Great Pottery Throwdown 2024!

[SoupDragon]

It's back! Sunday 19:45... get your handkerchiefs at the ready for Keith!

I don't think that was right, sad to see Jan go.

I loved Jan’s style, but I do think it is fair, she was the worst at throwing

Awe, I really like Jan. Such a lovely, genuine person.

might as well give it to Donna now-way better than the rest.

She's stood out from the get go. She really is very talented and creative.

Since I found out Donna has a degree in ceramics it doesn't seem a fair competition

But if it is just on the throwing (wasn't last in the quick challenge this time) why bother with sprigs, glazes, firing. They may as well of judged it after initial throwing.

I was genuinely shocked when they said Jan. Any one of the blokes should have gone. Steven's sprigs were so ugly. This is Donna's unless she messes up.

Jan’s may not have been the most accomplished, but some of the blokes’ were more disastrous and what’s more she didn’t come last in the throw down.

i love Jan and am sorry to see her go. She brings such a lovely warm energy to the room.

Does she? From the beginning she has stood out amongst the others. I don't remember that in previous series - well not as much. She somewhat dominates in that display room.

I really like Steven but his was too big, the top didn't fire correctly. The details were crude and like blobs and broke off, the glaze didnt work . Did the bottom come out? Also his top part didn't fit and so he made in into a quirky shape . The judging wasn't just based on this week .

Does Donna having a degree in ceramics make any difference? Lots of the potters over the years have had their own studios, sell online etc so are very experienced. I don’t see what difference it makes tbh.

I was disappointed that Jan went too. There were worse. I think they probably wanted her to go last week but because there was such a personal, uplifting and moving story around her light, couldn’t bring themselves to. Could be wrong though. It’s hard to see how the remaining potters are going to be able to up their game enough to beat Donna in terms of design, creativity and technique.

I think Jan has been almost last so many times recently that's why she went this week.

I keep missing the beginning of this on a Sunday so have had to watch on catch up again.

i think Jan was the right call this week. I think Steven's challenge saved him and I imagine it was close between Dave and Jan. I really liked Dave's wonky slumped result though 😂 It really had "character".

I dislike Donna. I fully accept that it might be down to the editing but she's coming across as really smug. I want her to have a disaster! She seems to go into it with absolutely certainty that she's going to get POTW. Does she really have a degree in ceramics?? That's really unfair (although it's happened before - I think the first winner ever was a ceramics teacher for example).

I didn't much like any of these urn things other than Dave's.

According to this article she hadn't touched clay for a couple of decades so I think she's just good and the others aren't so much.

www.newsletter.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/northern-ireland-woman-donna-shows-off-her-skills-on-the-hit-channel-4-show-the-great-pottery-throw-down-4475886

I do think it makes a difference when someone has been "trained" like that. I don't think you can compare the skills and knowledge learnt doing a specialist degree to those learnt by someone doing it as a hobby. I don't think it's a case of her "just" being good at all.

I disagree. You can study something, then not practise it for ages. Or you can not be ‘trained’ but hone your skills over years of practice. I would think in this kind of field the latter would usually produce better results.

I don't mind Donna having a ceramics degree and being an art teacher. I don't know Steven's full background but he's an art teacher too, no? So has the advantage of an art training, even if he's not specifically a ceramicist. I don't think his work is as good as Donna's; she just seems more talented to me. And as a pp has said, many of the contestants are at least semi-professional and sell their work.
I think Dan is a right chancer and should have gone ages ago; and he certainly should have gone this week. His make basically fell apart I find his 'Oh I'll just wing it' attitude disrespectful to the other potters and to the judges. He gives me 'arrogant, slightly nasty boy at school' vibes.
Jan was the weakest at throwing and sometimes at decoration, but I will miss her happy, positive attitude. And I LOVED her belly-dancing tea set. I'd buy it. I'd also go to belly-dancing class with her

I really enjoyed Jan’s belly dancing tea-set and story as well. I’d have loved it myself and I don’t drink tea! I wonder if it was felt that she had to go because of the size of the pots next week? She wasn’t very good with the larger pots. I do love toilet week myself.
I’m not a Donna fan either, as I do feel she is coming across as smug and I think she would take it as a slight if she didn’t get potter of the week. I wonder if she will be offered a pottery/presenting type television programme in Ireland after this?

So a degree teaches you nothing? What a waste of money!

I don't actually care beyond a vague "hrmph" sort of way. I already find her coming across as smug (which I acknowledge again might be editing and not her fault at all).

I do think she'd have struggled with next week, but I'd hope that they genuinely judge on that week's makes, not because they think someone won't do well in the future.
I don't think Donna's smug at all. She is just good, and it would be disingenuous if she kept acting all astonished at getting praised/POTW. I think she's really falling back in love with pottery and with life, which I like. I'm not sure she'd be a natural presenter, but she might do well with demonstrations/masterclasses. And maybe a line with a big brand?

I don't know Steven's full background but he's an art teacher too, no?

I googled him. He has a degree in fine art and discovered pottery in Greece 6 years ago. He's an art teacher and does teach some ceramics to his students.

I didn’t say that! Of course a degree teaches you a lot, but with something practical like ceramics, you have to practise all the time to keep your hand in. So if she’d followed a different artistic path for years, then gone back to ceramics, I don’t see that she has a huge advantage over the others. I don’t think she’s smug either - but when you keep winning week after week, it must make you more and more confident surely?

She has an artistic flair that tips her over from merely “trained in ceramics”. It’s rare to see someone win POTW so often, but how could they have known the extent of her skills when they first selected the contestants. I don’t find her smug but then I hate false modesty in people, especially women.