It’s been a very busy time with family staying (there were many spread over the weeks), and me working on promotional material for my novel throughout to meet the publicist’s deadlines. But there were nice moments, like drinking Prosecco on the patio with family. It was a brother-in-law who spotted the clay forms clumped on the outside table, and said “what are these?” “You may well ask? I replied. “I made them years ago, as part of my teaching degree.” I was a late starter regarding my education, and began this, my first degree, at fifty. And although I had been tutoring art to adult students for years before this, I decided to give academia a go.

There were several elective subjects I could choose from the programme, and I decided to enrol for a ceramics module. As I could draw and paint okay, I thought myself able to tackle clay. These little sculptures were just one part of the course. Our brief for the first of two stacking forms, was to consider the tactile nature of our pieces, with textures engraved in the clay. These we made hollow, with a small hole punched underneath to avoid bursting during their Raku-style firing. It was great to see they had all survived the experience, and when cool, I wound string around their middles to add a different texture. We sketched our pieces in charcoal on newsprint paper after they emerged from the kiln. Though time has aged both the clay forms and myself, I did love sketching them and to look back on them all.

In addition to the hollow shapes we were asked to research an image of a head and shoulders’ bust we were going to be making using a coiling method. This time we first were asked to sketch a few conceptual drawings for ways we might inscribe our figures.

I was pleased I had kept the conceptual sketches, as the finished product was not nearly so refined. I realised too late that I had used applied too much clay which weighted the back of the head to an unrecoverable position, and I had to live with that. It was a great learning experience however, and if I were ever to repeat the modelling of a head in clay I would be aware of these wee traps which catch the uninitiated. I’m pleased to report a neighbour loved the bust, and I was happy for her to pop it in her garden.