Warren Ogden

Potter - 'I work down the back yard under a tree'

The first pot I ever made was when I was in grade 8, some time ago now and we fired it in a wood kiln we built at school. I still have that pot and I still love it.

Pottery has always interested me; there is something quiet and unassuming about it that speaks to me.

Even though I did pottery at school and have always enjoyed it I never followed up with it until my wife began pottery at TAFE and joined North Queensland Potters Association (NQPA). It began to peak my interest and with just a little encouragement I too began to play with clay.

I fell in love with the medium, suddenly I was so engrossed in pottery I was making a pot a day and I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t started years ago.

The process of building a pot that takes me wherever it wants to go, because I don’t have any say in it, gives me a deep sense of gratification. I never really know what is going to emerge until it suddenly tells me I’m finished.

I never dreamed I would ever participate in an exhibition and yet now I have been in quite a few. It is great fun to be a part of and I have met many wonderful people along the way.  Pottery changed my life.