Readers' Comments on The Great Pottery Throwdown

Yesterday I hoped my commentary How Pottery Throwdown is a better programme than Artist of the Year might have some resonance with readers of my blog.

I was surprised to see how very many thought 

• my analysis was spot on
• offered a few more views of their own.

So today is a READERS SPECIAL. Below you'll find comments left on my post when it was published on my Facebook Page yesterday

There were a number of themes - and I've organised the comments under the themes. Any emboldened comments are due to me highlighting them in bold.

Participating Potters in The Great Pottery Throwdown 2026
(Facebook 30 December 2025)

I highly recommend subscribing to The Great Pottery Throwdown Facebook Page. Always guaranteed to make you feel good!

What makes Throwdown special?

Totally agree-it’s a very skilfully put together programme, with an approach that seems very supportive and yes educational. The judges are very skilled in their field and respond with useful feedback and in a way that is positive and specific.
It’s thoughtful, gentle and actually about process and creativity and skill. Jo York Art

I totally agree with your assessment. There’s one more aspect of Throwdown that brings me joy, and that is how close the participants get to each other. There’s a real sense that they develop lifetime friendships and a community of likeminded people. And they help each other, whether it’s carrying things to the drying room, or flipping something heavy over. I remember an episode where one potter asked another for advice. The advice given was real advice, intended to really help. Diana Hume

Very much agree. I am a painter and art teacher but I prefer Throw Down to L/PAOTY. Much more interesting, educational and a pleasure to watch. Sue Bradley Artist

Plus a lot more in the section on the Judges..... 

Why the Format works

it’s mainly the format which lends itself to better showcasing the contestants’ skills (one big project which can be practiced and prepped plus a shorter test which is not revealed in advance) Hil Beavan 

The Great Pottery Throwdown is a gem! We get to know the potters over several weeks and care about them. As a group, they are so supportive of each other and the judges genuinely want them all to do well. I’m a painter, but this is my favourite programme to watch. Sarah Clark

Art versus Craft

I love the Pottery one, watch it religiously. Your comparison is spot on Katherine. I think the difference stems from the age old craft verses art problem that most people in the art world seem to suffer from, i.e. they seem to be afraid of the “craft” of art, the mastery of skills and techniques. It is almost like the magic circle, such a mysterious secret, that to really show and explain the process would not be good for the general public.  Sarah Wimperis 

The Judges

The Throwdown Judges 2026
Rich Miller and Keith Brymer Jones

Keith Brumer Jones 
25 March 2025

Last year, I had the good fortune to meet Keith Brymer Jones at Grayson Perry's exhibition at the Wallace Collection. I of course did the naff fan thing and introduced myself and said how much I enjoyed the show!

This is what you had to say.....

The warmth of the two Pottery judges of course makes a massive difference to setting the tone, and you never feel they look down their noses at anyone’s work even if it is not to their personal taste. This means that they can be straightforward about their comments, which always have a kind spin - even when something gets splatted in the Bucket of Doom! And of course they deliver their judgments directly to the contestants rather than behind the easels in a secret discussion. Hil Beavan

I love Pottery Throwdown! And how Keith gets so emotional when someone does good. He truly cares. Patty Henderson

Such kindness shown, and encouragement and I could go on….  Jane Duncan

The judges seem to care about the potters & their work &, yes, your comments about criteria for making & judging are spot on. Cath Allwood

Plus contrasting how the Judges behaved with the Judges in PAOTY/LAOTY

When they go around to each contestant during the makes, they often give helpful advice on what they see as the pitfalls to come. 

The po-faced inane utterances of the infamous trio from PAOTY and LAOTY are the very opposite. Kate Pearce

I wished that the PAOTY or LAOTY gets more detailed crit by the judges at the end. I found their cursory opinions often very vague and feels some of the artists were short changed for their efforts. I don’t see the points to show their discussion for the selections when the actual paintings were hidden from the viewers. It makes it look less serious about art than making a TV show. Yoriko Cole 

and my final word on the contrast with PAOTY/LAOTY 

You only have to read the comments on just about every review I write of every PAOTY / LAOTY episode to realise that very many viewers are very critical of the Judges. Mostly in relation to wiffle waffle language and the obscured way in which they talk about the judging.

What would be interesting is to change the judges and see if people were still critical i.e. is it the format or is it the judges? Making A Mark

About the Throwdown Judges

Here's a teeny bit about both of them. 

