A Lancashire-born potter was voted off Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down this week, while another made it through to the sixth episode of the competition.
Rebecca Norris, 32, born in Blackburn but now living in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, had made it through to the fifth episode of this year’s competition but came unstuck after a disappointing throwdown challenge.
James Stead, also originally from Lancashire, made it through to the next round and managed to keep up his impressive streak of winning the second challenge in every episode so far.
This week the eight remaining potters were tasked with creating a gargoyle on an apex tile, putting their construction skills under the spotlight.
They had three hours to hand-build their models and two-and-a-half hours to add decorative detail, which had to come from texture as no glosses and glazes were available to use.
Rebecca went for a two-headed gargoyle that represented good vs evil which was perched on a tile with each side representing heaven and hell.
She said she struggled to make hers look evil enough but she was “apprehensively confident” going into the refine stage.
James, meanwhile, created a dragon that was emerging from the body of an ancient stone monster.
After having their creations fired in the drying room, the potters were given a further two-and-a-half hours to decorate their pieces.
Rebecca noted that you need to balance how much time you spend on each element and did not like the look of her piece, while judge Rich Miller noted that the proportions were quite small.
For the second challenge, the potters were tasked with creating a tall chimney pot that had to have a thick rim and be decorated with a rose.
James once again excelled, earning first place in the challenge, while Rebecca’s struggled with moving the almost 40kg lump of clay eventually saw her break the piece apart.
Guest judge Gabriel Nichols noted that there was still a good shape on one side of her pot and that it looked as though it had been going in the right direction.
However, her position in last place and a lack of scale on her gargoyle left Rebecca in a vulnerable position, and she became the latest contestant to leave the pottery.
Potter of the Week went to Lois this week, a jewellery designer from Kent.
The Great Pottery Throwdown airs on Sunday nights on Channel 4.
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