12 potters started...
I'm really excited. Woo!
Oh, my God.
..and over the last nine weeks
they've wowed us
with some sensational ceramics.
The amount of detail is staggering.
From gargoyles...
Good Lord almighty!
..to table lamps.
You've done a fantastic job.
Oh!
Time for a quick Brazilian.
They've fought fire...
Come on, kiln gods.
Whoa! Hey!
..water...
Is it leaking? Oh, lovely.
Yeah. Don't cry cos you'll
make me cry!
..and they've played a blinder.
Careful when you put it down. No!
t*rture, pottery t*rture.
But one by one the potters
said goodbye.
Friends for life. Friends for life.
Now for James...
Pff.
..Jon...
It's a solid bump.
..and Lois...
..just two challenges remain
to decide who will be crowned
Britain's best home potter.
Welcome to the final of
the Great Pottery Throw Down.
# Making time
# sh**ting lines
# People have their uses
# People have their uses. #
This year's Throw Down final
features three very different
potters.
Hello. Are you excited?
Just a little, yeah.
Nice, calm, neat.
Could you pretend to be chaotic?
I don't want to ruin this!
James has wowed the judges
week after week
with his incredible hand building...
They're brilliant.
I love the level of detail.
..skill at the wheel...
It's very well thrown, really.
It is. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The moulding's better than my one.
..and decorative flair...
The quality of the brushwork
in the bowls is exquisite.
..winning an incredible
five second challenges in row
and Potter of the Week twice.
Oh, thank you, thank you!
It just keeps ramping up each week,
realising how far you're getting.
Going to find my bench
for the very last time.
I'd like to be the winner. Yeah,
definitely. But there's a lot to do.
So that's what I'm focusing
on, really. And it is the final.
So, yeah, last chance.
Lois... Yeah?
My God, have you excelled.
It's so full of character!
It's absolutely lovely.
From the start Lois has
blown everyone away
with her ambitious builds...
I just have to admire
the sheer volume of work.
The surfaces, the texture
that you've created.
..and unique style.
We've come to see from you,
you know, your decorative skills,
your skills with a brush.
They're beautiful.
Despite moments of self-doubt...
Don't give yourself such
a hard time all the time
because this is fantastic.
..she's been crowned
Potter of the Week four times.
It's a big confidence boost
to get this far.
I've proved something to myself,
for sure.
But I know that I've got more
to give.
I'm just going to try and do
as much as I can, as well as I can,
and fingers crossed
that I pull it off.
You got the, uh, ruler out again,
Jon?
Yeah, I've got the ruler out. Yeah.
Just go with your heart, mate.
Oh, BLEEP!
After a shaky start...
I mean, whoops.
..Jon's planning and attention
to detail
has helped him produce some
incredible ceramics.
It's absolutely wonderful.
You've captured the stance of
the animal,
the texture of the skin.
And he's employed his
technical know-how...
I've got loads of 3D printed
kit again. Yes!
So what software do you use
to model that in?
Oh, my God! Pottery, pottery!
Sorry.
..to make up for his lack of skill
with a brush.
That beautiful crisp line
you've captured in the tile
hasn't transferred to the... Yes.
..to the basins.
Yeah, when I had to start
using a brush it fell apart.
But week by week he has
unleashed his artistic flair...
Jon, I have faith in you
and your inner flamboyance.
..securing Potter of the Week twice.
You've come out of that
engineering personality
into the kind of artist.
It'd be brilliant to win.
I'm coming with a slightly negative,
"Oh, it's going to be one of
the others who're going to win,"
but I'll try.
I'll do everything I can to win.
But it'd be lovely to show that
I have got other artistic skills
that I didn't personally think
I had,
and, you know, I don't think
it's what people expect
but you've got to go out
with a bang.
You can't go out with a big crack
and a whimper, really, so...
Good luck, guys.
Yay!
Welcome to the final.
You should be very, very proud of
what you've achieved. Well done.
OK, for your main make challenge,
the judges would like you to make
a pyramid vase centrepiece.
They want bold, striking, symbolic
vases
that would take pride of place
in any room.
Now, Keith, any words of advice?
Your pyramid vases must be
made up of four parts,
stacked on top of each other.
Now, each section must have
at least three spouts,
and it must be able to hold water.
It is a vase, after all.
The inspiration for your
pyramid vases is you.
Each section should tell us about
a different aspect of
your life or personality.
This should take the form of
framed illustrated motifs.
And keep in mind, this is the final,
so use it as an opportunity
to show off as many decorative
and making skills as you can.
We're looking for that statement
piece. Give us that wow factor.
OK then, potters.
You have been given seven
and a half hours
to make your pyramid vases,
and your time starts
now.
Yeah, here we go! Oh, my word.
It is a wonderful feeling.
It does feel like a big event.
Just got to deliver on it now.
Good to get into it, you know,
all this sort of planning
and preparing and thinking through
what you're going to do.
Now just got to focus
and get on with it.
There's a lot to do,
there's four pieces,
so it's all about making
a good start really.
Rich, it's the final!
The final, yeah.
We have our three potters.
We do, and what a brilliant
challenge to give them,
a pyramid vase.
It stems from Holland.
It's essentially
to display tulips in
and it's a classic iconic
piece of ceramic, isn't it?
Yeah, absolutely.
You look around these examples.
Yeah. Just the structure,
the way every section is piled
one on top of the other,
I mean, it's going to be interesting
to see how our potters
choose to approach the build.
There's a lot of elements,
and it really is quite
a technical construction.
They may wish to hand build,
they may wish to throw.
But they need to have precision
at the core of their build
to make sure they slot together.
And let's not forget, it's a vase,
so they just don't want to leak!
Definitely not. Cracks could be
catastrophic in this challenge.
And then it's the decoration.
They can use brush decoration,
sprigs, relief work.
Ultimately, these pyramid vases
are a great opportunity
for our potters to show
every skill they've got,
throw everything at it.