• They are, of course, THE REAL THING i.e. practising potters - except they make ceramics and tiles! 
• They've both been at it for a very long time - and they run their own businesses!

Keith Brymer Jones

Many people know me as the judge on the popular TV show, the Great Pottery Throw Down, but my real job, and my passion, is ceramics. I have been a ceramicist and design expert amassing both knowledge and experience for over four decades. Not only have I been successful with my own collection of ceramics, the award winning ‘Word Range’, I also work collaboratively with both British & International designers, artists illustrators & fashion houses. 

Rich Miller

Richard studied ceramics at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, graduating in 2003 . For the last 19 years he’s been running Froyle Tiles, a handmade tile company based in Surrey. Specialising in the bespoke production of high fired stoneware tiles, they have to date carried out a range of commissions for a variety of notable architects and designers.

and should Love Productions be reading.....

At least one reader out there would like Love Productions to tackle Printmaking as well!

Although I watch all the programmes you mention TGPT is definitely my favourite. I’m not a potter but I am an artist and a printmaker and would love to see the firm behind the Pottery, Sewing Bee and Bake off tackle Printmaking- with a different technique each week and a technical challenge as well.. I think it would be interesting and informative- the general public have no idea of the work involved in producing print based artwork! Drusilla Cole, Former Senior lecturer at University of the Arts London 

How Pottery Throwdown is a better programme than Artist of the Year

There have been a number of television programmes over the years about creating/making things in a competitive context and I've commented on a lot of them (see my Art on Television page)

I've been writing reviews of the Portrait and Lansdscape Artist of the Year series (and others) since 2018 and I've been watching The Great Pottery Throwdown since it started - but never reviewed it.

However this year, I feel prompted to say why I think Pottery Throwdown is a better programme

This is in the context of the multiple criticisms over the years of PAOTY and LAOTY, many of which are shared by viewers.

The Love Productions pic for The Great Pottery Throwdown

So here goes

Art Talks Online & Webinars for Artists

I find I'm signing up for more and more ONLINE TALKS about art and artists. I've just signed up for two more! 

• Hokusai's late works: the block-ready drawings | British Museum (Friday 5th November 6pm) 
• Lucy Smith | Waterlilies, Waders and Watercolour: The Journey of a Botanical Artist | Kew Mutual Improvement Society (who use Eventbrite for ticket bookings) (Monday 8th November 6pm)

This post is about:

• What is a webinar
• Webinars for Artists
• Webinars by Art Societies - and Artists
• TIPS for signing up for an event - or hosting your own

What's in a Webinar?

Webinar is short for Web Seminar - and they started within the context of educational institutions and teaching / training / engaging with target audiences.

A webinar is

“a live online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments.”

It takes place at a set time on a specific date and they usually last an hour. Those speaking generally are experts in their field and/or the topic of the talk

Some are free and some require a small fee.

Some are recorded and those who have signed up for them - particularly if they have paid - can sometimes view online via another link for a short period of time. Which helps enormously if you want to hear the talk but have a commitment clash with the date and time.

Some pre-recorded webinars which are kept accessible can generate a lot of traffic for those host.
 

Webinars for Artists 

There are more and more webinars relevant to artists

• either in terms of art from a practical perspective
• or learning more about art history - popular with major art galleries and museums

The great thing is it really doesn't matter where you live - you can access from anywhere!

Here are some of the places which do live talks / webinars - typically via Zoom.

• Online Talks and Conversations | National Gallery
• Online Events | Tate - which include online courses
• Virtual Events | Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Online Events/Experiences | Art Fund
• Performing and Visual Arts Seminars Online | Eventbrite - Shame that they lump performing arts in with Visual Arts. However Eventbrite does have the advantage of also having location filters.
• Visual Artists Ireland - Online Events - used for professional development. They have a model "how Zoom works" page!

Interestingly there is no way of picking up on Online Events at the British Museum besides following via Facebook and keeping an eye out!

By and large, you can tell how much webinars have permeated the thinking of art galleries and museums by whether or their Events Menu has an "Online" option

• if you can filter events using "Online" they've been doing it for a while and probably have quite a good range of online events on offer
• If you search on their website for "online talks" and nothing comes up, then they are now switched on to the latest method of communicating with their target audiences - which means they have a learning curve to climb too....

They're also used for Virtual Open Days for various art educational courses

An upcoming example is the Courtauld's Graduate Diploma in the History of Art Virtual Open Day

Webinars by Art Societies - and Artists

Why don't more art societies do webinars?

