Imagine Gallery

I mentioned a while ago that we had an exhibition coming up next year of the potter

Jim Malone

so last weekend when he was showing at a gallery in Kensington in the heart of London

I went down to see him and the pots on show.

Although I have spent most of my life working in London it now feels a place very alien to me

and if wasn't for the opportunity of seeing his work I wouldn't have put myself

through the 'ordeal' of a London visit.

But it was worthwhile, and apart from the disappointment of missing Jim who had to catch a train back to Cumbria I was glad that I went.

I had visited his studio about six weeks previously which was a unique experience,

at the time he had no pots to show as they were all waiting to be fired.

This turned out to be a magical experience as it gave me a small insight into his world,

as apart from the orderly racks of decorated but unfired pots

on his desk were lots of sketches of the pots that he was making with his notes of how he

intended to decorate and glaze them alongside.

It was a unique insight into the world of the artist and my only regret was I couldn't see how the drawings interpreted into the finished pots.

However the trip to London enabled me to see what his mind had 'envisaged'.

This was important to me as his exhibition with us next year is the fulfillment of a dream.

I have loved and collected Jim's pots for over a quarter of a century [which sounds a very long time indeed] and it has been a long held belief that one day he would be famous.

Now he is.

I remember at his first exhibition over 25 years ago thanking him for making my dinner plate that I used each day [and every day since] as it gave me such pleasure.

He asked my name and shook my hand.

When we opened the gallery I approached him and asked could we stock some of his pots,

"I remember you, didn't I shake your hand a while ago"?

It had been something that I had long remembered but never expected him to.

I was wrong, Jim is the man and the potter of my dreams,

his success gives me nothing but pleasure and has me often thinking

"I knew he would make it".

So can you imagine the pleasure that it will give me next year to host an exhibition by this man? Not many dreams in life come true but this one has.

To top this I am going to be writing an article about him and his work for the magazine

'Ceramic Review'

to coincide with our exhibition.

It does make me think that at times in our lives, for "better or worse'

some things are meant to be.