We just want to be wowed.
I want to see their personalities
all over them
and we can go, "Yeah.
Oh, that's Lois,
"that's James and that's Jon
in a pyramid vase."
Hello, James. Hello, James.
Good morning, hello.
Hello. The final. I know, yeah!
How are you feeling? Um, excited.
As long as I make something
I'm pleased with, that's my aim.
Well, tell us about your plan.
Each one's a different
part of my life.
On the bottom layer,
I will have family,
then on the second one, my teaching.
Running is the third one up,
and then the pottery
is the top one. OK.
I'm going to try and make double
wall vases so they'll be quite
heavy.
There's a lot of clay, it's going to
take a while to dry out. Right.
Why making them double walled?
Well, I've decided to do double
walls to give it a bit more
stability
but where it joins there's a chance
that you'll get a crack.
Yeah. Hopefully... And
it's just that drying, isn't it?
Well, when it's double walled,
inside,
there's that cavity that doesn't
really get the air. Yeah.
In a final bid to wow the judges
with his skill at the wheel,
James' double walled vases
will each be dedicated to
something special in his life.
And his ambition extends
to his decoration too.
He'll add sprigs, stamps and motifs
illustrated with sgraffito
and brushwork.
Coming out all g*ns blazing.
Sprigs, double walls,
hand decoration. Yeah. Yeah.
Wow. Well, look good luck.
We've got seven and a half hours.
So should be able to come up
with something decent.
Well, it is the final. Yeah.
Oh, it is, isn't it? Yeah!
The success of the potters'
pyramid vase
rests quite literally upon its base.
# You got a gold suede coat
and a soul like fire... #
This is going to have to carry
the weight of the rest of it
so it's quite important
to get this right.
And having set himself the technical
challenge
of throwing his double walled...
Come on, come on,
come on a bit higher.
..for James, the pressure's on.
I'm a little bit nervous, just
making sure I can get the size
and control the clay enough.
And, while James and Lois
have chosen the wheel...
My base piece is slab built.
..Jon's playing to his
engineering strengths.
Slab building, it is just about
accuracy. Precision.
But because every piece...
One, two, three, four...
..must be cut and leather hard
before construction
can even begin...
..15, 16, 17, 18.
18 pieces in the base.
..he'll have to work fast.
Yeah, it's a risk, but I think
we've got to show some variety
and I don't want to throw
every single level.
Adorned with childhood memories,
Jon's base will support
a series of vases
narrating the key stages of his life
through increasingly fluid forms,
culminating in a flamboyant finial
trumpeting his creative achievements
in this year's Throw Down.
How are you going about
decorating this?
We saw with your sinks,
the brushwork wasn't great.
No, no, it wasn't.
So what are you doing?
I've got some 3D rollers,
hopefully to help me out
with that decoration phase,
which I'm always weaker in. Yeah.
And then I'm going to do some
practising on my brushwork
whilst they're in the kiln!
Yeah. You deserve to be in
the final and you're here
because of the way you plan
the process all the way through.
Hmm. And you're...you're building
to flamboyance,
which is really wonderful!
Breathe.
So I've put the base in
the drying room.
It's a lot of clay there. It's
going to take a long time to dry,
which I...one thing I am
worried about.
As James and Lois push on,
with his slabs finished
and firming up...
It's a solid bump.
..Jon can finally join them
at the wheel.
This is the top finial.
This is the flamboyant bit.
And I want a good, trumpety shape,
really.
Come on, up you come.
But James' double wall design...
Don't collapse, don't collapse.
..isn't going to plan.
That's collapsed.
sh**t.
I am going to stop here.
The outside wall's not as tall
as the inside wall.
So what I'll probably do is
I'll dry it
and then just coil the rest.
And James...
Oh, God. Oh, God!
..isn't the only one with
a problem to fix.
I'm having minor disaster time.
This section's about
my teaching career
and supporting children
with special needs.
So this is a rescue mission
in progress.
Inspired by the things
she holds close to her heart,
Lois' pyramid vase will
take the form of a self-sculpture,
perched on three small feet
and decorated head to toe
with intricate brushwork,
sprigs and stamps.
I mean, it's quite a complex build.
Do you have any concerns
with the engineering of it all?
I'm in blissful ignorance
at the moment!
Are you throwing these?
The majority of it, yeah,
I was planning to slab build
this base.
But those joins scare me,
so I kind of chickened out of that.
I mean, there's a lot of work
to do, Lois.
I feel like we ought to leave you
to get on. Yeah. Yeah.
OK. Good luck. Thank you.
Crikey, good luck. Thank you.
Four hours to go...
I think that's got quite a bit
of flamboyance, hasn't it?
I'm pretty happy with that.
So it's on to the spouts next.
The spouts are all going to be
quite different.
Going to have two arms.
The middle ones are like pockets.
So now I'm going to throw off the
hump so I've got a big lump of clay,
and then I'll make pieces
off the top.
So how are you getting on?
I'm just a bit grumpy, really.
Are you a bit grumpy?
Yeah, I've got the hump.
Oh!
Walked into that one.
Oh, I'm walking out of it!
Wahey.
With their spouts thrown
and vases and slabs dried
to leather hard...
Oh, my goodness.
There's half a bag of clay there!
..construction can begin.
So this'll be the base.
And I'll start with the tops.
So lots to cut first.
But before James can begin,
he still has to finish
building two of his
double walled vases.
To make up for the gap,
I'm going to coil the rest of it.
It's not going as planned
cos I wanted to throw it
and that would've saved me
quite a bit of time.
This is the tummy area of my lady.
This is going to be the front.
Couple of front pockets.
This section here is about
my husband Adam,
meeting him at school and
our children.
Adam's really, really supportive
for my creative endeavours.
Without him I don't think
I would've done it.
We met at school
in music practice.
She's quite a skilled musician.
