Remembering the Empty Coolamons

What! Did the Hand Then of the Potter shake?
Omar Khayyam

When coming to any form of creative expression, two questions arise for me in context of the function: Who is it for? What is it for?

So, who is this article for? Is it the community of ceramicists gathered together from around the world at Clay Gulgong 2018? Maybe it has relevance to the wider world of those initiates who frequent the mysterious world only potters know? But maybe that’s all. Furthermore, what is this article for? What point does the writing of this article serve? What insights of value can my reflections offer, as someone who shares the inner-life of a ceramicist but does not consider themselves anything like an authority in the field of ceramics?

This is despite forty years of working with all stages of ceramics, from making, to glazing, to firing, and exhibiting; to being taught by some wonderful teachers such as the late Mike Kusnik, from whom I learnt ceramics chemistry for six years during my diploma and undergraduate degree; to Petrus Spronk from