and our eight remaining potters are making gnomes.
Oh, guys. The hats, the beards, the boots.
Trying to be hipsters? Think you're a little bit too old for that look, actually.
- Bit awkward. - No, Ellie, gnomes.
We're... We're in gnome costumes.
- Oh, gnomes, of course. - Didn't you get the message?
We're all meant to be wearing them.
I'm not wearing one.
I had an argument with an elf once,
and I'm finding this quite triggering.
Welcome to The Great Pottery Throw Down.
- You wanna see my pointy ears? - Absolutely not.
Last time...
- Goggles! - Goggles!
...the potters got a little hot under the collar...
Oh, my goodness, this is madness.
...as they attempted Japanese raku...
- Don't panic. - Do I look like I'm panicking?
...a volatile and extreme firing process.
Ooh! It's dead hot, isn't it?
- - Tom's teapot wowed. - It's wonderful, Tom.
It's absolutely wonderful.
And he became the fourth potter of the week.
- But sadly... - The teapot,
it's a bit sparse in places.
...it was time to bid farewell to Miles.
God, it's been a great ride.
- This time...
- I'm trying to stay cool. - ...it's garden week.
Not a lot of time. Yeah, I am rushing a bit.
And triple the challenge...
There's so many things to make. Time is really tight.
...as the potters are tasked with creating a trio of gnomes.
They just make you smile.
They've just got bags of character.
They'll tackle the largest throw down ever.
- It's a massive lump of clay. - It's humungous.
But who will blossom?
It's absolutely... wonderful.
You should be really proud of yourself.
And for whom will the cracks begin to show?
- One went splat.
Our eight potters are back in Stoke
to face a small but also mammoth challenge,
as they attempt to sculpt character into clay.
Gnomes.
They're just weird little creatures.
I mean, I love fairies, I love elves and pixies,
but I just find gnomes
stuck in people's gardens kind of creepy.
I've gotta be honest, I'm really looking forward to gnomes.
They're cheeky little chaps, aren't they?
They're the unpretentious version of garden art
and we should embrace them.
Oh, no, I hate garden gnomes with a passion.
Kind of funny with their little beards, but...
I'm excited. It's go hard or go "gnome."
Good morning, potters, and welcome back to the pottery.
It's garden week, so for your main make challenge
the judges would like you to hand-build a trio of gnomes.
Your gnomes must be in action,
and we would like that to be based
on time spent with your friends and family,
which is great news if, like me,
all your friends look exactly like gnomes.
So, Keith, what are your tips here?
Well, we want traditional, figurative gnomes,
with beards, hats and boots,
and they want to be fully glazed.
We'd like your three gnomes to be in different poses.
And remember, gnomes often have
a sort of cheeky and humorous character,
and we want to see that in your work.
Potters, you have a total of six hours
to build and refine your trio of gnomes.
Your time starts now. Potters, get potting.
Noisy boy at the front.
To create a set of gnomes bursting with character
will be the ultimate test of the potters'
hand-building and sculpting skills.
I'm definitely more of a thrower than a hand-builder,
and when I'm hand-building,
I certainly wouldn't ever choose to make a gnome.
The trick is the complexity of the gnome.
There are so many different components.
And we've got to do three of them,
which puts the pressure on.
Time is definitely tight.
Six hours, three gnomes,
that's gonna be difficult,
especially for someone who works slow like me.
So, Rich, week five. Gnomes!
I know. Who'd have "gnome" it would present such a challenge.
- Do you like a gnome? - I do like a gnome, you know.
I think there's something quite quirky, quite kitsch about them.
They're kind of like a design classic, aren't they?
Yeah. I mean, it's a tough challenge.
I guess I'm curious to see sort of what they choose
in terms of that pose, because that's gonna be critical.
This one, for example, it's just leaving the ground
with four skates,
and if they're choosing that kind of route,
they've gotta be mindful that those skates
will have to support the weight of the rest of the gnome.
Yeah, they're gonna have to really think about
how that's gonna work in the drying process
and also in the firing process.
I would actually pare it right back down
and make individual pieces of the gnome and then put them together.
They're really gonna have to think about the time management.
Unless you plan out that whole process of the build, you're never gonna achieve it.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do.
- Hello, Tom. - Hello.
- How you doing? - Howdy, partner.
- Good, thank you. - So, do you like a gnome?
Does anyone? I don't know. I've never met anyone...
- Yeah. - I like gnomes.
- Do you? - I like a gnome, yeah.
- Excellent. Oh, good. - Tell us about your design.
OK, all through my life I've been into dance music
and going to raves and things like that.
- Hence the cap and... - Yeah, yeah.
You're down with the gnomes.
So what are they gonna be up to, then?
They are literally gonna be in a field having a party.
Reigning potter of the week Tom will relive his raving days
with a set of gnomes each representing
his old school friends,
and just like back in the day,
the challenge will be staying upright.
So are these guys free-standing?
It depends. I'm actually gonna judge it when I get there.
But I know this one might well need a base.
'Cause two feet, just gonna fall over.
And this one, is he sort of doing a kind of a...?
Yeah, he's got this sort of B-boy stance going on.
Sounds cool. Good luck, Tom.
- Good luck, Tom. - Thank you very much.
See you later.
Ah, here we go.
My arms are gonna ache after this.
Hours of pinch pots.
As they begin building their gnomes' bodies,
most of the potters are using pinch pots.
As I've joined two pinch pots together,
you trap the air inside, gives it stability.
You can tap it then into the shape you want.
I'm aiming for like an avocado shape,
so you've got the gut and then the top of the body.