Plays the violin and the flute.
And I'm a terrible brass player.
I suppose she probably
took pity on me.
We were friends from that point
until eventually
one New Year's Eve, when we were 16,
we got together.
We've been together ever since.
Lois is creative in
everything she does.
Everything she makes
has got a part of her in it.
But this is a real leap of faith
for her.
There's that huge risk involved
in putting your heart
and soul into something
and then allowing it
to be exposed to...
..to the world,
and judged, ultimately.
She just has grown and grown
in her self-belief.
And it's just so exciting
and so impressive.
I've always believed in her
and we've got two boys who
get to look up to their mum
and see what she's capable of.
What do you think you'll do
if she wins the whole thing?
Uh...
Go upside down...
..with pretty much nothing
except for my pants on.
Yeah, I think I'll do that as well!
I'm just making the feet.
I decided to do feet because
I really wanted to just
lift her up a bit,
put her high heels on
and style it out!
This is my favourite sort of thing
to do.
Build stuff and just not measure it,
just be like,
"Oh, yeah that'll work."
Yeah, this slab construction needs
precision to slot together.
I used to make models of buildings
with cardboard,
so you fold pieces of card
with little tabs on the corners,
like you buy.
But used to make my own.
The models he did, just brilliant.
He really went for it.
He's always loved
building things with his hands
and making things.
When we went to France
and we went up Puy de Dome,
which is an extinct volcano,
when we came back he made a model
of this
in paper mache and things,
all painted up,
with the road going round
and a little
temple of Venus
on the top and everything.
He made it all. And then we
went horse riding in France,
didn't we? Oh, yeah.
And after you'd ridden that,
we found out you were allergic
to horses.
And this one is you doing some
engineering construction work.
Or demolition, there.
Breaking up some concrete.
Well, he went into structural
engineering and so on
cos he wanted to build things
that he could stand back and say,
"I did that. I built that."
He was proud of what he'd done.
When he was young,
Jonathan was very quiet.
We couldn't believe
he'd entered this,
this quiet little boy
we used to have,
entering that to go on the
television!
And he's done really well. Yeah.
I'm already super proud of him.
I think he's done so well
to get this far
and it'd be lovely if he could win
and finish it off. Oh, yeah.
I'd be immensely proud of him,
but no more than I am already.
I've been proud of him for years.
So he's not going to change that.
Something's not working right.
I think I might have got confused
with one of my measurements,
so...having a small panic.
Is it sabotage from Lois?
Yeah, I think it probably was Lois!
Did James come in in the middle of
the night
and change a seven to a two?
Changed...yeah!
It's all gone to pot but...
Oh, sugar, I'm sorry.
What happened? It's all right.
I don't know. That's not like you.
No, I know it's not. It's not.
I don't know what happened,
but it's all right. I've adjusted
it. They're going together.
You OK? Yeah... Well, yeah. You?
Yeah. Time's going quite fast.
The drying is taking longer
than I thought it would.
It's really damp inside.
As clay dries it shrinks,
so the outside wall's
drying and shrinking,
so that join there is going to
want to come away from it.
And I would hate cracks along
all these joins.
A challenge, he loves challenges.
He was a happy child,
uh, inquisitive,
always trying to find out how things
work and trying to learn more.
That's nice, with your dad and I,
and you. Yeah.
It was at university that
he fell in love with pottery.
The feel of the clay,
and how he can mould things.
So this is from the very first
craft fair I did.
Do you know, I remember
your dad and I going there
and looking at it and I was like,
"Oh!"
Amazed what you can do.
My clever...my clever son.
Thank you.
Runs in the family, doesn't it?
Yeah, of course it does! Yes, yeah.
Whenever James made anything
for me, I treasure it.
What he does, he puts his whole
heart and soul into it
and you can see it in his work.
I'm very proud of him.
And his father would be very proud
that he's come so far.
My baby.
Sorry, I shouldn't have said that!
Has anyone seen my brown cushion?
My brown cushion,
has anyone seen it? No. No.
There's a lot to do.
Still need to do the chest area
and finish this.
Sculpting the head.
Like, I felt so calm earlier.
I just didn't see the panic coming.
I'm pretty happy with the base now
but I've spent a bit extra time
than I'd planned,
with the problems, so I just want
to move on to the next piece.
I do want to put the stamps on.
I am putting the spouts
on my top section.
I'm trying to think carefully about
how the flowers are going to be
arranged.
The flowers from the chest
will come out that side
and these come out that side.
Going to be flowers
all over the place!
I've got to cut the spouts
at an angle
so when I put it on
it's going upwards a bit,
cos you want the flowers
sticking upwards.
I'm just eyeing in the angle.
There's not really time
for detailed measurements.
Potters, one hour left.
One hour. God. Dear.
One last spout to go
and then I can get on
with decoration.
Going with the maths roller.
Bending theory equations.
M over I equals sigma over Y
equals E over R.
Allows you to work out
the stresses in a beam
spanning over your conservatory
to hold up the wall above.
That's come out pretty well.
Making the hair, putting some slip
all the way up round it
and that will actually be fast
and cover a lot of bumps.
Right. Sgraffito.
So I've done stencils.
I just draw around it.
They are generic images,
they're not really of me.
3D printed roller!
Ah, so they are hollow?
Yeah, I made them hollow just to
save on fluid. So how does it work?
It exposes the fluid to UV light.
Ah! And so it builds it up...
I see.
..by exposing it in 50 micron layers
of the liquid. Wow!
Pff.
So you've got your generic man
sketches over here?
Yeah, that's right. I'll just
put glasses on it to make it me.
There you go! Isn't it great
to be generic man? It's got short
hair... Yeah. It is, yeah.
Special skill: generic!
But it'll print, like, an angle?
Will it do, like, a 45 degree
angle...?
Oh, yeah, yeah, you can
print anything...
Yeah, up to that point and then...
Then you have to have...