Good question - why don't they? 

The Elements of Drawing website

One of the most popular of my past posts relates to the website about The Elements of Drawing - John Ruskin's Teaching Collection at Oxford

I wrote about this is this post - the New website: John Ruskin and The Elements of Drawing in 2011. Since then:

• new resources seem to have been added to what was originally there
• sadly, it is now designated a legacy website - and the Through Ruskin's Eyes links to learning resources at Ashmolean Online are now broken

However, there's lots to see though and explore. 

I'm now of the view that every time you come across a good online educational website - which makes EDUCATIONAL resources available for free online - and available for downloading - you should immediately assume that it

• will become neglected when whoever invented it moves on 
• assume it won't be there forever and will be much lamented when it disappears 

Hence you should download every resource you can NOW!

7 reasons to find out what the Great British Photography Challenge can teach artists

I've been watching The Great British Photography Challenge since it started on BBC4 three weeks ago - and warmed to it straight away. In this post I'm going to set out what I think are the reasons why a lot of artists might get value from watching it too.

Good photographers take good pictures

Great photographers take great pictures again and again and again and again

Rankin

 

Programme website

Participants - three women and three men

 Reasons to watch the Great Photography Challenge 

I'm not interested in seding anyone home. We want to see what they can all bring in the coming weeks...
This process is also about how you take feedback and getting multiple viewpoints on your work. Rankin

1. There's a great professional practitioner in charge - Rankin has worked professionally for over 30 years and is uncompromising about his own standards. What that means is.....
2. This is NOT any sort of "knockout" talent show. It's a masterclass
• He makes a point at the beginning that he's NOT about sending anybody home or making it some sort of knockout competition. I get the sneaky feeling he made it a condition of doing the show. (Other professionals should do likewise!)
  
• He's very much about nurturing talent with constructive feedback and NOT about creating "a talent show".
• They really need to drop the "Challenge" bit of the title and insert "Masterclass" instead - for what will (hopefully) arrive as a repeat next year!
3. Rankin acts as a Mentor as well as a Judge - and when he makes judgements he does it a part of a team of experts
• The feedback is both positive and negative - and it's about what makes great images
• It's always about trying to make them better creatives, technicians and photographers.
• There's also much MORE constructive content given direct to the participants than there is in any other similar programme for artists
4. The series of four programmes pack in 12 assignments - 3 in each programme covering a wide range of subjects in the widely contrasting briefs - many of which are not unlike the subjects tackled by artists
5. The programmes bring in expert professional coaches for different topics and subjects -
• a huge variety of different people who each have something unique and different to say - and different approaches to their work
• His young creative team also provide extra lessons and tips and techniques and seem to me to be very competent at their jobs.
• I'm impressed with everyone he has used to date (and those who know my reviews in the past of other 'challenge' will know I'm NOT averse to saying when I find the hired help fall way short of what we should expect from a professional programme. There are people reading this who will know who I'm talking about!)
6. It involves six contestants of different ages, backgrounds and interest.  
• NONE of whom get knocked out 
• ALL of whom start out as competent photographers who have demonstrable ability to go further - which is a very refreshing change..... 
• ALL of whom grow and change with the process of tackling a wide variety of briefs.
  
• I get the feeling they took some care in the photographers they selected because there were only ever going to be six participants!
  
7. It treats them - and us - as adults! So much more impressive as an approach - to create an informative and entertaining programme which is also very educational.

The search is on for an exciting new name in British photography. Six talented photographers from across the UK embark on the photographic masterclass of a lifetime with Rankin.
BBC website

 I do hope we see the programme repeated with more series.

Reasons for artists to take photography seriously

I've often noticed that the composition, design, colour variation and patterns and tonal variations of good photos often seem (to me) to be a lot better than the artwork produced by people of similar levels of ability and standing.

Good photographers think about impact and how to create an image which captures the eye.

It's a bit the same as noticing the attributes of great illustrators who do pretty much the same thing.

They all work hard at the structure and picture quality of the image they want to create. How it tells the story and how it works with "what works" and their own values and qualities that they hold dear.

In addition, photographers often routinely work in series. Even if they are jobbing on commissions, there's very often a series of their own work going on in the background.

 

Could it be that photographers, designers and illustrators work much harder on what makes a great image - rather than about how to prefect their equivalent of how to lay down paint?

 

I know that in my own world of self-imposed art education, I regard instruction by those who know about photography and design at least as important as looking back at the lessons we can all take from art history - or tuition from contemporary artists.

