 Grayshott Pottery received some unexpected help with 'turning and fettling' from a previous intern last week.
Professor Magdalene Odundo, now an international name in ceramics, worked at the Grayshott Pottery as part of her work experience in 1974 while a student at West Surrey College of Art & Design in Farnham (now University for the Creative Arts).
Magdalene Odundo graduated with a BA (1st Class Honours) 3DD Ceramics with Printmaking and Photography in 1976 then worked in Museum Education at the Commonwealth Institute, London until 1979. She left the Commonwealth Institute to undertake graduate studies at the Royal College of Art in London where she obtained an MA (RCA) in 1982. Magdalene began developing her distinct ceramics forms while at the Royal College of Art and has continued to refine the work concentrating in producing unique pieces now highly sought after. Magdalene Odundo has continued to exhibit her work in the UK and internationally in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
Magdalene explained, ' I had are two reasons for seeking help from Grayshott Pottery. The first was that I had been working on a series of much taller work that would not fit in my kiln. The second was that I felt strongly that my University at Farnham and Grayshott Pottery would benefit by re-establishing its natural collaborative alliance that existed when I was a student in the seventies. In 2007 the University (Ceramics Department), Grayshott and Dartington Pottery had worked together to produce giftware for the International Society of Ceramics Art Education Exchange (ISCAEE) symposium I convened. Staff at Grayshott Pottery, Stephen Course of Dartington Pottery, Myra McDonnell, (then ceramics technician at Farnham), Namiko and Jaro (students at Farnham) came up with a form, colour and the material to produce the bowls. Working at Grayshott Pottery for the last three weeks has enabled us all to visualise the possibilities for immediate future collaborations. What is also interesting to me is that both Grayshott and Dartington Potteries have always been very pro-active in commissioning artists and young designers to design and make limited editions. Both continue to work with Janice Tchalenko. Grayshott has always had a community ethos, encouraging young people from the community, employing, training and offering them internships and work experience. The work I have been firing was created for an exhibition in New York at The Longhouse, East Hampton. While waiting for the kiln to fire, I was delighted to get back to the rudiments of making pottery by lending a hand with turning and fettling and I was glad to discover that I had not forgotten the skills learnt many years ago! Everyone here has been able to contribute to the success of the firings that, by design from my part are truly experimental and suited to an alchemist than to Grayshott Pottery. The ingenuity of Ed Snell and Glenn Myers has been an inspiration.'
'It was a real honour to get a call from Magdalene and a pleasure to help her out with the ceramic firings,' said Glenn Myers, Grayshott Pottery's Production Director, 'We were really delighted that we could help!
For more information about Magdalene Odundo visit www.magdaleneodundo.com For further information about Grayshott Pottery please telephone 01428 604404.
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