Feature on creative - John the Potter

One sunny July morning John zoomed into The Ruby Orchard parking lot with a truck full of beautifully glazed ceramics. He was on a selling & promoting road trip around South Africa, something he'd been preparing for all year. This particular visit came with a warning - it was an annual thing and he wouldn't be back any time soon so we'd better stock up big time! And that we did, from little saucers to big salad bowls we filled the store with his delightful ceramics. The success of his products have us hoping with crossed fingers that he will be zooming back into The Ruby Orchard again next year!

Read on to find out how John got hooked on clay....

How did your pottery begin? When / where / how did it all start?
I studied fine art and religion in America and found myself in the ceramic studio more and more.  I spent one semester on the biggest ceramic campus in Pennsylvania this coincided with Americas annual clay bash which happened in Philadelphia that year.  Hanging out with some of Americas best potters got me hooked on clay.

Why do you do what you do?
I have always wanted to be involved in the arts in some way and discovered I am a pyromaniac and pottery brings creativity and fire together, especially in the firing techniques that I use.

When you were younger what did you want to be when you grew up?!
A film director or photographer until I discovered kilns

What inspires you when designing new products?
Experimenting with what can be achieved in the kiln with glazes.

What are your hopes and dreams for your products?
To be used and enjoyed and to make enough of a living to support my family.

About you… 
What’s your - Top Song? Top Food? Top beverage? Top Place? Top movie? 
Top song – swordfish trombones by Tom Waits
Top food – rendang curry
Top beverage – luddite shiraz
Top place – Bettys Bay
Top movie – Dancer in the dark

Imagine you are heading out for dinner with a bunch of creative geniuses - who would be sitting around the table with you?
Tom Waits, Father Thomas Bezanson, Greg Daily and Lars von Trier