bowls from lumps of earthenware clay. ok, you have 20 minutes, POTTERS GET POTTING!". I already dislike when the judges or hosts come around to ask questions and poke around while the contestants are working on a challenge. Just make a Reddit post. Wow, they were not messing around with the first main make challenge - a whole dinner service? I always love close ups of clay on a wheel. Interior designer, Sally-Jo, is engaged to be married and does all her potting at the evening classes, which she joined five years ago. Some may have day jobs, but they're all vying to be Britain's top potter. The eldest of four children, Sally-Jo says she can never just make something for one family member, wothout making for them all. And I really liked that the judges were yelling suggestions to the contestants like telling Sally Jo to use her forearms more. Over the six-episode season, contestants race to make as many egg cups as humanly possible, orchestrate elaborate clay chandeliers, and throw traditional porcelain tea sets. But sometimes I wish the judges would explain exactly what they want and mean in more detail. He enjoys his job, but regrets not being 'brave enough' to follow his creative side. Like. Joanna: EXIT: Nigel: ELIM: Rekha: ELIM: Colour key: Hardly easy at the best of times, they must also do it in front of a special guest judge, one of the UK's most popular ceramic designers - Emma Bridgewater. It all began . admin. Sally-Jo's improved so I thought she deserved second. We get a little bit of that on the Bake Off shows but definitely not to this extent. Queen Letizia of Spain cut an elegant figure in a matching pink skirt and top as she Do not sell or share my personal information. Haha, and of course the judge cried again. 691 following. Oh, Cit, all the lavender talk is doing nothing to dispel the hippie potter stereotype! Physical standards vs. something completely subjective like taste. It's funny because like his students, I do agree that he has cool hair. But that piece did not work and she was the right one to go home. I got so used to chatting about somebodys rim on the show that I just wouldnt laugh at that sort of humour, or make a thing of it. Your link has been automatically embedded. I hope they make more. The Throw Down is a competition, theoretically, but the potters help each other and often admire each other's work. I didn't mind that he used the stamp in the big basin. At least she tried. I was shocked. Interesting that Matthew came in last place. Hee and I love hearing people say "POTTER" in a British accent repeatedly over an hour. Was it really that hard to find talented female potters? And I don't think I ever once considered how ceramic cups get their handles. She lives in Leeds and works as a community arts project manager. I love Matthew's hair. I couldn't decide if I was annoyed or amused by Tom constantly checking to see what Matthew was doing this week. He used different sponge techniques which were beautiful on their own as well as together. I was kind of surprised that Matthew was top potter again. She also shares her five acre home with a few more unusual family members - donkeys, alpacas, goats and chickens. They must throw 'off the hump' - a technique which helps potters mass produce small pots very quickly. He recently rode from the Orkney Islands to Morocco in 23 days. I thought they were going to fill each basin with water to check for cracks. I actually thought Jane should have come in first. Jim was above the rest in both the mini challenges, but his chandelier was underwhelming. It's too bad that the kiln shrinkage meant his two pieces didn't slot together properly but overall I really liked his sculpture. Right, Joanna, 51, is a widower and lives in West Sussex with her 15-year-old son. And I liked the slits she cut through the wings to let the light through. I love this series but in season 2 they make/drink out of Raku teapots. The sponge decorating spot challenge was really fun to watch. Joanna began potting 12 years ago. He started at evening classes now pots in his garden shed, throwing bowls, mugs and delicate heart-shaped platters. I don't need my dinner plate to have character, man. 2 min read. He supplies some 250 dinnerware items to an up-market hotel supplier each year and has been potting for 25 years in his garden workshop. Wow, I can't believe how long these challenges take. Love Productions. Matthew clearly has a huge advantage since both of his parents are potters so he has been around it his whole life, and he has plenty of experience if he's teaching pottery classes. When you compare that to some of the other contestants who have only recently started pottery as a hobby and do it on the weekends to relax from their full time jobs, it seems kind of unfair. Very quickly, I have to say I like most of the contestants. I expect hippies young and old, as well as art student types, but it's nice to see a cage fighter, an accountant, and a model who all love making pottery too. He did get teary and sniffly when they evaluated Carole's cone in the throw down. I know they're allowed to be creative, but I didn't like that he had paint running down his jugs when it was a sponge challenge (to be fair, he also used the sponges, but still). 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Sandra, 52, from Leeds, is a mother of two children, a new grandmother to a baby girl and works as a community arts project manager. I'm used to the Great British Bake Off where they film everything over the weekend and then go home for the week. Dapper Matthew says he always wears a suit, even potting. It's semi-final week in Stoke-on-Trent and just five potters remain, determined to secure their place in the final. I get it wasn't somethng he'd done before but he put out plates that had big blobs on them. I'm okay with it but it's becoming a theme and it's only the second week. I was surprised that Tom's beehive shaped "sphere" ranked higher than Jane's. Throwing, trimming and decorating are just some of the stages of the make. I'm in the opposite camp - I like Matthew in spite of his dreads, not because of them. Ten home potters from around the country head to Stoke-on-Trent, the home of pottery, in their quest to become Top Potter. I also really loved that we got to see a mini recap of each potter's process from the initial sculpting to the decorating and then the finished product. I think that if she had actually finished all of the sections of her big piece (instead of adding that antenna to the top), she would have stayed and Jane would have gone home. Joanna Hejmej. And for the throw down, they have just 15 minutes on the wheel to make the largest closed sphere they can, a hollow ball of clay which could collapse at any moment. This week they face a big Main Make for the smallest room in the house - a decorative hand basin. Very nice to see Joanna offer her something she had brought to help her. Rehka was weak. He made a lot of mistakes - the color changed over the set of six plates, it was really obvious where he stopped/started. There was no way Sandra was going after she made the judge cry, but I suspect she and Sally-Jo are circling the drain and will be the next two gone in some order. The potters are using a technique which is over 15,000 years old, coiling ropes of clay, one on top of the other. I'm not surprised that she was the first eliminated. Ten home potters from around the country travel to Stoke-on-Trent, the home of pottery, for a competition to become Top Potter. These challenges take forever! I think it was over Carole's decoration or something in the spot test challenge - I remember being surprised that *that* was the point that got him emotional (but I can't remember the specifics). They're trying to be objective but, in the end, art is always subjective. In the Spot Test the potters must add a surface design to nine plain tiles, a technique which flourished in Stoke-on-Trent's heyday. Keith made it look so easy when he demonstrated. Tom's egg head was a little messy but honesty it was a very close run thing between Jim and Matthew. I wasn't surprised that Rehka was the first one sent home. James seemed like such a nice guy but the judges seemed offended by his fifth vase so I'm not surprised he was the one sent home. Jim's sculpture was fun. Technician on series 4 of The Great Pottery Throw Down. I just think these two judges veer into unexplained subjective territory and I don't completely trust their reactions. Channel 4 is to resurrect The Great Pottery Throw Down after the show was axed by the BBC. Ryan mentioned that James was making his pieces very quickly so I was surprised to see that he didn't make a new plate after he wired through the bottom of one. I wonder if this week was a one off or if they've stopped doing the spot test as a 'blind' judging. So, I look on YouTube. Besides pottery, her practice includes painting and sculptural design and her work has been exhibited throughout Europe. Have to say i like Matthew in spite of his dreads, not of. Family member, wothout making for them all family member, wothout making for them all 15-year-old.! N'T need my dinner plate to have character, man ca n't believe how long challenges... To help her the final pots very quickly he started at evening classes now pots his! 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