Nothing wrong with a bit of a belly, is there?
And to help bring their characters to life,
the potters must also fashion an assortment
of limbs and accessories.
So I think I've got about 60 pieces.
There's so many things to make.
This is a tough challenge.
It's a question of conveyor-belt gnome parts, really.
I have a list of 100 things I need to make.
That's not including hair. There's a lot of hair.
As Tom's mini ravers start to take shape...
As long as I don't relax
and start a production line,
that's the main thing.
...Christine's also
getting into her groove.
I'm making '80s roller disco gnomes.
That's something I used to do with friends from college,
so you'd find us roller-skating through Preston.
Each striking its own pose, Christine's hoping
her precariously balanced creations
will bowl the judges over once again.
How are you feeling coming into this week?
You obviously had a very good week last week.
You made him cry. That's always a win.
Has that given you a bit of confidence?
Yeah, it has given me confidence.
Well, seriously, Christine,
I've really seen a progression in you,
and it's lovely, I mean, it's really lovely...
- Oh, for God's sake.
And each time you come to the studio more confident.
- It's really wonderful to see. - Thank you.
And for me that's what this show's all about.
- Yeah. Thank you. - Good stuff.
- Good luck. - Cheers, Christine.
Just saw Keith crying again.
What do I do to him to make him cry all the time?
I'll start taking it personally soon.
- I've got bodies, heads, hats.
I'm working on legs, bums, feet, arms, beards.
Oh, my God, there's too many pieces to make.
My gnomes are hiking gnomes.
They've got a map, it's upside down, they're lost.
A mix between hiking gnomes and the three blind mice.
Inspired by climbing expeditions with his family,
Cellan's hoping his gnomes manage
to scale the heights with the judges,
despite his own reservations.
How are you feeling about gnomes?
Do you like them as objects?
I can't say I'm the biggest fan of gnomes.
You're cool, Cellan. You can bring it back.
Cool sort of trekking gnomes,
although they don't know where they're going, but never mind.
How are you with proportions? These wanna be about 30cm high.
Yeah, so I've got all my measurements down here.
So I've got my hat at 10cm, my head is 4 to 5cm,
the body's 8 and the legs are 6.
- Right, OK. - So it all adds up.
- It gets to the right height. - Look, good luck with it all.
Thank you very much. I think I need it.
And Cellan's aren't the only gnomes
heading for the mountains.
So this is my skiing gnome,
based on the colors of Eddie the Eagle,
obviously iconic British Winter Olympian.
Jenny plans to finish her alpine gnomes
with bases for support
and accessories to help simplify design.
The hands are actually gonna be mittens.
Winter sports, you can wear gloves and mittens, can't you?
- So that makes that... - OK.
I see what you did there. Nice, yeah.
We wanna see some detail in the mittens.
Yeah, so there will be some detail.
I've realized I need to really up my game and refine things,
think about the finer detail.
They love the detail.
These two go wild for it.
The devil's in the detail.
And just like Jenny, Nick is hoping
to turn clever design to his advantage.
One of them's just gonna have hair all over his face
with his nose sticking out.
I won't have to do the eyes and stuff.
My inspiration is getting older,
getting older and carrying on surfing.
You get guys in the water who are 78 years old.
It's always great to go up to 'em and have a chat.
Hopefully I'll be 78 years old
and these young kids can come and chat to me one day.
As a perfect window into his future,
Nick will weather his aging - surfers' clothes with 3 - D stamps
as well as slab-building authentic longboards.
I'm interested to see the boards.
As something that you spend time with a lot,
it's gonna be interesting to see how you observe that.
I'm thinking of making these ones
quite old and knackered, like the guys.
- Old and knackered gnomes.
Ellie's a bit scared of a gnome.
I think they're a bit creepy. Do you have them at home?
Well, I've never really, like, said, "I like gnomes."
- But I like doing this. - Not in public, anyway.
I think they like the idea.
It'd be good to see Keith on a surfboard. It'd be awesome.
That's one hour gone, potters. The drying room is open.
Christ! Who put that there?
OK, these are gonna go and just dry off for half an hour
before I do something else with them.
Before construction can begin, the potters must ensure
every part is dry enough to support the gnome's weight.
I'm trying to make big to small,
so that they have enough time to dry out.
But too dry and joining the parts will be impossible.
I've got the main bodies into the drying room.
I'm now just making the boots and the hats and beards.
I'm channeling my inner gnome.
- Hi, Anna. - Hi. How are youse today?
- How are you doing? - I'm grand.
Got my finger up a gnome's leg, but...
- You don't say that every day. - I don't, do I?
- Good morning! - Tell us about your design.
- I've got a plan today. - Not chaos theory?
Hat, head, body, arms, legs. And that's my plan for today.
I'm very proud that I've got a plan for today.
Hoping that the chaos is confined to her creations,
Anna's inebriated gnomes are inspired by memories
of her brother's home-pressed cider enterprise.
I am doing cider-making gnomes.
- Oh, fantastic. - The first gnome.
He's going to be carrying a big bag of apples.
Gnome number two is this one over here,
and he's mashing the apples with his feet.
- The hard labor. - Yeah, the hard labor.
And then he's been having a little bit too much
of the old cider.
He's just lying there a little bit drunk and disheveled.
If you want to lubricate the whole judging process...
I'm glad to hear bribery is on the table.
And Anna's aren't the only gnomes
getting into the party spirit.
Mine are at a festival, because that's the place
where so many people get their party clothes on and jazz up.
Some that just wanna go round swigging beer
and, like, oh, you know, life's cool.
