Jerry Coleman/A POTTER'S DAY-JERRY COLEMAN helps organize a potters' market in France

摘要

Having never organised a ceramics festival in England I don't know how it compares to what happens here in Prance. I am president of an association of potters and those interested in ceramics, which is based in a small, traditional pottery village just outside Bordeaux. Each year we organise our annual Fete de la Poterie, a medium-sized potters' market showing the work of around thirty-four potters from various parts of France and Spain. The costs of organising a simple weekend event like this are horrendous so we have to set up a range of activities, not least of which is the bar and the grill. They are staffed by local volunteers, the latter wafting a delicious smoky barbecue smell around the potters' stands and tempting the euros from the pockets of the public. If it is hot, like last year when we recorded 42°C, then the beer goes at a fantastic rate, making the association treasurer happy. So, being a responsible president, for the first time in my life I am a licensee for the weekend. There will also be various activities to attract visitors. We have built a replica of a circular medieval pit kiln which is to be fired over the weekend and its contents sold by auction afterwards. There's also a raku stand where visitors can decorate pre-biscuited tea bowls, which are then fired.