living, working, playing!!

I've had the opportunity to live, work and play at this house, actually it's an old great house which dates back a couple of centuries, back to the time when 'sugar was king' on St. Kitts. The house was part of the estate yard on a typical sugar plantation. Today, this house is a remnant of those days. The architecture is typical of the time in which it was built, and it would have been lived in by an estate owner or manager. It has been home to many families over the centuries. So, I was able to find this house through some friends who were living here. The husband was an artist. When their own home was completed, a beautiful wooden house on a mountain overlooking the town of Basseterre, they contacted me about the availability of the house. I moved here February of 2004 and have been here since.


I had been running my pottery studio and gallery, The Potter's House, for a few years, 1999 - 2004 on the West Bay Road, in the town of Basseterre. I had loved listening to the sounds of the sea on calm days, but it was hellish when the storms came. I also loved the view and sounds of Basseterre. It was a lovely little two-storey house and my studio occupied whatever space I could find both in and out of the house. I utilized the back porch, the back steps, the small space under the steps and a little area of space at the foot of the steps. That's where I kept my potter's wheel and Kiln. I had covered and paved the area. Gosh I had forgotten that I did that. I guess the next set of tenants benefited from that added construction. Anyway, that is how it is. I like to live with my work/play so I have had to use my creativity wherever I live to make the place work for me.


The discovery of the estate house was a wonderful find. I was able to get a girlfriend to share the living space with me for a few years. It is a large, sprawling house, with two very large bedrooms. All wood floors except for the bath, kitchen and laundry area. The large yard, boasted quite a variety of fruit trees. An old stone building, with a galvanised roof, in the backyard, excited me. I knew that this would be a perfect place for my pottery studio. There was also an additional room, first used for junk but later served as a guest room or residence for family and friends.


I have been able to both create and sell my pottery from this location. I converted the very large living room space into a gallery and in the dining room area there was enough space for both my suite of living room furniture as well as dining. I have had birthday parties, summer pottery camps and workshops, I brought home a new baby, there have been organised viewing tours and I've been photographed, videographed and interviewed for print, radio and television at The Potter's House. There has been joy and saddness, break-ups and make-ups. Tons of creativity have flowed from me and my former partner, my daughter and friends. Almost everyone who has spent time here has had a chance to play with clay. My daughters and their friends play run around outside, they get on my nerves when they run inside. I shudder at the thought of a pot falling of the shelf and crashing to the floor. I remind them the not to run around in the house. My work lines the shelves of the gallery. Equipment and clay fill my studio. Visitors come by every now and purchase that special piece that catches their eye. I give thanks for that. To be able to live, play, work and make a living at the same location is a blessing!!

We sit under the many trees in the yard, we play, we laugh, we cry, we even, sometimes, get some exercise here at The Potter's House.

Soon we will have to move, but The Potter's House will continue, wherever we move to.

Carla