Clayful and Playful

20 October 2024Savannah J, Alexandra ‘25

The leaves on campus have begun to shed their green, and the air has turned crisp with the autumn breeze. The change in season reflects the annual shift from the blissful beginning to the intense consistency Brentwood’s tripartite program calls for. As academics rage on and midterms seem to suddenly approach, students find a serene escape within the arts programs. Among the many wonderful options, there lies a stand-out student favourite: hand-built pottery.

This year Brentwood has welcomed an exuberant new hand-built pottery teacher, Mr Robert Burgess. Mr Burgess is no stranger to teaching as this is his 19th year in education, teaching math and sciences as well as art and pottery. Mr Burgess first discovered his love of pottery at the age of 11, in Surrey, where students learned to mine their own clay. He has brought a fresh outlook to pottery class as he introduces innovative projects that challenge students and call for out-of-the-box thinking. Mr Burgess describes the handbuilt students as, “eccentric with a willingness to learn new techniques” and he is most excited about, “putting together the first group project”, a combination of grotesque faces each of us has created.

In class, we are currently diving into the world of pinch pots. Although pinch pots are thought to be one of the simplest forms of hand-built pottery, Mr Burgess has put an oceanic spin on them and challenged us to create a fish sculpture out of multiple pinch pots stacked together. These outside-the-norm ideas create a fun environment for us where we can put our spin on regular ideas.

We hand-built students have all begun to settle into pottery and embrace the soothing powers of the art and the serenity it can bring. Pearl N, Hope ‘25 states that hand-built pottery, “provides a time where I can separate myself from Brentwood’s rigorous schedule”. The fall term is a crucial time for academics especially for our Grade 12 students as they enter the daunting university application process, and an amazing decompressor that our tripartite program offers is art. Hand-built pottery is a phenomenal way to spend downtime and allows our hard-working students to take a break.

Please give a warm welcome to Mr Burgess to our Brentwood family. We are so excited to have Mr Burgess here and are looking forward to learning from his endless knowledge and benefitting from his fantastic teaching style.

Savannah J, Alexandra ‘25

Where Students Choose To Be