What was the 100 Pots in 100 Days all about?
The 100 Pots challenge started with a bright idea from yours truly spoken about in a website development meeting in 2019.
The Somerset Archeological and Natural History Society (SANHS) didn’t have enough volunteers with the IT skills or cash to pay anyone to update their website so the Society had to think of a solution. As I was a volunteer and member of the website working group I came up with the idea of a sponsored pottery challenge. I thought it would also highlight what SANHS owns, does and stands for.
Did you know that:-
- Many of the artefacts looked after by the South West Heritage Trust are owned by SANHS and that SANHS funds the upkeep of these collections?
- Together with the South West Heritage Trust (SWHT), SANHS owns one of the largest collections of pottery in the UK outside the V&A?
- Much of the collection is stored in Taunton and that you can get it out if you request it?
- SANHS gives grants to people to promote the aims of the society?
Unless you know what is there and what SANHS and the SWHT do how can you ask for access to things that might interest you?
I felt that the website could be the solution if managed correctly. SANHS wanted to have the collections available to view, books and articles available to buy, grants available for people to access, activities so that courses, talks, walks and everything else was available for people to book on. So my challenge was to try and raise a bit of money for SANHS by doing what I love – pottery.
So how could I make it a challenge that people would sponsor?
Well I have always refused to throw. My father is a brilliant potter and he throws on the wheel. I sculpted figures using a highly grogged clay or paper clay. So the challenge to myself was to learn to throw and then to use the SANHS collections to inspire me. Also I have PTSD, am constantly poorly and have the concentration of gnat and, before I started this, was finding it hard to settle to anything even sculpture – so this really really really was a challenge.
If I had known what I know now about the process would I have done it?
The process I went through for each pot was as follows
- Research and increase my understand around the history of ceramics – techniques and context
- Prep the clay
- Throw a pot
- Dry the pot
- Turn the pot
- Decorate the pot – possibly add a handle etc
- Blog about the pot on twitter, two websites, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn etc
- Fire the pot
- Glaze the pot
- Fire the pot
- On top of all this I have to live and look after the house, gallery and my father.
and the answer is Yes even though it was much harder than I anticipated.
My journey went as follows
The first 50 days were really spent learning how to throw and looking for pots that reflected design or decoration within the collections. I read up about history and when people first started making pots and I understand much more about the Neolithic person through to the Romans. I am just touching on Saxon and later and my interest in the history of ceramics continues to build.
I was not skilled enough to make a pot that I had an idea about at the start of the process.
- Day 50 I started to be able to think more about what I was able to do
- Day 57 I started really looking at designs and finding the process of combining the archaeological with the making interesting.
- Day 64 I made something just for me as I was beginning to get confident that I would achieve the 100 pots and add some. I was up to 94 pots.
- Once the 100 pots and the 100 days had finished I then had to prepare for a talk at the Cotleigh Brewery which was a sell out.
- Finally the glazing. This was a whole new challenge and it was made more difficult as Dad had a major operation, was out of action and could not help me.
However the 100 Pots has finished and the website is working.
The funding?
We raise over £1000 and by funding me you funded the support that enabled the development of the website.
Thank you for all your help, for being interested and for sponsoring me. I hope, when you visit the SANHS Website you will feel inspired and fall in love with the collections as I have done.

Day 100: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary My last pot on my last day. I have now thrown 177 pots in total and earned over £1000 for SANHS. I turned a

Day 99: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Below is the pottery journey of pot 154 from good though to oops (it collapsed) and back to thank goodness I saved it by

Day 98: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary I decorated two cups today using the Donyatt ware as my inspiration. I used slip with iron oxide in different colours. I then loaded

Day 97: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So I spent today sorting out the blog so I can concentrate on the pots and getting ready for a firing. I would love

Day 96: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today I learnt that throwing is not as easy when you are cold and rushed! I can get easy shapes but I am having

Day 95: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary A very short diary today. I went to a celebration in Birmingham. If I have time to add anything new this evening I will

Day 94: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well drove back from the stomps gig last night and fell asleep! I have a little party to go to and hope to throw

Day 93: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Threw another two pots today and played with slip on the bowl turned yesterday. The videos for the two pots will go onto the

Day 92: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Played with slip today. Then had fun with throwing getting ready for playing with slip tomorrow! Summer colours Mugs First slip stained mugs Autumn

Day 91: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So after doing the clothes washing today and having a bath. I really needed one! I decided to sort out those stains. So I

