A box of snakes
Potting is quite a solitary profession but I'm used to working on my own and relying on myself. Recently the heating elements had to be replaced in the kiln. They had been playing up for a while creating annoying random pockets of heat, and then cooler areas, as they limped along on their last legs. All glazes need an even temperature to get the best possible results and I know these smart new coils of heat will make a big difference. As the kiln experts and fitters, Simon and Steve, headed back to Cornwall with the old elements rustling around in their car boot like a box of dusty snakes, I realised that actually I'm not alone; there is a whole team of people helping me behind the scenes. There are the people who make the clays and porcelains, the technicians who create the glazes and lustres and lastly, the delivery drivers who bring everything to me in Devon all the way from the potteries in Staffordshire. I have never met any of these clever people, and they have never seen what I do with all their lovely materials, but we are still a team and that's a good feeling.