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Andrew McCullough | Episode 1042
Andrew McCullough is a studio potter based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. After taking some time away from pottery to further his education–and work in New Brunswick politics–he appeared as a competitor on The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down’s first season. He is now opening a community pottery studio in downtown Fredericton to make pottery more accessible in his area.
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The people on the show The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown seemed very kind and without nastiness. What the show really kind?
The show was just as kind as what you would imagine from watching it. All the relationships that we had were super genuine and we truly wanted every person to do as best as they could.
Did you feel prepared?
I definitely felt rusty going into the show. I was one of the only people in the cast who wasn’t doing it close to full-time before hand. However I was confident of my ability on the wheel so I said if I can shine there I’ll be happy.
Were you given an opportunity to practice the things that are being presented for you to do that day?
Yeah, we had some of the challenges given to us in advance, so we could plan and prepare at home. While we were in Vancouver we also had one time a week where we could go to a place called Mud Lab studio in Vancouver to practice whatever we wanted in preparation for the show.
When the show aired how did that impact your life?
The biggest impact the show had for me was giving me a chance to step back into the pottery world on my own terms. Like I said, I had been out of the world and now with myself being reintroduced to Canada nationally I can take the opportunity to do what ever I want which is to open a community pottery studio.
Do you feel like your business is going to be stronger as a result of being on the show?
I absolutely feel that being on the show will help my business and the studio that we are creating here. Getting that sort of national attention can only be helpful. Now what matters is what we do with that little bit of extra platform.
What is one thing that you would do differently if you were on the show again?
That’s a really good question. My answer is not going to be what happened on the show but I would have wanted to spend even more time with my fellow contestants outside of filming. We spent all of our free time together I wish the times I stayed home in the hotel room I would have actually stayed out with them because they are all amazing people.
Book
A Potter’s Book by Bernard Leach
Contact
Instagram: @nuceramics
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