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MI: How did the co-operative come about?
BW: We all met in Germany in 1984 where we shared a studio.
I was teaching English. Some of us were studying too. There are
8 of us in the collective, 2 Germans, 1 American and the rest are
British.
MI: Why did you decide to come to Cley?
BW: Well we'd reached the point where we could either continue
with the pottery full-time or continue with our various careers.
But that involved working through the long German apprenticeship
system.
We would have had to undergo training as "meisters" (potters)
which takes about 7 years and we decided that we didn't want to
do that.
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We decided on England because we all had connections
with the country.
I had known Cley as a child, my parents live in Blakeney, and had
introduced the area to the Germans who understandably loved it.
It's also close to the ports for the Germans to get back home!
MI: Did you seriously consider anywhere else for the shop?
BW: We did look at Cornwall but it's miles from anywhere.
Eventually the others found our premises which, until 1972 was the
village shop. It's a fantastic property, and ideal for the way we
work. Everything can be done on site, including the firing of the
pottery.
MI: How is your work influenced?
BW: Our style as a group is pretty homogenous. The pottery
is mostly in stoneware, which means its high fired and oven proof,
all very practical. The idea is to make functional ware that's very
attractive at the same time. It's hand thrown stoneware pottery,
which is different to earthenware, which is porous.
Bangles |
Our jewellery is mainly in silver but some pieces
contain gold and semi-precious or precious stones. I'd describe
the designs as contemporary with clean cut lines.
The colours in all of our work are mostly of a
natural type and we uses about 10-15 glazes.
MI: So how are you planning to celebrate?
BW: We're launching a free exhibition
at the shop, showing the range of our crafts, which include jewellery,
sculpture and prints too. We do very little wholesale so we have
freedom to do what we want and many of the pieces could be described
as unique.
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MI: What do you hope for the future?
BW: To keep going for another 20 years and to keep enjoying
it!
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