Why Clay?
The visual arts have an incredible power to explore social and emotional ideas…
Pottery is an accessible visual-art form; we interact with pottery in our daily lives, so we understand it. Yet at the same time pottery involves a kind of alchemy, transforming raw materials into finished work - and that holds a real magic.
Clay can be used in a huge number of ways, from expressive sculptural work to functional tableware, meaning that as well as it being a means for realising emotional and social concepts, it can also be used easily in enterprise projects, which can give young people a tangible, real-life experience of running a creative business.
Clay is also incredibly tactile and has been proven to be therapeutic, and working with clay (rolling coils, cutting slabs or applying surface decoration) aids in the development of fine motor skills and creative problem solving, often overlooked in family environments and schools.
“This is hard to put into words. Clay is such a wonderful material which promotes the handler (of any age or experience-level) to engage intuition, multiple senses and to kick into problem- solving it a really positive way”
- Sara Flynn
“From the ground or a bag! Clay is an amorphous malleable material. It comes in all sorts of colours, textures and qualities. For the young it is an exciting hands on wobbly wet material, what’s not to like!”
- Annie Turner
“Working with any craft can be transformative, clay in particular can be totally absorbing and take you away from the harshness of life, and provide a valuable sense of personal achievement. It can often be the trigger for future creativity which is important for the balance of our society”
- Felicity Aylieff
“Creating something from a formless, soft material to a solid 3D considered form that can be fired and made to last forever is something very special, almost magical. Working with clay is often very calming and creating will always give a sense of achievement.”
- Andrew Wicks
“I think it is virtually impossible to go crazy if you work in clay, messing about with mud, takes you to a different place, a whole day goes by and you haven’t noticed”
- Roger Law