Day 90: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today I spent most of it trying to mend electrical things, sort tax forms and try and sort issues with banks. I would never

Day 89: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary An interesting but slow day today. I spent the morning photographing the pots that came out of the kiln on Sunday with the numbers

Day 88: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Nothing much to say today. I seem to be in a creative low. So much to finish, tired and rather at the end of

Day 87: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today the firing was complete and I was able to look into the kilns but felt too tired to open them properly. and now

Day 86: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today I threw a pot. See below. I also went to my Uncles funeral. Uncle Barry was a kind man who was very family

Day 85: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Cows, turning pots, decorating pots and throwing pots. So I sorted all the pots and prepared them for firing. All was going well until

Day 84: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So I threw a bowl today. I seem to have regressed slightly. MY sides are thinner but the bottom a bit bumpy and it

Day 83: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary A Blow Fly infestation and a huge feeling of relief as we hoovered them up. That is my big news item today along with

Day 82: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Not feeling so well tonight. The slip decoration inspired me but after my sleepless night I think it may have taken its toll. The

Day 81: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well to start at the very beginning – I did not sleep last night because I got excited about decorating techniques. I kept my

Day 80: 100 Pots in 100 days
Diary Decided to make a bowl to hold a candle because I could. I have made ‘Pot Of The Day 99’ so the 100th ‘Pot

Day 79: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today is the cups and handles day! So I have to put the handles on the pots and then decorate them. I am

Day 78: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary I have been potting today and it went remarkably well. I moved away from slip as I had clay I could just play with

Day 77: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary I turned three pots at least today – I sort of lost count really. I know I did P144, P145 & P143. I then

Day 76: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well I have yet to throw my pot today. It is 11.08 so this will be short so I can go and make the

Day 75: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today is a short blog and includes a bruised drumming finger for your pleasure. I thought a bit of bruising might encourage some interest.

Day 74: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So I am so excited about slip decoration I am making pots to use it on. Only managed to make one today as I

Day 73: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Day 73: 100 Pots in 100 days Nearly 3/4 of the way! We have raised over £300 towards the website – exact figures coming

Day 72: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today I have been checking on pot numbers and photographing the most recent pots. Tomorrow it is extruding handles and making slip. Sunday

Day 71: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary well today was a lovely day. Having driven back from Alvechurch after a wonderful gig at The Tower of Song in Stirchley last night

Day 70: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Personally I have these steps really useful so far: Not to throw using too much water Wedge until the clay is a little stiffer

Day 69: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Day 69: 100 Pots in 100 Days Today I worked on height. I spoke to Dad about the Elton ware pot I tried to

Day 68: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today I was using Elton Ware as my inspiration although the pot of the day has an S shape profile which is quite common.

Day 67: 10 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Todays pot of the day has some flaws but looks ok to me. The issue appeared when putting the handle on. The base is

Day 66: 10 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well today I lost my brain! Not hard – it is very small. It all seemed to be going so well and then suddenly

Day 65: 10 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today I threw my first plate and I am well chuffed. I did the old ‘push it too far’ thing and the rim

Day 64: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well today I have found out that the reason why I am a tired irritable old baggage, isn’t because I am a pain in

Day 63: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So still not well but continuing to pot. feeling proud. So what news? Well I decided to get tighter with throwing. So mugs it

Day 62: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Too tired and internet slow – just putting pictures up to get started – see you tomorrow! Handles on mug Day 79 Strange pot

Day 61: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary The Pot of the day today is one of a set of three. They should have been mugs but I let them dry too

Day 60: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary The work? I am still on mugs. I have pulled handles but they will not be dry enough until tomorrow night. The handles are

Day 59: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today was a day of photographs and sorting to try and keep myself on track. I managed to put a file sorting application

Day 58: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary I was asked today to write about how I was feeling about the challenge in my diary. If I were to say ‘humble’ would

Day 57: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today I visited Amal Khreisheh Curator of Archaeology at SWHT and David Dawson who is an expert in Archeology with an amazing knowledge of ceramics

Day 56: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today I got irritated – sorry Somerset Art Weeks (SAW) – but I did. I think it is because I felt the challenge was

Day 55: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today I have been looking at Roman shapes. The pots that I liked and I thought I would try to emulate? I went

Day 54: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today I was look at Roman S Profile pots and tried to throw one. I am going to do a short one as I

Day 53: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary As always things happen that change your plan for the day. Today we lost my fathers brother, so much of what I had intended

