Pat K wrote:Penny, the pot shown in the third photo is wonderful. I love its ..... not quite sure of the word I want...is it seductiveness?
Rory, are you planning on taking control of the market for crafted pots in Australia? Surely, by now, you have enough to open your business.
On behalf of the potters, thankyou
Cheers,
Pat
Hi Pat!!!
I hope you are well mate. All hail lord Pat the potter
Oh my gosh! Tell me about that pot Pat. I loved that pot, I saw it at Penny's house and I just had to have it. It just oozes with an Australian Bush forest feel. I could take a photo of the rocks around the national park here, and it would look exactly like that pot, it is a work of art!
It was quite amazing seeing how much other hobbies Penny does too. But her pots just blew me away. I guess, being a professional Lego builder, I can very much appreciate the time and effort both design wise and effort that goes into something this awesome.
One of the problems I see with the Australian Potters is that there isn't enough of them! I am worried if/when Pat, Penny and other greats stop making pots, that it is such a 'do it for the love of it' hobby, that young generations will think 'yeah right', why on earth would I put all my effort into it just to get paid diddly when I can be a graphic designer and get paid over $100k or $150k. To become a really great potter, they have to put a huge number of years into it, as we can see from Penny and Pat, that I can't see new potters starting an apprenticeship for a career in this. Sad. I guess its the same philosophy with me ; I could get $150k plus if I worked in Sydney, but I choose life and so I have to take what I can get here on the coast so I can be with my family and not spend half my life commuting.
My wife just goes ->
Yeah, its Rory. He's OCD. Apparently she thinks I obsess about things....golf....bonsai....lego....having more kids....spending all my time with the family.... I'll admit she may have a point. But my wife likes to display wall art in the house, I guess I'm the same but I display my art outside with pots and bonsai.
Having received an inheritance from my late mother, she told me before she passed, 'when I'm gone, buy lots of those lovely pots I saw at your house and put my bonsai in them' (it was Pat Kennedy pots at the time), and put all mine and your bonsai in them, sell both places and retire early. Its kind of sad but she said to me, 'Rory, money wont make you happy, I wish I was a bit more like you and enjoyed my money more' as she was terminally ill at that point, (she was a compulsive saver and hardly ever holidayed). Her love was just seeing me happy, and spending time with her own dog and building up a nest egg for retirement. Unfortunately some people don't get to enjoy their nest egg as you don't know what is around the corner, which is why we need to find things we love as hobbies now rather than waiting till retirement.
Anyway, I hope that my kids take up the love of bonsai after me, because there is no way anyone else is getting my hand made pots from all the wonderful aussie potters out there. I am going to hypnotize my children into appreciating them and each taking a 50% share in my bonsai. I've already told Bowie that all the Lego is his, but Daddy just needs to occasionally use it for building purposes. Actually, bowie is so excited because Penny gave him an accent pot on the weekend for free after we bought the pots, and he has placed a fern from the garden in it with my help. He now has quite an interest in them, and proudly tells people he has 6 bonsai. He hasn't used his Pat pots yet, because his trees aren't big enough yet, but hopefully soon.
Thanks Penny. Oh, in case anyone is interested, the link for her and other aussie potters is:
) A bit like people's stereotypes of Chefs, Actors, etc blah blah blah
and keeping the next generation interested in bonsai, might have to give them some future pottery lessons as well!
