A Potter's Craft with Tom Knowles Jackson

Check out Tom Knowles Jackson and his work here:
  / tkjpots  
http://www.tkjceramics.com/
https://www.theclayloft.co.uk/home.html

Bernard Leach, hailed as the father of British studio pottery, effectively brought a slice of Asian craft techniques and philosophy to the West in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, when he became more broadly known upon the publication of his book, A Potter’s Book. Leach worked closely with Japanese philosopher, Soetsu Yanagi and potter Shoji Hamada, two leading champions of the folk-art revival, the mingei movement.

We all interact with functional, physical objects every day of our lives. Tables and chairs, cups and plates, clothes and bags. These comprise what we call the mundane, the worldly, as opposed to the spiritual, the ethereal. But this very division is artificial, false. In fact, commonplace, everyday items can be made in such a way as to imbue them with deeper meaning, with the human spirit. In turn, the use of beautiful, handmade objects can suffuse our lives with meaning and connection. We have gotten far away from all this, in our ever-increasingly digital and industrial and mechanized society. But there is a fundamental thirst for the real, the human, the unself-conscious beauty of an everyday item made by skilled hands. This thirst explains the increased interest in pottery classes, bookbinding, weaving, foraging, gardening, knitting, and all the crafts. Bernard Leach wrote: “Work done with heart and hand is ultimately worship of Life Itself.”

We sense a loss, and we are finding our way back to the world.

For Tom Knowles Jackson, one way of healing this wound is with honest clay pots and homemade food and drink shared with friends and family.