featured potter of the month

michelle ainsworth

As a child I was always making little bowls out of mud and letting them dry in the sun. Who knew that my love of mud would lead me to where I am today.
I didn’t get serious with clay until my first official pottery class was in 1989 with Ruth Porter at Beban Park in Nanaimo.  I loved it!  I practiced for a few years at the Beban Park Pottery Studio until life moved me away and my time was no longer my own.  In Fort McMurray in 2002, I briefly reconnected with clay for two years, but itwas not until my two girls were older that I was able to afford more time to play in clay. 
In 2016, I signed up for a beginners pottery class at the Arrowsmith Potters Guild with Barb Strachen followed by an intermediate class with John Shauer.  I was hooked. Since then I have spent countless hours playing with clay.  In 2017 my girlfriend and I signed up to go to Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts where we took a Mask Making Workshop with Bob Kingsmill.  I had so much fun there that I returned the following year for three workshops with Allan Burgess, Victoria Christen and Marney McDiarmid.  In Marney’s class I learned to make hand built bowls with pieces and today still enjoy making that style of bowl on a regular basis.  2019 I took three more workshops at MISSA with Clive Tucker, Linda Doherty and Richard Burkett.  After Richard’s class, I started experimenting and making my own glazes.  I love taking classes, learning, and then using my newly acquired knowledge when playing with clay. 
At present, I am taking a class with Cathi Jefferson where we are working on pitchers.  In my previous classes with Cathi, we worked on teapots, use of ribs, lids, and plates.  During COVID, Cathi’s classes have helped to keep me inspired.
When not in classes, I live in Errington on a 10 acre hobby farm with my husband Terry, two dogs, two cats, two horses, a pony, chickens, and two loose peacocks.  While my little studio was being built the peacocks would hang out and still do – and that is how the name Loose Peacock Pottery came to be.

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