We were absolutely thrilled to showcase our products for the third year running on a popular pottery TV show here in the UK. Even Brad Pitt loves it, so it’s popular across the pond too!

The Great British Pottery Throwdown is a competitive TV show in the same vein as Bake Off, but with pottery. In each episode, a group of amateur potters are tasked with completing two challenges. In the "main make" challenge, contestants must produce a substantial multi-stage piece – building it from clay, decorating and firing it before presenting it to the judging panel. In between stages of the main make they must complete a second challenge, typically a smaller scale task to test a specific pottery skill.

I was contacted by Scarlet at Love Productions, the makers of the show, and asked if I would like any of my ceramic flying bird trios to be featured on The Great Pottery Throwdown. Of course, I jumped at the chance! The trio seemed very apt, given this is the third time the show has featured my ceramics. The judges showcased my work during the segment they call “Perfect perfect”, where the panel demonstrates to contestants the standards they are looking for.

Last year they featured my cat egg cups as part of the inspiration for a children’s pottery set. This year it was all about flying bird trios for the wall, a bit like Hilda Ogden’s ducks on Coronation Street. I have been making flying bird trios for wall mounting since I started my business in the early 90s and I have many different birds now in production - some made by me here in the UK and some made for me by the pottery team we work with in Sri Lanka.

 The show production team chose my Flying Pigeons and Owls for the programme, with the pigeons especially getting some really good screen time.

In the previous years, the presenters Keith Brymer Jones and Sue Pryke actually held my handmade ceramics while they discussed the designs. They’re both highly respected and award-winning ceramicists, so it really means a lot to me to be so well regarded by my peers.

If you’re in the UK you can find the Great Pottery Throwdown on Channel 4, while in the USA you can watch it on HBO Max – I never imagined my animal ceramics would be on the same streaming service as Game of Thrones and The Last of Us!