Island Life August/September 2018

Interview
“I perfected the
art of making
hundreds of tiny
little porcelain
bowls, day in,
day out”
now – and people had been
buying entire dinner services.”
Changing course
Deciding to leave the pottery
behind was made easier
by the fact that Neil had a
new focus, following the
diagnosis of his second child,
Jan, with severe autism.
Having been impressed by
the teachers who worked with
his son, Neil promptly decided
to quit his business, hand over
to his assistant, and re-train
as a primary school teacher
himself. After graduating, he was
immediately offered a job at the
Chinnor Resource Unit for autistic
children, and dedicated himself
to teaching for the next 12 years.
He kept his hand in with
the pottery by teaching adult
education evening classes, but
effectively, he’d stopped producing
any original work of his own.
“Life just took me on another
course, as it sometimes does”,
says Neil, who, during that time
had met and married his second
wife Catherine, also a special
needs teacher, and was kept
busy bringing up their blended
family of five youngsters.
But life took another turn
in 2003 when Neil saw a job
advertised on the Isle of Wight.
“We felt ready for a change and
had considered moving abroad,
but that wasn’t possible because
of our children” says Neil.
And the rest, as they
say, is history!
After that initial show at Quay
Arts in 2007, and his subsequent
approaches to galleries, Neil
has never looked back.
In no time he was supplying his
work to big names in cities and
towns all over the UK – even while
still working out of his garage and
living room at home in Niton.
In 2010 he had a new exhibitor
stand at the British Crafts Trade
Fair in Harrogate and ended up
with a queue of buyers for the
whole three days of the show.
“I remember coming back
home in my battered old car
with 50 orders and my wife
was horrifed!” he laughs. “All
she could think of was ‘How
are you going to do that?’
That was the point where Neil
and Catherine had enough
confidence to launch out and
take on the lease of Niton’s old
butcher’s shop, which is where
they run their studio to this day.
Customers love being able to
see the potters at work – and
these days there’s a team of
them – Scarlett Felstead the
studio manager, Pete Avery
the technical manager, Tim
Alexander the pottery assistant
and Sarah Parker the apprentice,
along with Neil and Catherine.
Now supplying 70 shops,
galleries and interior design stores
around the UK, the business
has been growing at the rate
of 20-30% year-on-year.
Island customers also love the
distinctive marine-inspired designs
in relaxing, cool colours that
feature on bowls and dishes, mugs
and lamp bases, and enjoy being
able to see the making process.
“I was initially a bit worried
about opening the studio to
the public” says Neil, “but we
now really enjoy having people
around and seeing how interested
they are in what we do.”
And the teaching hasn’t gone
to waste either – because Neil
hops on the ferry once a week
to the Solent Academies Trust
in Portsmouth, where he does
a day of specialist teaching
in pottery and autism.
“As much as I love doing
it, I’m always pleased to get
back to the Island” he says.
“For me, the happiest place
in the world is my studio”.
www.visitilife.com 45