And then you get others that are, like, into the music, man.
And then of course someone's got a guitar,
you know, they're playing round a campfire.
So, festival gnomes.
Lucinda's hoping her larger-than-life gnomes
in intricately patterned outfits
strike the balance between character and practicality.
The main thing is that they can stand,
that the weight of them isn't too much.
It's an engineering kind of challenge as well, isn't it?
If your gnomes look anything like this,
you're on a winner, really, aren't you?
Hopefully.
While Lucinda and the other potters
are going for their take on the traditional gnome...
I'm making beards at the moment.
...AJ is leading theirs down a different garden path.
I actually don't really have a head for my gnomes.
I'm kind of building the faces onto the beards and the hats.
- These are terrifying. - Yeah.
What's going on with this? Is it haunted?
I always found gnomes really creepy,
so I thought I'd make mine creepy as well.
- Right, really go for it. - I kind of like that.
Could be a whole new genre, the horror gnome genre. Nice.
AJ's planning to coat their creepy cartoon caricatures
with decorations inspired by a love of collecting
sea glass and pebbles at the local beach.
But it's not just their appearance that's unusual.
They're called Dingus, Dorbus and Florbus.
- OK. - That is perfect.
I think it fits the demented little gnome vibe.
I like making things that make me laugh,
so I'll just keep running with that.
Halfway through, potters.
You've gotta get it done,
"gnome" matter what.
- That's a good one. - Thank you, AJ.
As the potters' parts leave the drying room,
gnome assembly can commence.
I've taken the heads and the bodies
out of the drying room and I'm attaching them.
Hopefully they'll be firm enough
to start putting my gnome together.
What's this little lad?
- That's a whistle. - Is it gonna work?
Um, maybe. If I'm lucky.
Running it over with a scorer,
popping some slip on, and then sticking it together,
and that should rewet the clay enough that it fuses.
I'm just making sure I'm slipping and scoring everything.
I don't want him blowing open.
Just wanna make sure you get a really good join.
I think not falling apart is coming before
the "does it look pretty?"
That's gonna come back to haunt me, innit?
Attaching clay limbs is fraught with danger.
If they're holding now, they should hold together.
They should be nice and strong.
Any weak joins risk unwanted cracks
on their finished pieces.
See if I can get his wee leg in there.
Hee-hee! There we go, you see? There's one leg almost done.
Mr. Blobbies at the moment. Poor thing.
They look a bit like jelly babies at the moment.
The next thing I've got to put on are the wheels
'cause he's got to be wearing roller boots, basically.
As well as being intricately detailed and refined...
This is starting to come together.
...the judges require each gnome to be at least 30cm high.
This is Dorbus. So it's quite tricky.
I never really make anything this tall.
And whilst Christine's come up with a clever idea
to help hit the mark...
I've changed the style of the hat.
Rather than it going downwards,
it's pointing up, to give me more height.
...Cellan's finding it a tall order.
I'm struggling a bit.
They don't really look like they're 30cm, do they?
Four hours gone. Two hours to go, potters. You can do this.
I've got arms and legs. I've got dismembered gnomes over here.
Looks like a war zone.
I'm now making break-dance gnome.
Are you gonna fall over?
Gnomes collapsing is what everyone's worrying about.
Ensuring their gnomes are stable is critical
if they're going to be sturdy enough to survive outdoors.
I think I've balanced him OK,
'cause I didn't want to have to put them on bases.
But adding a base for balance is not without risk,
as large sections of clay are prone to warp and crack
during the intense firing process.
They're all on bases, so if that did sit in a garden,
it would be less likely to fall over.
He's a little wobbly, but I think once his feet
dry out a little more...
I went with no bases,
and I don't want to regret that decision.
At the moment, I'm just wondering whether these legs
are actually strong enough to support.
I think it will be all right,
but I have been known to be wrong before.
It's sort of like Play-Doh, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah, it is, actually, it is.
Oh, he's got a lovely bottom.
Yes, I think all gnomes should have a nice bottom.
Lovely. It's a lovely crack.
They will be judging specifically on butt cracks.
They're small, all right?
- But it's all about the butt.
Nice ass.
Yeah, I got the cheeky crack in.
A little bit of humor, that's what they want.
Humor and expression.
No, mine have not got bum cracks.
The shorts on mine are pulled right up.
It's got quite a lot of depth to it. This guy's been squatting.
Keith and Rich are always asking for nice bottoms.
You've been going for almost six hours, guys.
Well done. Half an hour to go, everyone.
Oh, man.
All right, stick a face on this guy.
They are gonna have beards, using my mini hand extruder.
The risk with that is, of course,
that they all just snap off in the firing.
There's not that much detail on it.
I just don't think I can do three decent faces in the time.
The face is gonna be where the finest detail is,
so I think it just needs that little bit of extra attention.
- Oh, my God. - He looks so evil.
He looks absolutely terrifying
and the thing of nightmares, but brilliant.
It's definitely your style.
I just really like the sticky-out eyeball thing.
It really makes me laugh, so I just put it on everything.
I want them to look ugly on purpose,
not ugly by accident.
15 minutes left. The final push!
Don't we know it.
You're crowning! It's a gnome!
- There's a lovely thought.
Going like the clappers at the moment.
It's just gonna be so tight. Rock on, Tommy.
I've just gotta keep going to the bitter end.
I need to get some details and some features in.
It's like Night Fever, isn't it? John Travolta.
It feels like everyone still has quite a lot to do.
Yep.
Just thought I'd let you guys know.
Not a lot of time. Yeah, I am rushing a bit.
