STUDIO POTTERY
It is a remarkable fact that in the 1950s the BBC kept up its sleeve a few pre-recorded ‘interludes’ which were broadcast between shows. Or on standby ready for when a giant cathode ray tube exploded behind the scenes at Portland Place. The most famous and most loved of these was the “Potters Interlude”. In it, a potter’s hands (you never actually saw the man who owned the pair of hands – and it was a man obvs, this was the BBC in the 1950s) would make various vase-type objects on the wheel, without ever finishing one.
In today’s world of channel hopping and micro attention spans, it all seems utterly bonkers.
Or does it?
Because believe it or not, right in the heart of Central London’s Belgravia is a thriving, in fact positively booming, pottery studio stuffed full of very normal folk, hipsters and famouses throwing pots like there’s no tomorrow. The rather snappily named Studio Pottery London does what it says on the tin. Founded in 2019 by Lucy Attwood, an ex art buyer at Christie’s Auction House along with her ceramics tutor, Gregory Tingay, a former Benedictine monk turned master potter.
Somewhat counterintuitive in a mighty modern city like London, nestled behind Victoria Coach Station, in the shadow of the constant stream of National Express buses heading off to all corners of Britain lies a creative powerhouse which is so in demand it has a waiting list to sign up to its plethora of classes and workshops.
And it’s not just about folk wanting to throw a pot alongside Henry Holland or make a tile with Alexa Cheung. The explanation all lies in the BBC’s 1950s Potters Interlude. You see the reason why the Potters Interlude was the most popular interlude was because of the moment of calm and serenity it provided to the viewer.
That was the 1950s. Which from where we’re sitting seems like a decade of greyness, tedium and monotony compared with the post-internet world that we are all hanging on to by our fingertips. If they needed a moment of calm, serenity and a Woodbine then, we need it on an intravenous drip now.
So, rather like the recent meteoric rise of the allotment, the search for a slower, more meditative world is, rather paradoxically, all the rage right now. Folk are desperate to escape the stresses and strains of life for an hour or two. And literally nothing (legal) compares to the meditative state that working a pot on a wheel can deliver. Just imagine how good that wet clay feels in your hands…
So, sign up a www.studio-pottery-london.com to book yourself on to a course. No experience needed. Just an inquisitive mind and a pair of hands.