 

It's emphatically not about taking better photographs to work from!

It's much more about learning how to see great images - and understanding why they work - and creating a perspective all your own.

I RECOMMEND THE PROGRAMME. I think it's got a lot of useful lessons for artists as well as aspiring photographers.

There's on episode left - broadcast next Monday on BBC at 9pm. Or you watch the entire series via BBC iPlayer

Episodes to date

 

A Jeff Koons Masterclass

Jeff Koons is now teaching a masterclass on Art and Creativity on Masterclass. Why would you sign up - or why might you not?

1. Great Trailer

There's a video on YouTube which acts as a trailer for the 2 hour Masterclass by Jeff Koons - see below.

Trailer for Jeff Koons’ MasterClass lesson. Courtesy of MasterClass / YouTube

2. Masterclass Subscription

Having a subscription is great for those wanting to learn as it means no big one-off outlays.

Plus subscriptions are also great for content providers. That's because 

• if you get the right people to provide content - and the experience is valued, you're making money as soon as you've recovered the sunk costs of paying for the contributor - in this case Jeff Koons and the cost of the video. Thereafter it is "passive income" - which just goes on rolling in - so long as the contributor continues to be "a name".
• people forget they are still subscribing and hence the subscription continues to generate income for a long time after people have stopped looking at the content. (I've got a magazine subscription I really should sort out.....). 

3. BUT no other masterclasses by artists ?

So does this mean that Masterclass is getting into art? 

The thing is Jeff Koons is the ONLY artist who has so far delivered a Masterclass about art for Masterclass. 

It has nine categories - of which Arts and Entertainment is one (i.e. music, writing, acting, theatre, film-making, magic, screenwriting, choreography etc etc).

Bottom line  THERE IS NO OTHER ARTIST TEACHING ART ON MASTERCLASS.

So why would you subscribe - just for one person? Particularly if that one person has a particular take on art

Here's what the New York Times thinks:

• CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK: Can Jeff Koons Teach Me to Paint? By Andrew Russeth (27 December 2020)
• as in I couldn't find anybody else who's taken the class and written about it!

Really, this is a sumptuously produced infomercial for Mr. Koons’s art, and the best moments — the funniest, the weirdest — are when he feels free to cast off his teaching responsibilities and just talk giddily about his art, not yours, and his zest for Titian and Rubens, Bernini and Queirolo. (Women do not figure in this curriculum.)

Personally speaking I don't like how Masterclass handles Privacy - where they seem to make a virtue out of something that should be a LOT more upfront and transparent and controllable than it is (.e. I want to switch off cookies before entering the site). Instead it reinforces my notion of them as a "a slick operation". I think they might very well be breaking the law in relation to certain territories - but I'll wait for our own pet dragon (the Information Commissioner) to take that on.....

Notes: This is the Press Release - which tells you just how much you read elsewhere is actually original writing as opposed to regurgitation of the press release.

This is what it has to say about Masterclass (this is them not me)

ABOUT MASTERCLASS:
Launched in 2015, MasterClass is the streaming platform where anyone can learn from the world's best. With an annual membership, subscribers get unlimited access to 100+ instructors and classes across a wide range of subjects, including Arts & Entertainment, Business, Design & Style, Sports & Gaming, Writing and more. Step into Anna Wintour's office, Ron Finley's garden and Neil Gaiman's writing retreat. Get inspired by RuPaul, perfect your pitch with Shonda Rhimes, and discover your inner negotiator with Chris Voss. Each class features about 20 video lessons, at an average of 10 minutes per lesson. You can learn on your own terms—in bite-size pieces or in a single binge. Cinematic visuals and close-up, hands-on demonstrations make you feel like you're one-on-one with the instructors, while the downloadable instructor guides help reinforce your learning. Stream thousands of lessons anywhere, anytime, on mobile, tablet, desktop, Apple TV®, Android™ TV, Amazon Fire TV® and Roku® players and devices.

Looking back at what worked in the art world in 2020

This has to have been one of the most stressful years for artists ever - and yet within that we have seen some remarkable achievements by artists.

In this post I'm going to try and highlight some of what I saw and heard about in 2020 which helped artists keep going....

• Artists Support Pledge
• Portraits for NHS Heroes
• The Art Teachers who learned fast how to deliver art lessons online
• Art Marketing and Website Makeovers
• The Virtual Online Art Exhibitions and Tours
• The Virtual / Online Conferences for Artists
• Online Resources
• My Contribution

Let's all remember going forward that we are not at the end - even with approved vaccines - and it's going to be a long time before things get back to normal. 

