Jim Reeves in person meeting 8th February 2023
Presentation by Jim Reeves, 8th February 2023
On the evening of 8th February 2023 a large audience of WFP members and guests was treated to an entertaining and informative presentation by Jim Reeves.
Jim told us that after leaving school he took a degree course in ceramics at Loughborough University. In his final year he specialised in throwing, which he still loves. For his degree show he focussed on teapots made of a high-firing earthenware clay with no glaze but a refined surface finish. He showed us some of the pots from his degree show, explaining some key aspects of his aesthetic, such as combining refined surfaces and rough-looking joints and retaining the flashing on slip castings.
After his degree Jim realised it was not possible to make a living selling his teapots, which each took two weeks to make. Eventually he took a second degree in engineering and developed a successful career in product design and innovation.
Now Jim is again looking to build a business around making his teapots, but this time using the product design and entrepreneurial expertise he has gained. The plan is to use slip casting and other efficient manufacturing techniques. The design and development phase has made extensive use of computer-aided design, 3D rendering of images and the use of a 3D printer. The iterative development of the correct slips, casting and other manufacturing techniques has taken some time but he is now nearly there. At his talk he demonstrated slip casting a teabowl and finishing the interior using a jigger/jolley method. He also removed a teapot body from a mould and attached a foot to it.
The evening concluded with Jim drawing the winning ticket for his raffle prize, which was an IOU for one of the first teapot and cup sets to be made which meet his exacting standards.
Thanks