Sorry, Jon. We'll chat later!
Potters, half an hour left.
Half an hour, ruddy hell.
What?! Struggling a little.
What's going on, love? Just time.
You're shaking a bit.
Yeah, yeah, panic it's called.
Haven't got any spouts on
the base yet.
Oh, might be all right.
The agenda now is tidy up spouts,
get the face on
and then make sure that each layer
is held in place by the other.
This is the locator pin.
This little bit will sit inside
the lid of the other pot,
just stops it sliding around.
Happy with that.
So I can add some
from the bottom of this that should
just hold this in place.
It sort of just fits.
That works.
Potters, that's the last ten
minutes.
Jon, I'm going to turn around
and you're going to have all
your spouts on, OK?
All three are on.
But I'm holding one of 'em.
Oh, sure, that's grand,
hold on to your little spout.
I haven't got time
to do any sprigs really
so I'm going to do the stamps.
I've got my sprigs
on my hot-air balloon.
I am happy with this.
As long as it just doesn't break
in the kiln,
cos there's no air flow down
the middle of it.
Two minutes left,
last two minutes, potters.
Argh, OK.
And a gentle reminder that all your
pieces must be in
the drying room. Hurry up!
Nothing, nothing moves them.
Ah, look at this hero.
Whoo.
Hooray.
Two more minutes?
30 seconds left.
I forgot my roller. Doing a quick
rollering on the top.
Oh, wow.
Oh, no, no, wrong way, wrong way.
I'm going, I'm going,
I'm going, I'm going.
Do you want to come out, Jon?
Not if I don't have to.
Five, four, three, two,
one.
That's it, that's it.
You go and have a rest
and we will dry
and fire your pieces.
Potters, dismissed.
Well done, boys.
That was intense.
There was a lot to do and I had a
number of problems.
I've not had that many
problems before in a make
but actually I was
really pleased with that base.
I think it actually
turned out looking quite crisp.
So let's just hope it
doesn't crack.
I've done everything I can now.
It's just hoping that
the clay dries well
and the kiln gods are kind to me.
It's like chaos in that kiln.
You never what's going to happen.
Everything's stacked OK.
The things that are going to play
on my mind is going to be
the inner wall -
will it dry fast enough
before it goes in the kiln
before it explodes?
It's the Great Pottery
Throw Down final.
Ooh. It's on a wheel!
And hiding under the hessian...
That looks exciting.
Oh, my word! What is that?
It's like a massive balloon.
..is the second challenge
that'll help to decide our winner.
That's making me feel quite nervous,
that's for sure.
Hello, potters, and welcome to your
final second challenge,
and this week it is a spot test.
Ooh.
Testing you on sgraffito.
So to show us how it's done is our
very own Rich Miller, please. Rich.
Oh, my God. That's amazing.
So I've made you each
a press-moulded sphere.
The aim of the process
is to scrape through this blue
to reveal the layer beneath.
So you've got a very simple set
of tools.
Some dentist tools,
some looped tools and a brush,
but the one thing I would say -
be careful.
Once you take this blue underglaze
off, you can't put it back on.
So every mark will count
and we will see every mark that
you've made with the tool.
When you start removing
the material,
you will see that it
leaves quite a mark.
That's quite bold.
You could go over the whole thing
with a really fine line.
This will give you
a much fatter line.
You know, you can remove quite
large areas.
But we're looking
for something expressive, immediate.
For a sphere decorated in
its entirety
with a beautiful quality of line,
that sgraffito has to be crisp.
This is the last time you're
going to do a second challenge.
So really go for it.
Potters, this is
going to be judged blind
so I'm going to ask the judges
to clear off. OK.
Make me a cup of tea.
OK, then, for your very final second
challenge,
you have been given 45 minutes.
Oh.
And your time starts now.
Remove the hessian.
Agh!
Just trying to think of decoration.
A geometric-type pattern, really.
I'm thinking concentric circles.
Oh, my God, I'm nowhere near
the middle. Oh,
it's a lot harder than it looks.
I have decided to do like
a landscape-y-type thing
with mountains.
Climbing the mountains with the boys
and just some of my favourite
symbols and things.
This is how far I got in my head.
So need to go a bit faster
than that.
Ah... Wah. I have no idea what I'm
doing at the moment.
I'm just seeing where it goes.
Instead of being square shapes or
circular shapes,
they're just wibbly wobbly shapes.
Hello. Is it possibly telling
me what
the weather's going to be like
for the next week?
It looks like a planet but with,
uh, isobars, doesn't it?
Will you impress and will you win
the second challenge?
Course I will. Yeah. Cool.
Whoa.
Hello. Hi. How are you doing?
It's putting the SPHERE
of God into me. Uh...
I'm going to ignore you said that.
What design is this?
What are we going for? We're going
for lots of concentric circles
to divide it up.
Are you trying to be precise?
Yes. I've got the, uh, final with
this approach
of everything by geometry
and planning and measurements
and I'm not giving in now.
How are we getting on here?
Uh, yeah, I'm just using some
designs that I have done before.
It's quite hard without being able
to plan it out
to know which bits to take away
and which bits to leave.
I definitely haven't done anything
on this scale before at all.
Yeah, I'm quite pleased how these
concentric circles have turned
out at the top here, intersecting.
I just want to do something
different in each panel now,
not the same, otherwise it'd just be
one mass of concentric circles.
Trying to make sure that I get some
different types of lines and areas.
If I can take enough surface off,
it might be all right
but it's going to look a bit rubbish
unless I get quite a lot done.
Drawing on lots of my different
building designs
as a basis for the geometry.
So we've given up on the circles.
Yeah, this a, uh,
more of a triangular tessellation.
I always get my triangulated
tessellations mixed up
with concentric circles.
Potters, you're halfway through,
halfway through.
Not really sure what I'm up to here.
I think maybe taking away quite
a lot of this would be
a good plan.
