Patterns of Self

Elin Hughes

Elin Hughes on ‘Patterns of Self’

Many of us have emotional connections to ceramic objects in our homes. Perhaps a particular souvenir reminds us of a holiday abroad, an inherited set of china may evoke the memory of loved ones or it may simply be a favourite mug that holds just the right amount of tea.

I am a sucker for collecting handmade pottery but my most treasured pot was likely made in a factory in China and is of completely sentimental value. It is a ceramic cup I painted at Narberth Creative Café when I was four or five, a tiny cylindrical toddler’s cup only six centimetres high but to me the purest expression of joy, lack of inhibition and freedom, absolutely unfettered by notions around sophistication, taste or refinement. Bright yellow and purple on the inside, and on the outside green with a blue ear lobe shaped handle and maroon spots and crescents, clustering into constellations of smiley faces. In orange on the base, my name, signed twice. It is the most unadulterated form…