They're still making me giggle, so how bad can it be?
Five minutes to go.
Everything needs to be in the drying room.
- Going in. Well done. - I think I'll have to start.
Lucinda's got her first gnome in.
- Does it work?
- Well done!
- I need that for the end.
Right, drying room.
Come on, Mr. Gnome.
- Oh!
One went splat.
Oh!
Stupid.
It's his butt. It's the best butt.
- Dropped him? - Yeah.
Oh, no. He's got a flat butt.
- Is he salvageable? - He's gonna have to be.
- Could he by lying down?
Stupid.
That's one minute.
Come on, babe, stay up.
It's just not as good as the rest now.
It just looks a bit sad.
Cellan, you've got to get them into the drying room.
Can I take one?
There we go.
And that is it. Time is up.
Well done.
That was the longest make ever,
and it was exhausting.
I'm ruined. I'm utterly ruined.
Time was already tight, and then I made the foolish mistake
of dropping one of my gnomes.
All that hard work on the bottom squished in seconds.
For the second challenge of garden week,
we have unearthed a huge challenge.
But the potters have no idea what or who to expect.
Potters, your second challenge this week is a throw down,
and we're keeping it in the garden
because you're going to be making forcer jars.
This is a very large rhubarb forcer.
To demonstrate how to make one,
please welcome master potter Adam Keeling.
- Hi, Adam. - Hello.
Warwickshire-born Adam learned his craft
at his family's pottery,
world renowned for its high-quality garden ware.
Here the skills of five generations
of English potters continue to thrive,
and using these traditional techniques,
Adam can make 150
nine-and-a-half-kilogram pots in a day.
You're looking worried.
- Don't look worried. - I am.
First, you're gonna throw the lid. A nice chunky rim.
The dimensions are important because the neck of your forcer
needs to be the same width as your lid.
So I'm gonna pop that in the drying room.
Right, next up, we're gonna be throwing the top section.
One of the differences between this clay and others
is that because it's softer, it will potentially collapse.
It doesn't like being overworked.
So I'm only gonna put three pulls in.
That is so... such skill.
What's important is this width
must be matched with your base section.
Small steps, potters. Don't worry.
The top will need to join seamlessly with the base,
a huge lump of clay to manipulate.
You may choose to divide your clay into smaller lumps.
You're taking that base all the way out to that edge.
- All the way out, yeah. - So impressive.
That's the first pull,
and little and often with the water.
Rub it up and down, make sure you've got a nice even coating.
Two more pulls and the base is at the ideal height.
Like it was nothing.
A quick blast of heat, and it's the moment of truth.
- Flip it upside down. - Whoa.
Drop it on your base section.
Oh, my goodness.
After using his fingers to smooth the seam at the join,
Adam works the pot's profile into shape.
Once you've begun the curve, you can then actually throw this in.
Just going from the bottom back to the top.
- That's gorgeous. - That's about right.
Once you've done that, you've each got a paintbrush
and a little bit of slip.
As if throwing it's not enough.
Oh, yeah, we want it decorated as well.
I'm just gonna put some wiggles through.
Couple of lines to border it. That's about it.
Don't even know if I could lift that.
The lid is the final piece of the puzzle,
which is just missing a knob.
You can choose to turn the knob in
or you can choose to throw, it's up to you,
but I'm choosing to turn it.
But that's roughly it.
So, let's have a go, see if it marries up.
Now, this rhubarb forcer is about 70cm high,
but don't worry, we're not asking you to make one of those.
We're asking you to make a sea-kale forcer,
which is around half the size.
Oh, thank God.
This is gonna be judged blindly,
so, Adam, Keith and Rich, if you would like to away yourselves.
- Good luck, everyone. - Thank you.
This is a very hard challenge.
It's the most amount of clay
we've ever given in a throw down.
And it's going to be messy. Time to pop on the overalls.
You have one and a half hours to make your sea-kale forcer.
Your time starts now.
- Go!
This is gonna be hilarious.
Have you seen how big the challenge is?
There are so many things that can go wrong.
You're throwing really big, but you have to be very precise,
because you have to get your measurements right,
and that's just a bit scary.
Oh, wow, this clay. Even this is quite a lot.
Adam's demonstration was incredible.
He just knew what he was doing, didn't need to think about it.
It was really impressive to watch. Inspiring, to be honest.
So we just get a wee bit of heat on this now
and get started on the second part.
So I've done my lid. I'm gonna start with the top section now.
So he did it in three pulls, right,
which keeps the clay from collapsing.
We'll be here, going, "Oh, look, pull number 15."
And our clay will get soggy and it'll disintegrate.
I'm trying not to make it very wet.
It's kind of impossible, isn't it?
- Yeah. - I'm a bit behind.
- I don't know what I'm doing. - You have one hour to go.
That was already half an hour.
That's to get it all together and everything, isn't it?
That's usually what time means when I say the time.
You're getting the hang of this show, mate.
I will do eventually.
So you've made your top bit.
- I've made the top bit. - Lid's in.
- This is the really hefty bit. - This is the really hefty bit.
We have to pull it out to the... to the edge, he said.
I went for the split.
I've centered the first piece, I halved it,
and I'm now putting that on top.
I'm gonna try and center the rest.
Urgh! Why do we... Why are we whacking it?
- Why does everyone whack it? - 'Cause we hate it.
Uh!
I'm gonna try and do one.
I don't think the split's working.
Oh, good God.
That is a massive lump of clay.
It's humungous. Imagine making these out of porcelain.
Yeah. Potter joke.
- It'd be harder. - OK.
I'm just not able to move it.
