My Story

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Starting out life rather behind in my development with regard to speech and understanding, I spent most of time in a silent but creative world. My imagination was rich and I enjoyed playing in the garden with the earth, mud, stones and leaves. This was the beginning of my pottery story

 I didn't read until I was 9 years old when my dear grandmother taught me using Janet and John books. She read a lot of books to me and I loved looking at all the pictures especially in the books where animals were wearing clothes  like the Beatrix Potter books, Barbar and Orlando the Marmalade cat.

Inevitably school was not great as I was always pretty close to the bottom of the class and regularly reminded that I was stupid or not trying hard enough. I dreaded showing my school reports to family. 

Art and dancing however were good areas and it was a certainty that I would end up doing one or the other. It was here that I was introduced to pottery

Occupational Therapy seemed right up my street as I loved helping people and it could be quite a creative job. Training however was excruciatingly difficult and I had a young child by then plus the depth of knowledge I had to grasp was overwhelming at times. Wading through text books and writing assignments well into the night was the norm, and sheer determination and hard work won out in the end.

I specialised in Mental Health and over 25 years worked in a Psychiatric Hospital, two CMHT's, and Psychological Therapies for the last 18 years. 

A lot of the time I ran Psycho-educational groups like Anxiety Management, Assertion Training, Anger Management and Psycho-therapeutic groups that were more creative and included pottery !

I continued training and became a CBT and EMDR therapist. 

Much of my work with individuals was complex and pressures within the service made the job harder and harder.  More demand and targets were made with less resources. It's a story we have all heard a lot.

I burnt out and had chronic fatigue for over two years. I was furious with myself for being weak and part of my recovery was changing my own mind-set. The other part was doing things differently.

I left the NHS, cut back on other commitments outside of work, rested, read self help books, and started to play with clay. I had so little energy and a very foggy mind but very slowly I got stronger. I went for walks and I was also chanting for a better way of living!

I joined the practice of  SGI Buddhism in 2017 and I can honestly say it has made a huge difference to me, the way I handle challenges, my patience, my outlook and my relationships. I am a better person for it. It also helped me get better.

In 2022 I got onto the TV show  when I was strong and my life was turning around. Having the feedback from the judges and trying out new things liberated me, gave me confidence and helped me realise that I could now fully realise my dream of being a potter.

After the show the Shrewsbury Museum asked if I could make something for them. I got inspiration for my large clock from what they already had in their collection. There are elements of 10 of the exhibits and I challenge anyone to find them all if you go to see it.