One thing I love about Rye and its surrounding villages is the people and their stories which are always fascinating. If you take the time to talk to people they usually are very interesting and have great lives to talk about. Chris O’Donoghue is no different, well-known as a potter, garden designer, creator of model railways and writer of detective novels.
In 1971 Chris moved from Poole in Dorset, where he started his pottery journey studying at Bournemouth Art College and working at Poole Pottery, to Cranbrook to work at his brother’s pottery. He later moved to Rye in 1974 to work in a small workshop on Conduit Hill at the back of what was then the Iden Pottery showroom. Chris made plaster moulds for machining and slip casting, basically anything that couldn’t be created on a wheel. Chris became very busy and soon outgrew the space so found a larger premises which he shared with an artist Chad Coleman who was known for his caricatures.
Chris was one of the original Rye potters and made a number of moulds for Rye Pottery and other potters, and is also well known for making ceramics of the local properties around Rye and other areas. These sold all over the world – there are three models at the Mermaid Inn.
In 1985 he went freelance making more unusual pottery models including a robot, racing cars and in 1999 he made a resin creature or ‘millennium bug’ to put on computers.
In 2000s his pottery work slowed down so Chris decided that he would change course and started gardening, which he really enjoyed, interestingly learning gardening from a book. Something Chris clearly does have is a lot of creativity that he can use in varying ways and doesn’t shy away from a challenge. He decided to apply to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show having no experience of the event and was asked to visit to see what it was all about and what he would need to achieve. He went on to win two silver gilt (for Shinglesea garden in 2007 and Pilgrim’s Rest in 2009) and one silver award in 2008 for Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) Courtyard Refuge. Alan Titchmarsh said Shinglesea was one of his favourite gardens. Chris enjoyed his time working there and meeting many interesting people.
Chris decided to stop designing gardens at Chelsea due to the amount of work and pressure and so focused on private garden designing. His designs proved to be in demand and he found garden design enjoyable and less stressful.
The last garden that Chris created was based around the Brother Cadfael books by author Ellis Peters. These books, about a monk in the middle ages who was a sleuth and an apothecary, is what led him onto his next venture: writing his mystery books.
Chris states that research is key and an important part of his writing process and will always be careful that his information is accurate especially as his books are all based locally. He likes to bring his characters to life and for them to be as real as possible and they evolve with his books. It is clear that Chris is very passionate about his novels and really enjoys the process. Chris’s book generally have 80,000 words each and he likes to write one book a year.
Each book follows onto the next one so its worth starting with the first in the collection. They are: Blood on the Tide, Blood on the Shrine, Blood on the Strand, Blood on the Cards, Blood in the Garden, Blood on the Dunes.
Book seven is due out soon, but what will it be called? Blood on the Rocks? Keep a look out as Chris will be sharing this very soon and it will be available locally and, along with his others, from Amazon as well.
Chris owns a dog, the famous Aggie (and now also has a second, Dotty) who features in his books and even has her own page, Aggies Adventures, and is possibly more well-known than Chris! He lives near the sea so spends a lot of time there walking Aggie and Dotty and this also plays a part in helping him with his writing and giving new ideas – inspiration and time to think, something I totally agree with – walking in nature allows creativity to flow.
Chris gives informative and entertaining talks on pottery, garden design, Chelsea Flower Show and writing. He has given talks about his various jobs as part of the Rye Arts Festival which he really enjoys and the tickets are usually sold out to his events. His talks last around 45 minutes containing some great photography too. He is producing a book with photos to complement his talks which will be available soon.
I have given you a snippet of information really as there is a lot more so why not get in touch with Chris via email chrisodh@aol.com or take a look at his website www.chrisodonoghue.co.uk.
Image Credits: Chris O'Donoghue .