It's not just the strength, it's the technique.
It's a monster!
Like that. A power stance, that is.
Yeah, I'm using all my upper body weight on this.
- Are you all right?
Lord!
He said just do a little bit at a time.
That is a little bit at a time.
No, I can't. I'm not doing it.
- What's up? - I wouldn't normally give up.
But I just... I... Seriously, I can't do this one.
- There's gotta be a way.
Just give me five minutes,
and see if I can just give it a break.
This is where being a bit hefty does help.
You can center it better 'cause you've got extra weight.
If you're really good, it's technique.
If you're kind of like me, then the strength comes in handy.
- How does he do it? - Getting there, Lucinda.
Could quite easily have given up then.
Well, I did. I did give up.
I took some of the clay away and just thought
I need to just try and get something
out of the amount of clay
that I think I can manage to throw with.
It's gone a little bit whoo-whoo, whoo-whoo.
Ah-ha! I don't even know what I'm doing.
Ooh.
Oh, God, it's coming off.
I think what I'll do
is throw the top bit first.
That bit needs to go on there.
No, that bit needs to go on here.
- And they're the same width? - Yes.
- That's pretty good going. - Yeah.
I think it's gonna be OK.
Let's do it. Right.
30 minutes left. Half an hour left.
I've joined it, and it fitted.
Here we go. Here we go.
Good luck.
Not bad, buddy, not bad at all.
AJ's doing it now.
Ta-da!
- Got something. - There you go.
You flipping well did it. Well done.
Well, let's try and shape something.
I'm just trying to get the join good.
I might stick the blower on it to dry it a wee bit.
This just needs to be a bit more bell-shaped.
It's a bit of the wrong kind of bell right now.
- Nothing's centered any more. - Oh, man. It's collapsing.
- Oh, AJ, that's impressive. - Thanks, mate. So's yours.
- It's so tall. - It's buckling.
I wish I'd stopped touching it sooner.
I tried to fix it, but that was a bad move.
It was going so well.
Just under 10 minutes to go.
I'm doing all right, as long as I don't mess it up in the last little bit.
I forgot we have to trim this. Oh, no.
This is the potential savior.
- Get a nice curve back in it. - Does that fit?
There we go. That's a bit better.
Do the lid, do the lid, do the lid, do the lid.
- Five minutes left. - No. Goddammit.
I turned through my lid.
Try and trim all this extra bulk off it.
- I'm not gonna lie... - Yeah?
It's looking flipping brilliant.
Thank you.
I made a right mess of that picking it up.
Right, that'll do.
I have made a forcer.
Too big. My lid's like an umbrella.
You have one minute left.
I reckon I only need one minute.
It's a bit of a torpedo, isn't it?
- Ta-da. - Ten seconds to go.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six!
- Lids need to go on. - Haven't tired this yet.
Five, four, three, two, one!
- Well done. - That was mad.
That is how much clay I took off that lump.
If you'd like to bring down your forcers to the front.
Oh, man, look at the bulge on mine.
Well done, potters. That was a really tricky challenge.
Let's welcome back our judges and Adam.
Wow. Amazing.
You know, we give you these challenges,
and you always pull it out of the bag.
It's absolutely... wonderful.
You should be really proud of yourself.
- Every single one of you. - I'll second that.
Adam and the judges are looking
for a well-shaped, seamless pot,
wide enough to grow sea kale,
simply but effectively decorated,
with a fitted lid and a knob on the top.
OK. So, what does it say? Eat your...
- Veg. - ...veggies.
- Veggies. - Like it.
So the first thing I can see is the narrowness.
They've managed to get the height.
The height is brilliant.
And I really like the decoration.
So here we go, we've got better width,
but I can see the second section is off-center, unfortunately.
There's a struggle evident in that piece.
Moving on. I'm really impressed with the width of that one.
And I like the shape. The join is almost seamless.
I love the slip. The finger trails are really confident.
- Moving on. - We've got a miniature.
I can see whoever's this is
has really struggled with the weight of clay.
We've got a really good, strong, sturdy pot,
but I'm afraid it's too small overall.
- OK, the next one. - We've got a real bulge here.
If I look at this side,
I've got a really nice form there, though.
Some imagination going into the slip.
Moving on. This, you've got the full width.
However I can see that the actual throwing,
as you're coming up, you're kind of losing the center.
Again we've got great use of slip here.
It's kind of naive and easygoing, isn't it?
It's really lovely.
But I'd like to have seen that rim
a little bit more centered.
And last but not least.
Again, you can see it's gone off-center a bit as it comes up,
but unfortunately you've almost overthrown it,
and therefore it's become really thin on the shoulder.
- But the lid's fit... Well... - Yeah, the lid's...
The lid's fitting, but unfortunately...
It's a nice air hole in the top.
But I'm really impressed with all of them.
I think it's a fantastic achievement.
Now Adam, Keith and Rich
will rank the forcers from bottom to top.
In eighth place is this one.
You can see you really struggled to make use of all of the clay.
Whose is this one? In seventh.
You can see you're a little bit wayward
with your center as the pot has grown.
Lucinda is in sixth place, Jenny is fifth,
Nick is fourth, and Tom is third.
In second place...
we have this one.
I think it's a really sweet little pot. The form is good.
And last but not least, we've got number one, this one.
Really well done. The join and the smoothness of the form.
You've got the width. You've got strong marks through the slip.
I think it's a fantastic attempt. Well done.
- Well done. - Well done.
That's the second challenge I've won,
and they've both been throwing big things.
What a day. Very excited.
Awful. Absolutely awful.
