“The more I’ve worked, the more I’ve made, and the more I’ve examined my own creativity I’ve come to a realisation. And it’s that I’m basically adding very little. All of the ideas, the research, the hours, the practice and the making counts for very little when you compare it to what really matters.
And by that I mean this. I didn’t create symmetry or texture or rhythm or greys or any of the culture, nature and history that go into my work. I didn’t discover firing clay, I didn’t create the nostalgia you may feel when you hold a cup, I didn’t create the light and shadow that makes my pots look good. I’m a tiny funnel at the end of all of this.
I’m never going to make a piece of work as impressive or important as a tree or a flower or the sunlight. I think to make good work you have to admit how little you’re adding to it. That you’re synthesising so much else. The more you can get out of the way of it the better and clearer the work will be. And all of this is good news. It’s freeing to understand how unimportant my work is and will ever be. It gives me the freedom to explore. And that’s my goal for the rest of my time: to explore as freely as I can let myself.”
Jono Smart - Ceramicist