Yeah, that's nice. I like that.
Kind of looks like light down
onto the hills.
Do like using the smaller tools.
It's showing all the different
textures I can think of.
Oh, my God,
haven't done any down here.
Not sure if this looks right.
Oh, I'm a bit nervous.
Just want this to stand out.
I don't know why they're judging
this blind.
It's going to be so obvious
who did which.
Think I might have given them
a few hints with mine.
No-one else has gone for quite such
a rigid geometric solution to
the problem.
You having fun? Yes, I am, yeah.
When else am I going to be able
to deface a big blue sphere?
Potters, ten minutes to go
to sgraffito your ba*ls.
Absolutely no way of saying that
without it sounding
the way it sounds.
It's very tempting to try
and cut out the middle bit
but I don't think I will be able
to in the time.
Oh, there's not many things
round there.
There's a gappy gap.
What can I draw? Sea creatures.
Think this looks better.
It makes it clear what
the quadrants are each doing.
It also covers over some of my
rubbish lines
that I started off with.
It's only taken three-quarters
of an hour, got a plan.
Should've started out with a plan.
I'm just trying to make sure I've
got sort of full areas.
So I'm just trying
to take out as much as possible by
using the bigger tool.
I'm not going to get it finished
but I'm hoping they can see where
I was going with it.
Potters, your final minute...
Oh, final minute.
..to get your blue ba*ls designed.
Am I ruining it,
am I ruining it, am I ruining it?
I'm just quite scared of trying
to look at it as one thing now.
Ripping the whole surface area off
in one quick go,
my mistakes are gone!
What mistakes?
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one.
Step away from your ba*ls.
Well, well done.
Concentric circles, you nutter.
Yeah, you are crazy.
Ooh. Hello, welcome!
The judges are looking
for fully sgraffito-ed spheres,
imaginatively decorated
with beautiful, expressive
mark-making.
Do you like what they've done
to your ba*ls? I do, yeah.
Yeah? I do.
Ah, it's incredible, really amazing.
I love the use of the mark-making.
Yeah. The way that carving fades out
to nothing.
The whole sphere is well covered.
And I like the depth of the stars.
Feels really crisp
and really fresh. Yeah. Beautiful.
Yeah.
Wow. Ooh. OK. Yeah.
This is very bold, isn't it?
Very organised.
It almost has a feel of a Christmas
bauble somehow, with these lines.
Yeah. You know, I like the kind
of...the variety of the imagery.
Used up the sphere in its entirety
very well.
The roundness of these lines.
Is nice. Feel very purposeful.
Yeah, yeah, fantastic. Yeah, fab.
Wow. A lot going on here.
Very complex design.
I love the variety of mark-making.
You know, you've got these kind
of wispy curves,
you've got scoring,
you've got lines,
you've got these sort of dots that
look like they've been sort
of almost gouged out.
Looks like they've sort
of slightly run out of time
for removing that background. Yeah.
I think, actually, it would have
real impact if it was all
of those patches on the white. It
would've done, wouldn't it?
Yeah. But got to admire
the sheer quantity
of work that's gone on there.
With all the second challenges, it's
amazing what you manage to achieve.
The judges will now rank
the sgraffito spheres
from bottom to top.
In third place, we have...
..this one.
James, yes.
I think you were just slightly
a victim of your own ambition.
Extra 20 minutes, it would've been
spot on.
In second place, we have...
..this one. Jon.
Love the bold carving.
Really strong in its kind
of concept. Yeah.
Just lovely confident mark-making,
beautiful.
So in first place we have...
Lois. ..Lois. Ooh!
Well done.
The mark-making is beautiful.
I can see that you've used
the tools in lots of different ways
to create different effects.
Yeah, lovely originality with
the mark-making.
Yay. Whoo.
I have beaten James twice in a row
now so, you know,
that's a sort of positive sign
but, no, it all sets you up in
a better position to be the winner.
Certainly better than being in last,
but don't tell James that.
I'm third. Last.
It's not the best place to be. I
feel I could do what I usually do,
give myself too much to do. Fine.
It's day two of the final make
and after a 24-hour bisque firing,
the potters' pyramid vases are ready
to be decorated.
Decoration not one of my
strong points
unless it involves 3D-printed
rollers
so I've done quite
a lot of planning to try
and get my decoration standards up.
But whether there is anything
to decorate...
Oh, man. I can't see a thing.
..is a hessian shrouded secret.
I've no idea how they're going to
come out.
There will probably be cracks in
because of the forms.
I'm hoping there's no cracks
in the base, though,
that would not be great.
Throughout this I've been worried
about joining stuff
and it's been OK,
so I'm just hoping that one last
time I get lucky.
Yeah, I just pray
and hope that I've done enough
to keep it all together
but we'll see.
Potters, the sections of your
pyramid vases have been bisque fired
are now ready to be decorated.
It's time to bring your illustrated
motifs to life.
They should be central
to each section
and tell us about your distinct
and individual stories.
Now, as these are functional vases,
they must be watertight.
All those parts must be fully glazed
and don't forget, this make was
built in sections.
But it still has to come together as
a coherent statement centrepiece.
So really bear that in mind when it
comes to decoration.
OK, then, potters, you have
a range of glazes and oxides
and four-and-a-half hours
to use them. Your time starts now.
OK. Yeah, a few cracks.
Argh!
Any cracks?
Nice.
Oh, dear.
Jon's slab-built vase... Oh, God.
..hasn't fared so well.
These I'm really happy with.
The biggest problem is the base.
There's quite a lot of cracking.
Structurally, I think it'll be fine.
I'll decorate it up and just hope
I get enough glaze in there
to seal that up and don't have
a leak problem, really.
Oh, one on the bottom.
And for James...
And lots at the top.
..it's double trouble.
There are some cracks at
the top where
the two walls meet
and one on the bottom of this one.
Which means it might not
be waterproof.