Oh, I screwed that one right up, didn't I?
That would have been my opportunity
to sort of claw something back for myself.
This has just not been my week at all.
It's day two in the pottery,
and studio technician Rose is up early
to collect the potters' gnomes ready for decoration.
It'll be nice to see them,
as long as there's no horrid shocks.
But whether their creations have survived
the kiln's thousand-degree heat
is a secret hidden under hessian.
Potters, now it's the decorating stage.
Keith, what's your advice here?
Now, we all know that gnomes are very brightly colored.
But that color is applied very, very precisely.
I really wanna see that glaze application
coming through in your work.
Think about your build and the action poses of your gnomes.
I'd really like to see your decorating skills
bringing those forms to life,
bringing your gnomes together as a set of three.
You have a range of glazes and oxides to use,
and you have three hours.
Potters, get decorating.
My God, they're all in one piece.
Yeah, they're OK. They've survived the kiln.
Exciting times.
I have intact gnomes, so now it's sort of trying
to just basically enhance everything with good decoration.
That's the plan.
But for some, the kiln gods haven't been quite so kind.
I'm trying to stay cool.
The hat's come off my guy over here.
That's the one that I had to
rip the hat back off of after I dropped him.
So not only are mine already too small, they're now broken.
These are 1980s roller disco gnomes.
Just slight wobbles on two of them.
OK, well, this guy looks really good.
- He's very sturdy. - He is, isn't it?
- Very, very sturdy. - Yeah, tripod, you see.
- It's the three, isn't it? - Yes. You need three legs.
It's a different sort of gnome.
Yeah, it is, yeah.
Oh, dear.
The potters have a variety of glazes and oxides
to help them bring their builds to life.
So the plan is to put all my skin color on.
I'm very chuffed that they've come out all right.
And whilst Nick's surfers will be weathered,
others are going for the more traditional gnome style,
with bold blocks of color.
These are my beachcombing gnomes.
I feel like I managed to get
quite a lot of character in the make stage.
This stage I'm just trying to get everything
really bright and colorful.
Going for bright colors.
Most gnomes are bright colors, I think.
They're meant to be happy little fellas.
I've stuck to three or four colors,
but every single one's different.
They wouldn't wanna go out in the same outfits.
And just like style-conscious Christine,
Jenny is going ski chic
with a more textured look for her winter sport gnomes.
I'm trying to just make this look a bit chiffony.
I'm doing a lighter application, sort of dabbing it on.
My plan is I shall add
bits of lighter colors and darker colors
just to try and get it a bit more, um, painty, I suppose.
I've got an idea in my head the way it's gonna turn out,
and I'm hoping that's the way it will turn out.
- Hi, Anna. - Hello, Keith.
- How are you doing? - Not so bad at all.
- Painting gnomes. - Yeah.
There's a great style to them already.
Three bad apples, I've called them,
'cause they're up to no good.
Even the happy one's up to no good.
He knows what he's doing.
We often see your decoration is,
well, kind of your strong point, really.
Any particular plan for them?
I wanna put the block color on first,
and then bring it up with highlights and lowlights,
so just to get a bit of depth of color in there.
Good.
But things aren't always as they seem
in the world of underglaze.
They tend to be slightly dull when they haven't been fired.
Then when they've been fired with a transparent glaze over,
they go much brighter,
so it's trying to imagine that in your head.
It is a bit of guesswork.
I'm hoping I know the way it's gonna come out,
but it's underglaze.
It should come out like fire-engine red.
How do you know it's gonna come out red?
- What's this one called? - It's called fire-engine red.
- Ah.
That will... That will help you.
And are you happy with how everything's come out?
Yeah. Best bit is... check this out, right? Action gnome.
Ah, he's like the boys at my school disco in year six.
- Yeah, or me at 40. - Or you...
Great news, everyone. You're halfway through.
Ooh. Anybody got a gnome done yet?
Little bit of pattern on his trousers.
It's the detail that takes the time,
and time is not on my side.
There's a lot of little details and places to get into
that you kind of forget about until you come here.
You don't think of those things when you're making it.
You go, "Ooh, look at me, how smart I am,"
and then can't paint it.
Hey, Cellan. How you doing?
Did everything go through the bisque OK?
Everything bar this guy.
- He lost his head a little. - Oh, OK.
Well, when I dip it, I'm gonna hold him by the top,
and then as it fires, it'll fuse it back together.
Just so long as it's kind of in a position that it won't...
- Won't fall off, yeah. - ...slide off.
What I'm thinking now
is just refine all their faces next.
The faces need to be very expressive,
so it's why I left them all to last,
just to get the faces the way I want them.
Some of the expressions have been created
just in the shaping of the clay.
But then obviously I want really nice rosy cheeks.
It's difficult, innit? Skin tone.
Well, I know what color roughly my mates are.
They're based on my mates, so I'm gonna make 'em that color.
Give him a nice healthy South Wales suntan.
I'm just putting the skin on them there.
- I'm doing the same. - Oh, nice.
Whoa. This guy looks surprisingly peaceful,
considering he's the one that got splatted.
These are looking marvelous.
Thank you.
With huge noses,
if that's not too rude to say.
I love a big nose.
- Do you? - I really do.
The bigger the nose, the more excited I get.
Crikey. I've never heard that one before.
Ten minutes left, guys!
- No! - No! Paint, quickly!
Precision. Remember precision.
Oh! I'm very conscious of the fact
that we need to get them dipped in transparent glaze.
OK, one, two, three.
Not only will the transparent glaze
help the potters' colors pop,
but it's a crucial step to ensuring the gnomes
are able to withstand the elements
in their natural environment.
