Before Christmas the Charity welcomed local potter, Sally Vivien, into the Changing Lives family. Sally is a studio potter who usually creates from her home in Portishead and teaches pottery hand building courses locally. She is particularly inspired by the sea, mud and local landscape, and likes to experiment with glazes and sea glass additions. With her experience and artistic excellence we are delighted that Sally has opted to partner with CLC and open a small studio in our Hub-based workshop.

One of Sally's first activities was to work alongside some of the residents from Andrew House to make some unique Christmas decorations. Sally had prepared some clay shapes with a seasonal theme and left the guys to get creative with their own individual ideas. Residents take part in creative sessions as part of the therapeutic programme at the house, but this provided an opportunity for them to try something different. Everyone was absorbed in the activity, expressing their interests and personalities through the patterns and styles they chose. Sally made the session accessible, encouraging the guys to experiment with colours and designs, to create unique decorations.

After the session, Sally took the items back to her kiln to finish the process and returned them to the guys in time for Christmas. Some were hung on the tree at the house, while others were gifted to family and friends, enabling a personal, special connection with others to be made - something that has been lacking for many of them in recent years. 

I think you'll agree from the above photos that the guys did a splendid job, so well done to them and thank you to Sally - we look forward to further collaborations in the future! 

Ant