Well, we'll see when it comes
to that bit.
Right, time to make a mess, I think.
To help bring their pyramid
vases to life...
That is King's Blue.
..the potters have a huge range of
oxides and underglazes available.
So at the moment I am starting
putting the motifs on.
Putting some dark blue in
all the lines.
Which so far is going quite nicely.
Having the sgraffito makes
this faster.
I've decided to use mainly
blues but,
I'm also wanting to use red
and orange
as accent colours too.
I think that's OK.
Archery's been a big part
of my life.
So archery's the colour theme
for the rest of the pieces.
Those colours are the targets. Reds,
the yellows and the blues.
I do all the blue with this,
the slip trailer
with the really fine nozzle.
Filling in the pre-rolled formula
here so just trying
to get a tidy infill.
All right.
Ah. Are you forgetting to breathe?
Yes, I forgot to breathe, yes.
How is it all going?
Oh, it's not very good.
Yeah, I'm feeling a bit blue. Tsk.
While Jon and James crack on
with colour...
At the moment I'm just spending
a little bit of time drawing on
all the designs that I wanted
to get on there.
..Lois is laying the groundwork
for her intricately illustrated
life story.
My designs are quite ambitious,
so I'd rather make a mistake now
and I can rub it out.
Once this is done, I think
I'll be quite fast with it,
but I need to get these on quickly.
Ooh, hurry up.
Hello, James. Hello. You OK, Rich?
So where are your cracks?
This one might leak.
You've got two either side,
there and there.
Yeah, I mean, that's the thing
with the double wall, isn't it?
It's always difficult to kind of
get that moisture out.
So it was always going to
be challenging.
And hopefully they'll kind
of seal up in the firing
so they'll be watertight.
Fingers crossed.
So what's your plan
with decorating?
Uh, I've already started going over
the sgraffito.
OK, cos I was expecting
more sprigs.
Time-wise, in the end I just stamped
a bit of decoration at the bottom.
OK. And then do the frames. Then I'm
going to have scrolling work.
They are beautiful
illustrations, James. Thank you.
Hopefully that translates
onto here. Wonderful.
Potters, time is stacking up.
That's your first hour gone.
Ooh, that's gone quick.
That's all the drawing done.
Now I will start with some colour.
I am hoping to get everything
I've drawn done.
Got the motif to do on these three.
This is Battery Point Lighthouse
in Portishead,
where I was born and brought up.
Porpoises we've seen down there
off the coast. It's a great spot.
So big part of childhood, really.
I always think of myself as not
an artist,
not someone who's creative,
but even doing this drawing is
motifs with the little black lines.
I thought, actually, it doesn't look
so bad, that.
Maybe I CAN do
a little bit of drawing.
This is going to be the base
to represent family
so this is my family
and I on a walk.
My kids in the middle. So I've given
them all a wash of colour.
And now I'm just going to go round
and just put a little bit
of darker tone on the frame.
It's difficult to be able
to do that fine detail
with brushes, but I want it
to feel kind of free.
I love painting. I've just moved on
to the belly section.
All about Adam and our two boys.
Little cuties.
I'm doing mostly painted decoration.
It's a bit more of a challenge
but if that's my strength
then I think that's what I
need to show for the final.
And kind of hopefully do it well.
Ooh. How's it going, fellas?
Going all right, doing art now.
The trumpet-y flamboyant finials.
Look at the state of me.
Hi, Jon. How are you doing?
All right, yeah.
I've started on
the flamboyant splatter. Fantastic.
The motifs are all decorated
actually using
a slip trailer with black. I'm
pleased with how it's turning out.
There will be some brushwork
but I'm not leaning heavily on it
as that's not been one of my
stronger items.
I mean, I have a saying - know what
you're good at.
Yeah. But more importantly, know
what you're not good at. Yeah.
And you play to your strengths,
and you adapt your creativity
to what you can do. Yeah, yeah.
Good luck with it all. Thanks.
Potters, it's the final hour.
You have one hour left.
Well, that's not enough
to get finished, it is?
Doing all right?
I'm filling the space slowly
but surely.
Looking good, James. Thank you.
All the motif's done,
just a slide shade of colour.
The artistic skill is
obviously where I've lacked,
so just give it a bit of interest.
I just need to finish off
all the blue.
The back isn't as detailed as
the front at the moment.
So, want to get some stuff
going on there.
I am doing the lettering,
and then, I can go round and
put on the finish touches.
Wow. It's flamboyant.
It certainly is.
What's your name, Pollock? Hey?
This is cobalt oxide with water.
Cobalt oxide will give a very
strong blue to highlight the ends
of all the spouts.
I'm back into doing brushstrokes.
I'm painting in bending moment
in sheer force diagrams
on structural frames.
If they thought my formula
were geeky, I think bending moment
diagrams is really taking it
to the next level.
Shout out for
the structural engineers.
Potters, that's the last
ten minutes.
Ten minutes remaining.
It's not finished!
It's never going to be finished.
Right, OK.
To ensure their pyramid
vases are functional,
they must be watertight.
So, every piece must be dipped
in transparent glaze.
I'm going to dip this one first,
let it dry, and hopefully,
add a second layer of glaze
to really try and
fill those gaps right in.
Oh, look at it pouring out!
That's really cool!
There's loads.
There's a lot in there.
Oh! Did it spit back up at you?
Yeah, it spat back at me.
How flamboyantly rude!
Final minute - remember,
make sure your bottoms are clean.
Forgot the bottom of this one.
How's your bum looking?
Yeah, it's looking nice and smart.
Oh, I missed a bit.
OK, potters -
five, four, three, two, one.
Tools down, step away from
your pyramid vases.
Well done, well done, well done!
We did it, yeah!
Well done, guys!
That's it, the final make
done and dusted.
It's a bit sad, really, you know,
you, kind of, build up to it,
and then, you do it and you're,
"Oh, well, can we do another one?"