Just have to wait and let it dry before I can put it down.
- One minute left. - Oh, deary me.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
I'm glazing my hat on.
My hands now are also gonna be stuck.
Three, two, one.
Well done, everybody. Challenge is over.
The potters must now take their finished work to Rose
for the final firing.
Bring on the gnomes.
And when they are next reunited,
it will be judgment time.
Painted three gnomes. Yeah, that seems like a win, really.
I think I did what I came here to do.
After seeing everyone else's gnomes, I'm like "mm-mm."
But I'm pleased with my gnomes.
Pretty blocky, like block colors, pretty plain.
Just depends, really. Can't compare them to other people's.
'Cause other people's are very good.
The potters' sets of gnomes began life as lumps of mud
just three days ago.
But they're now ready to step into the limelight
and face the judges.
Potters, your gnomes all look absolutely flipping brilliant.
Let's ruin the fun now by judging them.
Jenny, would you like to bring down
your trio of gnomes, please?
Well, they're incredibly striking.
They're very colorful, which is what we were looking for.
The build isn't bad at all.
There's some really nice movement in the whole structure.
The way that you've created the mittens here
in that caricature kind of way works really, really well,
and actually I think this is probably
your most considered work.
- Would you say that? - Yeah, I think so.
I was so scared of the challenge.
I think you've conveyed your concept beautifully.
They really feel like a set.
I would say the application of the purple on your ice skater
has gone a little bit awry.
It was supposed to be like chiffon,
so it's supposed to be sort of dabbed on, but it's, yeah.
I think it's only because with the others
you've applied the color so effectively
that that one sticks out a little bit, perhaps.
But, you know, the way you've chosen to texture the beard
and put in some of the detail, it works really, really well.
And they've just got bags of character.
There's a great strong style there,
and if I was walking in the garden and I saw them from afar,
would I know what they were?
Of course I would, yeah.
They're very, very recognizable,
and it's because of those bold colors.
- Absolutely brilliant. - Really well done, Jenny.
Thank you.
The character that you've got into your trio of gnomes is just incredible.
I love the approach to your beard.
You know, there's such energy, such movement,
It's, I think, what really brings them together as a trio.
The posture and the poses you've chosen are just incredible,
and I've gotta commend you on this one.
I mean, I just think the different stances,
that is inspired.
I want one of these on my bedside table,
let alone the garden.
The build itself
is just incredible.
A lovely cacophony
of surface design and textures.
I love the nod to the rave scene, the smiley face.
- And the whistle, I mean...
- Come on. Yay. - Great idea.
And what's so lovely about them
is that you look at them time and time again
and you notice something different.
Really, really well executed. Lovely.
- Nice work, Tom. - Brilliant. Thank you.
They work brilliantly as a trio.
The energy you've got into the pose,
you can see they're really going for it.
And the level of detail you've got in there is incredible.
I can't help thinking they feel like they could be
members of your family somehow, I don't know why.
- Wouldn't like to say. - Does Lucinda look like...?
- No, I'm not sure. - I don't know.
There's a slight resemblance, yeah. Maybe it's the nose.
I don't know, I don't know.
But, yeah, there's just so much going on there,
but it really feels like they're at a festival.
They carry your design idea brilliantly.
So Bill here has got a slight crack in the base.
You've got this big flat piece of clay
on this sort of solid lump on top.
You're gonna get those stresses and strains.
But, actually, there's real character in these,
and I'm just loving all the surface design.
You've got so many different processes.
You've got some sponging going on there.
You've got inlay. You've got kind of the brushwork.
You've got incising
that you've applied glaze into and wiped back.
There's just so many different techniques,
and yet it all comes together beautifully.
They're very, very striking,
and if I was to look at them in the garden,
I'd have a little smile,
and that's what you want from a gnome.
- Well done, Lucinda. - Thank you very much.
They do look like they're loving it.
This one's hanging ten here.
This one's thinking about going in.
We've seen with your hand-building skills
and those observational skills that you have
really come to the fore in all your makes.
And you haven't disappointed this time.
They're just brilliant.
They're all incredibly individual,
and yet they look good as a set.
Yeah, I mean the level of animation you've got
in their kind of action poses, it's incredible.
They've just been built beautifully.
I think the surfboards, they are inspired.
What a great idea.
It adds stability,
but it's also part of the theme.
It just makes perfect sense.
There's a few areas where you've got glaze dribbles.
It's just run out of these crevices
and kind of left a slightly thicker patch,
but the character, they just make you smile, you know.
- I'd love them in my garden. - Thank you.
They look really, really strong.
They're all doing what they should do, standing up,
or doing some kind of acrobatic kind of position.
You've really got that energy
and that fluidity in your structures.
I love the application of the color
and the markings on the beard.
It really ties in throughout the whole set.
Yeah, I mean, we asked for action poses,
and you've certainly given us that.
There's so much energy.
It's almost like they're sort of mid movement.
You kind of feel like you're thrown
immediately into the 1980s.
I think the one thing they're perhaps lacking is that base.
That would just give us that extra confidence
that they're gonna stay standing.
But, I mean, you've really gone for it,
and I think despite the fact they've got shades and no eyes,
you know, you've built loads of character into them
just in their movement.
- Whoa. - Sorry.
Overall, the colors, the poses, I think they work really well.
Thank you.
For me, they're a bit on the small side.
But they're incredibly bold, really striking.
Your idea of the story and your concept
works really, really well.
It would have been nice to see
a little bit more detail in the beard.
I sort of ran out of time a little bit.
