Boy in a China Shop: Life, Clay and Everything

by Keith Brymer Jones

Overview

'During downtime on the pottery throwdown Keith made my hair curl with some of his tales - he's a great raconteur and recounts his story in this book as he does in real life - with joy, charm & mischief.' - Sara Cox

Ballet dancer. Front man in an almost famous band. Judge on The Great Pottery Throwdown. How did all that happen?
By accident mostly. But I always say we make our own luck. What if an art teacher hadn't given me a lump of clay? What if the band had been really successful? What if I hadn't taken a photograph of a bowl to the buyer at Heals in London? What if she'd hated it? Or hadn't seen it... What if I hadn't agreed to dress up as Adele to make a crazy YouTube video?
Every chapter of my book is based around an object (usually a pot) that's been significant in my life. It's just at trigger to let me go off in a lot of different directions and tell a few stories. A lot of stories. Dyslexia. The art teacher who changed my life. My Mother. My Father. A life-changing job interview with a man who lay under his car throughout. That video.
Sifting through half-forgotten memories, trying to pick out the golden nuggets from the stuff that is definitely dross has been a curious, and at times hilarious, sometimes sad, but definitely enlightening process. So here it is - my pottery life with some very loud music and some pretty good dancing. And a lot of throwing, fettling and firing.
Oh ...and a good dose of anxiety.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529385229
Publisher:	Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd.
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	577,910
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Keith Brymer Jones is a British potter and ceramic designer, internationally known for his homeware 'Word' range and celebrated as the lead judge on The Great Pottery Throwdown, Love Productions television series for Channel Four and HBO. In February 2021, the Evening Standard described him as 'Quite simply the best person on TV at this present moment in time'.

After an apprenticeship at Harefield Pottery, he started hand-making ceramics for retailers including the Conran Group, Habitat, Barneys New York, Monsoon, Laura Ashley and Heals. As Head of Design for MAKE International he collaborates with other designers including Jane Foster, Scion Living, Hokolo and Becky Baur.

Table of Contents

1 That Satisfying Thump 1

2 'Come on! Concentrate boy!' 9

3 Built like a Sparrow 23

4 'Can you shovel clay?' 39

5 Leather, Sweat and Booze 55

6 As Green as the First Leaf on a Sapling Tree 65

7 'I've got Sade in tears next door' 77

8 Even the Rats Wouldn't Mess with the Ferrets 89

9 A Piece of Victorian London Still Hidden Away 101

10 Staring into the Abyss 115

11 'May I bother you for some milk?' 127

12 The Mad, Bad, Never-ending 'Isaac Button' Years 145

13 Hot 157

14 'You do the pots and I do the pennies' 173

15 Big Fat, White Hairy Gorilla 185

16 Pots That Talk 197

17 TV Gold 211

18 An Early Christmas Present 225

19 Absent Tribes 237

20 It's All About Connection 251

Acknowledgements 261

Editorial Reviews

This fascinating book grabs your attention from the very first page—Beautiful Heirloom Magazine

An engaging read by an endearing, unassuming man who has always stayed true to his passions.—Daily Mirror

From the Publisher