All the Things You Could Be’ is a workshop based craft piece looking at the value of making to our personal development, well being and community.

Before clay is fired into ceramic, it has a transient quality where items can be made, dried and broken down again in water to return to the original ‘plastic’ clay state. This process is called ‘reclamation’ and all ceramicists use it to repurpose scraps and mistakes that are a natural by-product of their practice.

This workshop begins with the same pile of clay which has been reclaimed from the previous session, workshop participants learn clay reclamation techniques and with this clay they can make an object or artwork. This is then taken away and photographed before being broken down again in water ready for the next person to use. Participants can scroll through the back catalogue of work online to see their artwork beautifully documented as well as all the things the clay has been before and who else has touched it. The works are then broken down again ready for the next workshop and the next set of hands.

This is an ongoing project with recycling and reuse at its heart. It aims to be inspirational and illustrates the variety of pathways into art as a practice. It asks us to think of craft as a verb, as a ‘doing’ word. We’re looking at the value of making to our personal well-being, the possibilities and potential we have through learning, and valuing the process of making above the final object.