2019 CAP WRITING PRIZE | Commendation
Formal education within fine art institutions often direct students to learn from art history. It is common to see artists continue their research to include the work of other artists including ‘old masters’. A profound influence for Bernard Leach was William Blake¹. In his book The Potters Challenge², Leach writes, “It is as Blake says: “Do not pursue skills, technique will follow the idea. The idea will find technique, it is included in the real gift.”³ Blake’s quotation provided Leach a dictum, which he could use as a framework of reference to support his work in his field of art, ceramics and philosophy.