“Showing your emotions is a sign of strength. I cry because I’m passionate about everything I do”
Whether it’s punk, pottery or presenting, Keith Brymer Jones believes it’s about giving your all – even if that involves a few tears along the way, he tells Karen Dunn
Minutes after the cameras began to roll on the first series of The Great Pottery Throw Down, potter-turned-presenter Keith Brymer Jones was in tears. Tears of joy, but tears nonetheless. It’s usually contestants on TV shows who cry as they talk about their ‘journey’, but for Keith, it was all about his love for making. His unashamed emotions struck a chord with viewers. Keith sobbing over pots is now an intrinsic part of the show’s popularity – showing that ordinary people’s creativity and skills are worthy of admiration, and even a tear or two. He wasn’t always as open, Keith admits, but letting his emotions out hasn’t only helped him, but others. When, for example, he posted a series of pottery technique videos online, he “got a hell of a lot of messages from ex-servicemen, people that had gone through PTSD, saying don’t ever hide your emotions, explaining how they were always told to push through,” he says. “But the thing is, if you’re not careful, that builds up and it can be quite dysfunctional. I consider that showing my emotions is a sign of strength.”
Clay came into Keith’s life at his own particularly difficult time. Having been a happy boy who enjoyed dance, even competing, he was bullied at his north London secondary school. One kind teacher – Mr Mortman – allowed him to shelter in the art room, helping him find his confidence, not to mention his future career. “The moment I touched clay it was like a religious calling,” Keith smiles. “That one small act shaped my entire life. When he said I was good at it, it was the first compliment that anyone had ever paid me at school.” Not only bolstering his confidence at a vulnerable time, but it would also guide his own approach. “It showed me the importance of both being kind and passing on a skill.”
A dyslexia diagnosis also made school a struggle, but finding a skill that didn’t rely on writing opened up new possibilities. “I’ve realised that my connection to clay was probably because I’m dyslexic,” he reflects. “If you’re dyslexic, it’s a great medium to work with because you’ve a much better affinity with shape, form and volume. Pottery is imagination in a 3D form.”
DIGGING DEEP
It wasn’t all about pots, however. After leaving school, Keith discovered music. He got a guitar for his 16th birthday and blagged his way to be the outlandish lead singer of the band The Wigs. While they may never have hit the big time, The Wigs enjoyed success around London venues for nearly a decade, allowing Keith to unleash his inner punk. He says, “I like to throw myself into whatever I do. With the band that meant literally – I was always covered in cuts and bruises after a gig!” Pots or punk, his philosophy is the same: “If you’re going to do something, give it your all.”
Being a rock star did not pay the bills though, so Keith set out to find a job with clay, ending up working as an apprentice in an outer London pottery. It was back-breaking work, getting up at 5am to begin a day
filled with the likes of bagging up tons of clay, unloading kilns, mixing glazes, glazing pots, cleaning, not to mention making endless cups of tea and, if he was lucky, getting to throw some pots. Keith believes that it was his childhood dance experience that kept him focused. “I definitely equate how mentally and physically disciplined you have to be to dance, to working in pottery,” he says. In fact, it was “the discipline of working day in and day out on your craft” that really appealed. “I knew how to put the hours in after years of competitions.”
Though demanding, the apprenticeship taught him everything he needed to be able to run his own pottery and, after finding a rough and ready studio, Keith’s career began in earnest. Often throwing up to 900 pots a day, the days were long and the pay was low, but Keith loved it. “The best advice I was ever given was from my father, who said, ‘For God’s sake, don’t do a job that you don’t enjoy, because you’ll be doing it for 85% of your life,’” he says.
“He was teaching me from his own mistakes, probably what we all do when it comes to parenting. He said, ‘Look, it doesn’t matter how much you earn. As long as
“The moment I touched clay it was like a religious calling… Pottery is imagination in a 3D form”
you’re doing something that you really enjoy, then you’re hopefully going to live quite long and be contented.’
And he was right!”
TAKING THE WHEEL
While Keith may have had an affinity to pottery, running his business alone was a stressful time. “I remember my therapist asking me, ‘ What gets you up in the morning?’ Without hesitation, I said, ‘anxiety.’ The anxiety of owning your own business, getting orders out on time and having enough money to eat. I still get bouts now, but not to the point I used to,” he admits.
“I was always working on my own. Now I’ve a support mechanism around me, which enables me to worry less. It’s about learning to let other people take the wheel sometimes.”
The juxtaposition of the stress of running a business and the stress-relieving qualities of working with your hands are not lost on Keith. “The moment that I sit down and start producing, it has a real calming effect on me. Your hands take over and this cognitive skill kicks in, freeing your mind to do other stuff,” he enthuses.
CENTRING CREATIVITY
With margins getting smaller as mass-produced pottery from places like Ikea came on to the market, Keith made the difficult decision to move away from studio pottery and into mass production himself, forming the company MAKE International. There were many positives to be found: he could reach more customers, and he got to be truly creative again. “A lot of creativity is about messing about and seeing what happens,” he explains. MAKE International now collaborates with creatives such as Tatty Devine and Jane Foster, as well as organisations like the National Trust – all this on top of the company
selling Keith’s own successful and distinctive range of ‘word’ ceramics.
“Like most things in life, it’s trial and error. If it doesn’t work out, you learn from that and move on.
It’s that gentle process of honing down what you’re trying to do. There’s excitement in it, too.” Fellow ceramicists or indeed viewers of The Great Pottery Throw Down know the anticipation that comes with opening the kiln door. “It’s always terrifying because it could all be horrible or brilliant, there’s no in between.”
Keith’s creativity came to the fore once again during lockdown. Living in Whitstable, Kent, with his girlfriend and “muse”, Marj, he had time to create again and, for the first time, made pottery just for himself. He stopped stressing and found time for something other than clay. “I’m now an all year round sea swimmer. When you get out of the water, you feel so much better about yourself. You slow down – something I’ve never been very good at.”
While his pottery sells across the world and he’s a famous face on TV, Keith still wishes he could give his younger self a pep talk and show him that, while bullies may win for a short while, creativity will prevail in the end. “I’d just say, ‘believe in yourself more, feel confident and follow your feelings,’” he says. “I’ve wasted quite a bit of time not believing in myself.” Keith’s biography, Boy in a China Shop: Life, Clay and Everything by Keith Brymer Jones with Michael James (Hodder & Stoughton) is out now.