For us she demonstrated the making of “pinched”
porcelain goblets, skillfully joining the bow] and the
stem. In her studio, she prefers throwing the bowl] and
pinching the stem. Then she showed us a fascinating
way of using coils. Thin coils of different coloured
clays were arranged in a variety of patterns to form a
rectangular slab. This panel was sponged lightly and
over it was placed a thin slab of clay slightly larger
in size. The two were rolled together to bond them,
trimmed and attached to a wide circular base. After a
coil inside anchored the wall to the base, the wall was
paddled. In firing, some of the coiled areas may rise
free of the flat inner slab providing further interest
to the textured surface.

To watch this small, confident woman working with the
clay, controlling it with effortless ease, watching
the piece growing under her hands like a living
organism, was fascinating. There was the silence one
experiences in a Concert Hall, the absolute attention
accorded a great artist.

Her demonstration was, nevertheless, precise and
practical. She explained the intricacies of adding
coloured oxides to wet clay (deduct 30% of the clay
weight for water content!); the need for wedging the
dampened oxides in slowly and carefully ("It will get
you in the eye if you don't"); the importance of
careful, slow drying for slab ware, and how to finish
the top by folding a paper towel over the edge and
pinching lightly.

Although Mrs. Duckworth says that after thirteen years
she is still “un-American” and cannot turn a workshop
into an entertainment with a running commentary and
clever remarks, she did amuse us with many little
anecdotes about her life as a potter.

The collapsing sculptures, the theft of a favourite
piece from her studio courtyard, the impossible time
limits for finishing commissioned works, struck a
sympathetic chord in us all. Her idea of making pots
from tiny coils...."It's as easy as knitting," she
said, "I'll do that when ['m too old to do anything
else."....appealed to those of us who feel the years
starting to slow us down,

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