I'm pleased with what I did so,
yeah, I hope I've kept myself
in the running, and just
how they turn out, out the kiln,
and do they leak? And I chucked so
much glaze in that bottom pot,
so hopefully it won't leak.
I'm happy with what it looks like.
But the crack at the bottom -
hopefully the glaze
will fill it all in.
It was a lot of glaze inside.
It has to be fit for purpose.
So if it leaks water, that's...
no, that's it.
I can't believe it's done!
I can't - yeah.
I've definitely put
my all into it, so...
..ready to see what happens
with the judging.
It's Judgment Day.
The pyramid vases have had
their final firing -
and for the potters,
there's nothing more they can do.
Just really excited, to have
made it all the way to the end.
It's just unreal to be here -
unreal to be here with those
two guys, who are both amazing.
We're all bringing something
really different to it, I think,
which makes it even more
special for me, really.
It's sad, rather than scary, almost.
Sad it's all coming to an end.
Morning potters. Hello!
Apprehensive - I want to see,
does it work, has it survived?
Are the cracks sealed up,
and does it look good?
I just want to be proud
of what I've made.
I don't think I was slacking in
the make or the decoration.
I put as much in as possible.
But anything can happen,
when it comes out the kiln.
As long as it don't leak,
I think I'll be happy.
There we go.
Oh, wow! The painting's so nice.
Oh, and there's a crack
in the bottom.
Hopefully the glaze filled that in.
Colours are nice, though.
All right, Lois. Ohh!
There she is.
Oh, she's still got her earrings.
That's come out better than
I thought it would!
And a real Jackson Pollock.
Oh, yes oh, that's good.
This looks flamboyant, doesn't it?
Very happy. Let's hope they
stack together now.
Congratulations, potters.
Your pyramid vases look amazing.
Let's start with the judging.
Jon, would you please bring your
pyramid vase up to the judges?
Honestly, Jon,
it's absolutely brilliant!
It's brilliant!
These - how have you managed that?
I don't know, I don't know where
that artist came from.
He snuck in while I wasn't looking.
He snuck in, in the last ten weeks.
When you first turned up
in the pottery,
I wouldn't have described you
as "flamboyant".
And here you are in the final,
giving us flamboyance. Who knew?
The thing that's most striking
is the quality of the making, Jon.
The consistency around
the spouts is spot-on,
and you couldn't ask for
a better fit between the sections.
That's incredible, yeah.
Really confident coming-together
of those two elements.
Millimetre-perfect.
We've seen,
throughout this whole process,
your attention to detail
in planning.
What we didn't see at the
early stages was that freeness,
that creative spirit coming
through in your work.
This is sublime.
Dare I say, 3D printer.
Yeah. You've given us that
lovely gradient with that blue.
And how you've managed to do
this equation on here,
it's just fantastic.
I think he likes it.
Shall we see what it
looks like with water in?
OK.
I'd say perhaps the bottom section
and this top section,
the spouts are a little bit
on the flat side,
but it just feels like it's been
thought out with clarity
and built with quality.
You should be really proud of it.
I am. Well done. Thanks.
Well done, Jon.
I really like the
composition, actually.
The symmetry between all of
the spouts is just beautiful.
These simple forms work as
a really good backdrop
to your beautiful decoration.
It's fantastic.
This idea of scribing in
those illustrations...
Generic man. Generic man.
And then, applying that colour in
there it's really, really striking.
I'm slightly disappointed you
didn't manage to, sort of,
find the time to put all
of the sprigs on.
Cos I think that would've given it
an added depth to the surface.
I think you've, kind of, made
a bit of a rod for your own back
with the double walls.
That consumed a lot of time
that perhaps you
could've spent elsewhere,
and I notice there's a little bit
of dunting - that's when it pulls
itself apart as it's cooling.
Shall we see what it's like
with water and flowers?
Careful, there might be
a leak in that one.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Bit of a leak...
Bit of a leak, yeah. ..that layer.
Definitely one in that one.
The added benefit of it
becoming a water feature but...
And that one might leak,
the bottom one.
OK, I think I'll stop pouring.
Wow. Yeah.
OK, you've got a few leaks -
and that's all about that
construction, unfortunately.
But I love your overall theme,
you know, your family as the,
kind of, basis for everything,
and I love the fact that pottery
is your crowning glory.
It's top of the pile, it's great.
Family is the base,
pottery at the top.
What more do you want?
Firm foundation and good
old pottery, yeah.
It's wonderful. It's fantastic.
The first word that comes
to mind is "full".
It's just full of you!
The brushwork, the slip work,
the attention to detail.
This - sublime.
I love these legs, the fact
that you've got this, kind of,
voluptuous, generous form sat
astride these very delicate legs.
So, it feels like it's really
lifted from the surface. Yeah.
I love the asymmetrical spouts.
You know, we asked for three
spouts on each layer.
We didn't say where.
We didn't say where. No.
Your eye is trying to look for
symmetry, but it's not there,
so you're seeing unique
and interesting decoration from
every angle and different surfaces.
Let's have a look.
You've done tiny
little legs on there.
It's just so they don't fall off.
And I think that's
a really good idea.
Shall we see what it looks like
with water and flowers?
Water. Get my stylish watering can.
So, it seems to be holding
the water, which is good. Yes.
She, sort of, comes to life,
doesn't she?
The moment you put all
those flowers in.
I feel quite emotional about it.
I'm really pleased with
how it came out,
and just how meaningful
it is to me, really.
You know what?
It's fitting that you've
given us this in the final.
It's absolutely fitting.
It's what the final is all about,
brilliant.
Thank you.
That was amazing!
I'm just really proud.
I'm really proud of it.
And I've never looked at
something I've made before
and felt that level of,
like, emotion about it.
Yeah, it's, er, it's really great.
Pretty much what
I thought it'd be like.
There was no chance they
weren't going to leak.
