About Us

This page explains some of the motivation behind the Hundred Aker Wood Pottery.

Hundred-Aker-Wood pottery is a small, growing, dream-come-true run by David (myself) with help from my wife Cherry. We are based at Chickerell on the outskirts of Weymouth, overlooking the famous Chesil Beach within the Dorset and East Devon World Heritage site. We love the area, the views, the possibilities and most of all we love pottery.

David is current Chairman of the Dorset Pottery Group and member of the Westcountry Potters Association and Southern Ceramic Group.

Biography

Not sure why but for some reason I have always been drawn to the idea of making pottery. Until I stumbled across the Upwey Potters I had had only the briefest of introductions to clay in my school days in which nothing was learnt. Despite this for some reason it was always there in the back of my mind that given the chance I knew I would revel in having fun with mucky hands and making a finished product.

I started my little journey when visiting a craft exhibition in Upwey in spring 2004. Cherry got to talk with Fil Cooke, one of the Upwey Potters and she came away all excited with the idea of us both signing up for Fil’s evening classes. We did and I have been totally fascinated by the craft ever since. Pottery grabbed me and has never let go.

After joining Fil’s Monday evening pottery lessons in Upwey Old School Hall, I spent 18 months just enjoying handling clay and experimenting. By September 2005 I had got together enough courage to try the wheel and did some sessions with Bill Crumbleholme (also of the Upwey Potters) in order to learn the basics of throwing on the wheel. After plenty of practice at home on my trusty kickwheel (bought from a primary school in Berkshire closing its pottery department), I then did weekend courses with Douglas Phillips of Queens Camel in Somerset and Deborah Baynes in Shotley in Suffolk. Both are inspirational potters to be with and I learnt so much just watching the ease with which they made beautiful pots of all descriptions.

What I have learnt about this art has come about from sheer enthusiam and interest in anything to do with pottery. I have embarked on a self learning crusade to improve my pottery skills through endless practice and experimentation. If something goes wrong I have endeavoured to find out the cause and try and learn from the errors. This is a process that has proved so beneficial to me as I have found there is nothing like practice to improve your skills.

I regard myself more as a potter than a ceramicist. Although deep inside I probably have an envy of those lucky enough to have embarked on a ceramics course in some arty farty art school or University, I have yet to be convinced they always justify their lofty positions some just fall into within the pottery/ceramics world.

I actually think a lot of crap is talked about in the ceramics world (just read a copy of the ceramic publications around and in my opinion you will see some of the opinionated twaddle they publish). It seems if you don’t condemn your life to 3 years or so in some fancy art college then you are not worthy of consideration. In my short time as a pottery enthusiast I have seen some beautiful local pottery within this County of Dorset that compares with ease with the legends of the art. My memory goes back to seeing a pot on display made by very prominent potter of the past. On closer inspection it appeared to be lopsided, had suspicious glaze faults in several places but there it was in an exhibiton having people drawling over it and being hailed by all and sundry. I will never agree with the practice of assuming all pottery by an established ‘legend’ is automatically worth the prices asked for or the praise received. If the potter is still working it can become tempting to just chuck out any old pot for sale for they know there are enough suckers around to keep the cash coming in. Without the incentive to continuously improve it can lead to laziness and the pottery will suffer.

With my pottery I am always striving to make a pot better than the last one. It’s the only way to work I feel. Each piece of my pottery is made from the heart and becomes my baby. I love it till the next piece off the wheel.

David Archer

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