- I did drop one of them. - Oh, OK. Right, OK.
He went a bit flat and I had to reinflate him a bit.
You wouldn't have known that one of them
was heavily deflated during the build.
I'd agree they might get a bit lost in the wilderness
if the grass got a bit long, 'cause they're quite short,
but can't fault the quality of the build,
the application of the color,
or the way you've carried your design.
Thank you.
The application of color is great.
You've managed to kind of keep those underglazes really punchy,
which is what we were wanting to see.
It tells your story wonderfully.
You know, you've got the apple collector, the stomper,
and then you've got Keith over here after a few too many jars.
But, you know, they've just got so much character.
They look like old-fashioned garden gnomes
but with that contemporary sort of humor,
if you like, within them and...
The sack. That sack is beautiful.
- It's great. - It's a beautiful sack.
You don't say that every day.
- But it is a beautiful sack. - Thank you.
They just make you smile when you look at them.
They look a bit crazy, but, you know, in a really good way.
I couldn't quite figure out where you were going
with the construction of the face,
because it was sort of moving it
a long way away from that traditional idea of the gnome
with the rosy cheeks and the...
But somehow you've kind of
put all of those attributes into it
but in a really sort of contemporary
and different mixed-up way.
They've just got such character.
You've run with a very, very different style,
and you've really pulled it off effectively.
And such a simple application of design, if you like.
I'm really loving the mouth of this one.
It's so simple but just so expressive.
- Ooh! - They're just wonderful.
We're seeing from you that your builds
are getting better and better and better.
I really, really wanna just congratulate you
on taking a different approach.
And it's really, really worked for you.
Good. Phew.
That was great.
For Keith and Rich to be like, you know, yeah, well done,
it felt really nice.
I just really liked when they picked them up
and had a little laugh at them,
'cause that's exactly what I wanted.
I enjoyed that. That was great. It's really nice to have nice comments.
But it was lovely to watch everyone else's nice comments as well.
The judges basically said
something lovely about everything.
No idea again how they're gonna make their decision,
but I think it's closer than ever this week.
They were a lot nicer to me than they could have been.
I'd love to stay, but when you look around the room,
everyone else is a lot more dynamic.
I don't know if I've done enough to stay in.
Everybody's gnomes were amazing.
So I'm kind of like practicing a goodbye speech in my head.
Keith and Rich must now decide
who will be named potter of the week and whose time is up.
Well, garden week, hey? I dig it. I dig it big time.
But some real highs and lows.
Who do you think's had a good week?
AJ's had a fantastic week.
Their gnomes just took that idea of the traditional garden gnome
and sort of catapulted it into the modern age.
It was just so brave to take a really different approach.
So, AJ's up there. Anyone else?
Nick's gnomes for me, he just got that idea
of those surfboarding gnomes over to us so well.
Tom's, they were just so fun.
The whistle, the different posture
of the break-dancing gnome.
He's gotta be up there.
So who do you think's at the bottom of the garden?
- Who's struggling? - Cellan is down there.
He struggled in the second challenge,
and with his gnomes,
they were just a little bit small.
His gnomes could have done with a bit more animation,
a bit more movement.
Christine may be down there.
The stability of the gnomes was a bit uneasy,
and of course that second challenge.
Interesting to see who will be
turfed out of the competition.
At least there'll be no more gnome jokes.
- "Gnome" more at all.
- I couldn't resist. Sorry. - Thank God for that.
Potters, the judges have made their decision.
This is the best and worst part of my job.
But let's do the good news bit first.
This week's potter of the week has been bold, brave,
and the judges say is getting better and better.
The potter of the week is...
AJ. Congratulations, AJ.
Deserved. Well deserved.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I can't believe that.
It was just so simple and effective.
You just really pushed the boundaries.
We just loved it. It was really great.
And now to the much sadder farewell,
which is so tricky by now
because we've all become good friends,
and it's unimaginable to think
that next week one of you won't be here.
But someone has to go.
The person leaving the pottery this week is...
Cellan.
I'm so sorry, Cellan.
It's all right. Yeah.
Just wasn't my week. Just wasn't my week.
- We've loved having you here. - Thank you.
It's the end of this for me,
but it's not the end of anything else.
You know, if anything, this is the start now for me
to really go out there and do something that I wanna do,
which isn't gnomes.
Well done, AJ. Well done, well done.
- Thanks. - Well done.
I d... I'm... I'm really...
I'm really pleased. I'm like, oh, like, achievement, like...
I'm really chuffed, but also really gutted,
'cause I'm losing Cellan, and I'll miss his flowing locks.
Everyone come in. Everyone come in.
Gonna miss Cellan.
He's my little Welsh buddy.
He's only 23. Little bugger.
You've done really well, man.
Definitely got big things
ahead of you.
He's got a lot of talent.
I think the pottery world will be seeing a bit more of him.
And as Cellan exits the pottery...
AJ's gnomes will now take their spot
in the Throw Down gallery.
Ah, AJ's brilliant.
Their pottery is just ace.
They've got such a style. Yeah, thoroughly deserved.
I never really thought that I would get potter of the week.
I'm really proud. Yeah, I'm proud of it.
Pressure's on for next week now. It's only down from here.
- Next time... - Mine is so off-center now.
...the swinging '60s come to the pottery.
- Time is tight. - Whoo!
Life and death with mud.
- - With vast vintage vases. - Focus.
And a demanding decoration spot test.
Oh, God, I'm making such a mess of this.
Whose designs have aged well?
I'm just giving it a little rub for luck.
And who has fallen out of fashion?
I hope my balls stay on.