1. You can eat your breakfast off it! Ok, so one of the best things about pottery is that it is really practical and has a use. Just in case you needed a reason to treat yourself to some amazing pottery item. It's going to make your home and your life more beautiful every day.
2. It reminds you of a time, a place, or even a person. Just like these egg cups that belonged to my parents. Each time I use these, I think of my mum and dad...which is what also makes it a great gift. I also have an amazing tea set they bought on their honeymoon.
3. Hand crafted pottery is a really affordable way of collecting art. I make all of my pieces by hand and all the decoration is hand drawn and painted or linocut. Each piece is an individual work of art.
4. It has a long and rich history. There is a Japanse coiled vessel in the Brooklyn Museum in NYC dated at 10,000 B.C. The earthenware pieces that I make in my studio in East Sussex today use centuries old techniques, with work formed by hand and on the potters wheel. I highly recommend the ceramics galleries in the V&A museum if you want to get up close to the history of ceramics.
5. It's tactile and comes from the earth. I love the way that clay is so malleable and picks up patterns and indentations in a process that is strongly linked to printmaking. Infact I use a ceramics linocut technique in my own work. If you are interested in having a go yourself then check out a local course, or look out for Hey Clay events run by the Crafts Council. I occasionally teach at Eastbourne Studio Pottery and I highly recommend the courses by other teachers at this community run ceramics studio.