This Is Me...

Six years ago, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. I don’t exaggerate when I describe this as a bombshell. Over the course of the last few years I have lost fine motor coordination, sense of smell and I have pain, stiffness and a right hand tremor. I get tired very easily, my confidence is often challenged and I experience periods of anxiety.
I no longer play either the piano or organ at church.I have had to give up training choirs and retired from playing the violin in the Bolton Chamber Orchestra, of which I had been a member for nearly thirty years. Also, I don’t have the control to really sing any more.
they do say, that when one door closes….
since diagnosis I believe I have entered one of the most creative periods of my life. I’ve designed and created some significant exhibitions – Magna Carta, Commemoration of the Battle of the Somme, Fantasy Village, Spread the Word…

And now I’ve embarked on a new journey – as a hobbyist potter. I’m being told I have talent. I’m not yet convinced by that. But I’m loving it.

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I’ve started to create a website. It’s not about self promotion I hope, it’s about sharing what’s going on in my head. I’ve called it Andante Ceramics. There’s a reason for this. I’m trying to build from the bottom up, keeping the learning slow and paced. Not trying to run before I can walk and consolidating my progress as I go. I’d like to share this new journey. Some people have asked me to make pieces for them and I’ve taken a commission to create a piece for a Mindfulness space , being designed in a local secondary school. My strapline is ‘ take it slowly’. That’s what I do