So, the decoration was what
I was hoping for.
Came out really nicely,
all stacked together nicely.
I like the look of it,
but it's a shame it just leaked.
Thought out with clarity,
built with quality.
It was brilliant feedback,
and that's really what
I tried to do -
and to achieve that,
I'm really pleased.
I'm sure shortly I'll feel quite
sad, cos I realise that was the last
judging, that was the last time
we'll probably be in the pottery.
Everything's now going to change.
I can't do anything else now,
I've done everything I can.
It's just down to what
the judges decide.
OK, guys, we have three
amazing potters who have made it
to the final after ten weeks.
They should be very proud
of what they've done.
Are you proud of what they've done?
Yeah. I mean, haven't they given us
three very fitting centrepieces?
And they're all so different.
Their personalities really have
come through on those vases.
Jon is just inspirational.
He's grown and improved so much -
not only as a potter,
but the way he thinks creatively.
That crescendo, that triumphant
fanfare with all that colour
on the top - brilliant.
This feels like a culmination
of all of his skills
and abilities, his planning...
His planning.
..coming together in
perfect harmony.
Now, James, how do you think
he got on?
We've seen from James,
throughout this whole process,
his throwing skills are really
brilliant, but the one thing
that let him down with that pyramid
vase was these double-walled vessels
and they had cracked a bit.
He was perhaps trying to push
too far in that make stage.
He could've used that time that
he spent on those double walls
somewhere else.
On the other hand, we've Lois.
I have rarely seen somebody
who throws herself into her work
as much as she does.
She has a very, very
strong signature style. She does.
And that was prevalent
throughout all her makes.
It had incredible persona,
character. Yeah.
The way she uses the brush,
and the way she injects life
and energy into every mark
she makes is inspiring.
So, it'll be a tough decision,
you know? They, kind of,
are all winners really...
No. I'm not having that.
You have to pick one.
Mainly because there's only
one trophy. So, hurry up.
Wow, look at this, mate!
Looks amazing.
As our finalists await
the judges' decision...
And we got the orange hay bale -
our lucky colour.
..their family, friends,
and the past potters
are here to cheer them on.
And it's got, like, the suspension
bridge on the second one.
It's so good to be back!
Fantastic to see everybody.
It's good to see you, Christophe.
Good to see you, too.
It's good to see you.
It's so recognisable, you
definitely know who it is. You do!
I've seen the pieces -
they're fabulous.
You can tell whose they are,
as well, by just looking at them
and going, "Yeah, that's James,
that's Jon, that's Lois."
Oh, I would love to see James
to win, because he was very,
very focused on what he did.
He put so much passion in that.
Lois is always going
to be my winner.
Erm, she's my inspiration.
She's just such an amazing,
creative person.
But Jon has just done so well.
His piece has shown he's grown,
so I think it's going to be tight.
I would love to see if Jon won.
It's been so nice seeing him
just come out of his shell,
get more flamboyant.
Whoever it is will get
a big hug and a big drink.
Hello! How lovely to see you all.
And it is lovely
to see our past potters
and our finalists' families.
The moment is here.
Could you please give a very warm
welcome to our three finalists?
James, Lois and Jon.
Aww. They're just doing
that to keep warm.
Potters, thank you for
your hard work,
and for making this an
incredible final.
The judges have reached
their decision.
The winner of the
Great Pottery Throw Down is...
..Lois.
Did you just say my name?
Oh, my goodness!
Oh, my goodness!
I think I'm in a lot of shock.
This whole thing is beautiful.
To be part of it, and then,
to be holding this at the end,
just feel really lucky that I'm here
and my wonderful friends
and my family, my mum.
We've all worked really
hard together,
and that's why it's
really special, I think.
Well done. Well done.
What makes Lois really special is
that she gives us something
of herself every single time
she makes something.
So proud of you.
Right the way through,
she's just dazzled us
with her incredible affinity
for decorative work,
and just all round pottery skills.
She really deserves it.
All our potters this year have just
been absolutely wonderful.
The hard work, the dedication,
the creativity that has happened
in that room up there
has just been absolutely incredible.
I've got different ideas from it.
I'm hoping that's where
it'll change where I'm going.
It'll definitely help changing
the pottery trajectory because of
the people I've met,
and we'll keep in touch.
Lads, lads. Well done.
I'm really, really pleased what
I've done - I've done it for
the engineers, I've got bending
moment diagrams on a final piece
in the Pottery Throw Down, you know,
no-one else will do that.
So, I'm not disappointed.
And I'm just really
pleased for Lois.
I think the future looks
pretty exciting.
I'm definitely going
to have more confidence
in new things that I try.
And I'm just really looking forward
to sharing loads of pottery chat
with a lot of people.
You've both been really good while
I've been away, haven't you?
I've missed you. Yeah.
Yeah, I missed you, too.
I missed you more.
# Now don't you ever be sad
# Lean on me when
the times are bad
# When the day comes and
you're down, baby
# In a river of trouble
and about to drown
# Just hold on, I'm comin'
# Hold on, I'm comin'
# Hold on, I'm comin'
# Hold on, I'm comin'
# Reach out to me
# For satisfaction, yeah
# Lookit here, baby,
this is all she got to do
# Call my name, yeah,
for quick reaction
# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
# Now, don't you ever be sad
# Lean on me when the times are bad
# When the day comes and
you're down, baby
# In a river of trouble
and about to drown
# Just hold on, I'm comin'
# Hold on, I'm comin'
# Hold on, I'm comin'
# Hold on, I'm comin'
# Just hold on
# Don't you worry
# I'm comin'
# Here we come... #
If you'd like to apply for the next
series of Pottery Throw Down,
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
06x10 - Pyramid Vase and Sgraffito Globe
Watch/Buy Amazon
In each episode, a group of amateur potters compete to complete two pottery challenges.
In each episode, a group of amateur potters compete to complete two pottery challenges.