Thrown and altered form.
Potter’s Day with
Nic Collins and Sabine Nemet
In 2023 our Potters Day returned to its usual month of January. We were very pleased to welcome Nic Collins and Sabine Nemet, based at The Barn Pottery at Moretonhampstead in Devon, who demonstrated and talked about their work.
Nic is an internationally renowned wood-firing potter who built one of the first anagama kilns in the UK. Nic’s pots are often quite big, and he has written a key book on techniques for throwing large pots. The pots are fired for several days and Nic’s skill in firing enables him to produce dramatic surfaces from the flames and the accumulation of ash. Sabine also fires with wood, but her focus is on the effects of soda, which is sprayed into the hot kiln and produces attractive glaze effects. She produces a wide range of functional pottery, generally thrown on the wheel and often decorated with subtle stamp marks. More than one WFP member have attended one of Nic and Sabine’s regular wood-firing courses, where participants help to fire both kilns.
We were treated to talks and demonstrations by two very accomplished potters with their own individual approach to surface and form. Nic explained after a lifetime of throwing largely functional pottery that his work has become more expressive and free while Sabine likes precise forms that can be repeated.
As usual the “West Forest Feast” was a thing to behold and just as delicious.
Many thanks to Nic and Sabine for a very enjoyable and successful day. More photographs to follow,
