The Great Pottery Throw Down is the soothing show that everyone should be watching. Yes, the contestants are talented and make for great TV, but the real stars of Pottery Throw Down, now in its seventh series, are the technicians.
The show, which first aired on BBC Two before moving to Channel 4 (just like The Great British Bake Off did!) in 2020, is presented by Derry Girls favourite Siobhán McSweeney. The judging panel includes long-time judge Keith Brymer Jones, best known for being brought to tears by the pottery nearly episode, along with ceramicists Kate Malone and Sue Pryke.
In 2021, the show's in-house technician, Rich Miller, was bumped up to the judging panel. Fans at the time were delighted.
Of course, we couldn't possibly comment on his 'lovely hands', being professionals and all that. But seeing as Rich was the long-term Pottery Throw Down technician, his promotion added an extra element to a show that has always been unabashed about really its technical love and appreciation for pottery.
But Rich joining the panel leaving a vacancy for a new Pottery Throw Down technician to do all the kiln stuff (that's a technical term, guys!). The new technician is Rose Schmits, a Dutch ceramicist based in London.
On her website, Rose says that her work as a ceramic artist is inspired by her experiences as a transgender woman, and explores themes of bodies, transformation, sex, gender, monstrousness and beauty. 'Schmits' work is both fine art and craft, and a statement that the rules of pottery can always be broken in new and interesting ways,' her website reads.
She wrote: 'Being from Delft, I see the iconic blue and white ceramics as symbolic of a constrictivepast, both my personal past and a societal past. Breaking with the traditional designs of the pottery and use the techniques to make pieces that are bodily, phallic, queer and looking like growing tendrils, imposes "transness" onto a traditional past. My ceramic pieces embody my experience of acknowledging my origins whilst fully celebrating the ownership over my body and identity the trans experience has given me.'
The Best Pottery To Shop On Etsy:
Best Pottery on Etsy
1 of 9Deborah Wren Ceramics, Handmade Ceramic Tomato and Three Chillies on a White Oval Dish, £55
2 of 9Matt Calder Pottery, Cereal Bowl. Soup Bowl. Noodle Bowl. Ceramic Stoneware. Handmade Studio Pottery, £22
3 of 9Noah's Box Shop, Pottery Starter Kit | 2kg White Clay + 8pc Tools + 6pc Colours Sets + 3 Brushes, from £35
4 of 9The Craft Society UK, Pottery Date Night Box for Two with Conversation Cards, from £29.99
5 of 9Moroccan White, Moroccan Unglazed Tamegroute Abstract White Ecru Picasso Sculpture, £145
6 of 9NSP Pottery, Handmade Pottery Mug, £17.95
7 of 9Deborah Wren Ceramics, Handmade Ceramic Artichoke on a Dish: Globe Artichoke on an Oval Dish, £65
8 of 9Quite Contrary Pottery, Handmade pottery ceramic trinket bowl nautical fish, £8
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