Day 52: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Goodness I felt rubbish today. My pottery really was terrible. I couldn’t throw a bean. Spoke to Dad and he said it was the

Day 51: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary A short one today as I was preparing for Somerset Art Weeks. I made a flat plate today. I kept the foot really large

Day 50: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well today (at 1am) we put the two small kilns on to biscuit fire. I am doing the first firing of the ‘ready’ pots

Day 49: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well, cleaning took all day – again. I hope that now it is clean and tidy the routine of cleaning will not take a

Day 48: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today I went to the Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury. It was amazing. The shapes, decoration and techniques were inspiring. I will

Day 47: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary The boring side of pottery is the cleaning. Today I have been wet cleaning the entire studio to limit clay dust. I have washed

Day 46: 100 pots in 100 Days
Diary Today was the last day of 10 Parishes and we had lots of visitors all interested in the 100 Pots. They seemed fascinated by

Day 45: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today we had our first SANHS visitor. Welcome Anthony! The proof is in the photograph. I hope that the low numbers from the

Day 44: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary My first job was to empty the kiln. I made a facebook live video that you can see on my facebook page but I

Day 43: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary 100 pots all numbered and I seem to have 92 pots in total! Another great day in the gallery. We had a few visitors

Day 42: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Completing the handle on the jug couldn’t happen immediately as the handle had become too dry. So I had to make a new one

Day 41: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary What a busy day! I started by doing 7 minutes of exercise. I know you all wanted to know that. I look like a

Day 40: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today was the rest day after 10 Parishes and Wiveliscombe Fair. I woke early thinking I would do an amazing amount. Cooked a

Day 39: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today we were at the Wiveliscombe Street Fair but in the Bear. People are interested in the 100 Pots in 100 Days but

Day 38: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Well today I spent the day putting signs up and cleaning. Managed to throw my pot before 11pm so am just rushing to do

Day 37: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Pot of the Day Process Gallery Thrown Clay type: Stoneware Toasted Turned and decorated Decoration: Not decorated just tall! Biscuit Fired Kiln: ? Programme: ?Temperature:

Day 36: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary So today I have been madly pricing and photographing. The pricing in the gallery is done I just have to think about the layout

Day 35: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today we opened the kiln to find a mixture of amazing and interesting pots. We are not sure why bu we got a bit

Day 34: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary This will be short today and added to at a later date as I am going out later. Here is the pot that I

Day 33: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary The kiln went on again this evening, after we had taken out the previous firing (see pictures below). There were a couple of my

Day 32: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary A day spent making with the kiln cooling down beside me as my fathers pottery cools after a stoneware glaze. We were worried that

Day 31: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Diary Today I opened the small kiln to see the pots I had biscuit fired I am including my video live stream and a picture


Day 29: 100 Pots in 100 Days
News and Diary So today my father spoke to me again about different things I might do to improve my skills with regard to throwing.

Day 28: 100 Pots in 100 days
Today I asked my father how I might take my throwing to the next step. He said you could try the following two. Throw with

Day 27: 100 Pots in 100 Days
The same but different Although the pot from days 26 and 27 may look the same when put side by side they are very different.










Day 17: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Today I have been researching and amending my ‘potted potty history page’. I am learning so much. I have also been reading about the Mere

Day 16: 100 Pots in 100 Days
I used my nail and the tip of my finger to make the pattern on the outside of this pot. I was fascinated to learn









Day 7: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Pot of the Day Process Gallery Thrown Clay type: Earthstone Original Turned and decorated Decoration: No decoration Biscuit Fired Kiln: Big kiln Programme: E Temperature:

Day 6: 100 Pots in 100 Days
News update: Each day, if I post news here, it will be transfer to the blog so that the information is not lost. At 1

Day 5: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Just about to try and update the SANHS website now. It would be good if I could write on one and then transfer it to

Day 4: 100 Pots in 100 Days
Day 4. I am very tired. Lots of photographs. Few words. I was at the Steam Rally and my friends have gone. Need to sleep!!!

Day 3: 100 Pots in 100 Days
A new pot made. Another time lapse video. Working at the steam fair. Made a box and a strange man from a pinch pot. Not

Day 2: 100 Pots in 100 Days
I threw two pots. One from reconstituted clay which had more air bubbles than an aero! The pot was never going to work so I

Day 1: 100 Pots in 100 Days
So today is the start of the 100 Pot challenge. This means that I will make one pot a day for 100 days. Sounds simple? I