So we need even more innovation and endeavour and hard work in 2021 - but if what I've seen in 2020 is anything to go by, there's lots of artists who are up for that!

Artist Support Pledge #artistsupportpledge

Artist Support Pledge - the gifted keep giving

Matthew Burrows started the Artist Support Pledge on on the 16th March 2020 in response to the COVID19 pandemic.

I wrote about it in The Artist Support Pledge in May 2020.  Some artists have been regularly selling small works online all through the pandemic. More than a few professional artists have told me they've had more sales and generated more income this year than in some 'normal' years in the past.

Matthew Burrows was awarded with 

• an MBE in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours List - for services to the arts during the Covid-19 response

• Personality of the Year in the Apollo Awards 2020

The online selling platform helping artists make a living now has more than 69,000 followers, has produced 447,000 posts and generated around £70m in sales. Burrows, Apollo’s Personality of the Year, was subsequently made an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours – and his no-frills initiative has been hailed as a lifeline for artists struggling in the wake of Covid-19. Personality of the Year | Apollo Magazine (19 November 2020)

In 2021 I'm going to pledge to do one post a week which will highlight the artwork of at least five artists whose work is posted for sale for £200 or less with the #artistsupportpledge.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all used other platforms to highlight the works of art that we liked - and continue to help those whose incomes have been decimated due to the lack of exhibitions.

Portraits for NHS Heroes #portraitsfornhsheroes

Continuing Art Education - Online #1: RISD

One of the advantages of the Pandemic is so much education and instruction is moving online. 

Plus being online means it can now be accessed by students all over the world. 

The only limitation on class size is the numbers one teacher or instructor can reasonably provide feedback to.

Rhode Island School of Design

RISD Ready and Reactivated. Campus looks a little different this fall due to COVID-19, but through the efforts of our community, creativity flourishes as ever.

Rhode Island School of Design is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island.  Founded in 1877 it offers bachelor's and master's degree programs.

It also offers a program of continuing education 

This winter, RISD Continuing Education is offering 40+ online courses for adults, which can be taken from anywhere in the world, at any time of day or night.

RISD Continuing Education

This is the dedicated website for continuing education

Art and Design for Everyone
provides an immersive and innovative art and design education for everyone, at all stages of life and all levels of experience.

The offerings are diverse and include courses for both adults and kids and face to face and online. 

Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education announces over 60 online courses for adults and teens this winter, as well as eight certificate programs now being offered 100% online.

These are their news updates today about

• RISD CE Online Winter Art + Design Courses for Adults - for adults aged 18+
• RISD CE Online: Winter Classes Start Jan 11 - Courses run from Jan 11–Feb 23, 2021.

This page talks about how their courses are delivered online. 

• Minimum requirements for online courses are a computer, smartphone or tablet; an internet connection; and a web browser
• The minimum system requirements for those classes/courses which use Zoom include: 
• A broadband (Ethernet or fast wireless) internet connection, 
• a computer running at least Windows XP or Mac OS 10.7, 
• at least 4GB of RAM, 
• a built-in camera or USB plug-in webcam, speakers or headphones, and 
• a microphone (if you have a built-in webcam, it includes a microphone).

“We are excited about the new opportunities and benefits online instruction offers; we found people really appreciate the flexibility it affords and we have been able to expand our audience to include students from all around the world.”

Adult Programs:

• include a broad range of visual arts and design disciplines (both traditional and digital)
• plus topics related to art and design as integral parts of our lives and culture
• scheduled over four terms in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer.

There are four different types of courses - and these include 

• RISD Online Courses - which allow people to learn no matter where they live
• RISD Online Certificate Programs - which allow people to pursue a Certificate in a specific topic (note that most certificate programs require 396 hours of study)

Certificate programs are designed especially for adults who want a rigorous and comprehensive course of pre-professional and professional study on a part-time basis.

These are the range of online courses.

Page 2 of the portfolio of online courses available to adults

You can take certificate program classes with the intention of joining a certificate program at a later date - and if you do this you have a one-year grace period in which to apply.

RISD Online Certificate Programs

If interested you are urged to make sure you sign up quickly as a number of courses were filled very quickly in previous term.

If you know of other reputable educational institutions which also deliver comprehensive online courses please let me know (Message me via https://www.facebook.com/makingamark2/)