To celebrate their 50th anniversary, The Dacorum & Chiltern Potters Guild are organising a second Potters Open Day. This one will be slightly different as the artists will be doing a more joined up presentation. Poetry and ceramics! Caroline Bird Sharon Griffin and Russell Kingston.
Poet and playwright Caroline Bird grew up in Leeds, the daughter of noted theatre director and producer Jude Kelly. Bird’s first collection of poems, Looking Through Letterboxes (2002), was published when she was just 15. Her other collections of poetry include Trouble Came to the
Turnip (2006); Watering Can (2009); The Hat-Stand Union (2013); In These Days of Prohibition (2017), which was shortlisted for both the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Ted Hughes Award; and The Air Year (2020). Bird’s work has been commended for her dexterous use of image, pun, and voice; poet Simon Armitage described Bird’s poetry as “spring-loaded, funny, sad and deadly.” Her poems have been widely anthologized, and in 2012, she was an official poet at the London Olympics. Her poem The Fun Palace is on permanent display at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Bird is also a successful playwright. She was the youngest ever member of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme, working under the guidance of Simon Stephens. Her plays include the musical The Trial of Dennis the Menace, which debuted in 2012 in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre. She is at work on the book and lyrics for the musical for the Old Vic. Bird’s other plays include a new version of The Trojan Women for the Gate Theatre (2012), Chamber Piece for the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith’s Secret Theatre season (2013), and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for Northern Stage (2015). In 2013, Bird was shortlisted for Most Promising New Playwright at the Off-West-End Awards.
Bird’s honours and awards include an Eric Gregory Award, and she has twice won the Foyle Young Poet of the Year award. She won third prize in the Poetry London Competition in 2007 and the Peterloo Poetry Competition in 2004, 2003, and 2002. She has been shortlisted twice for the Dylan Thomas Prize, was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and was on the shortlist for the Shell Woman of the Future Awards. Bird teaches at the Arvon Foundation and is a writer-in-residence for First Story. She lives in London.
Ceramic Sculptor Sharon Griffin gained a BA (Hons) 3D Design (Ceramics) in 1997 and an MA Ceramics in 2003 from the University of Wolverhampton. With over 15 years of teaching experience within further and higher education, Sharon has a solid background in fine art practice and a strong foundation as a figurative sculptor.
Sharon’s sculptures aim to be expressive and emotive, and to capture the essence of humanity. Clay is used as an artistic medium to be witness to the inner self and to explore wider human issues including psychology, connectivity, and healing. Her work is semi-autobiographical and she wishes it to act as a platform for discussion.
Russell Kingston Slipware Potter: "I work in the Slipware tradition. Its roots in North Devon are what drew me to it. Its humble origins of the everyday medieval pot to its vibrant place in today's studio pottery are what kept me captivated. My pots are made for the kitchen, oven and table with function at their heart to enhance the everyday cooking and eating experience. My work, while being deeply rooted in North Devon's heritage and country pottery traditions, has a contemporary freshness to it.
My pots are thrown, slabbed and extruded. I use very minimal tools or ribs, in order to preserve the human touch and champion the making processes. My work is made quickly with confidence, capturing the energy of the making. The same approach is taken with my use of Slip. This is all in keeping with the country pottery traditions. I do this with aesthetic in mind resulting in exciting pots full of life."
Event Details:
9.30am - 4.30pm | Trestle Theatre, Russet Drive, St Albans, Herts AL4 0JQ
You can attend in person or on Zoom.
Ticket Prices:
In-person Ticket: £45 plus fees | DCPG members £35 plus fees | Zoom: £25 plus fees