A mother and daughter are combining their talents to provide a summer course in pottery for Bermuda's young people.

Ms Mae Hudgeon and Ms Frances Eddy are offering the four-week introductory course at the Bermuda College on Roberts Avenue for the month of July.

Says Ms Eddy, "My mother and I are teaching this course because we want to share our love of working with clay and providing something that is fun and interesting for young people to do during the summer holiday. It is also an opportunity to learn a skill.'' She adds that first preference will be given to "anyone in double digits'' but that any vacant places may be taken up by interested adults. "I would also like to emphasise that any youngster who is very keen, but can't afford the course, should speak to us because there is some financial assistance available.'' Although the course takes place in the mornings, they emphasise that the studio will remain open in the afternoons for any who wants to work on at a project. "If they find they love it, they can stay on as long as they want to,'' says Ms Hudgeon.

The course offered will include basic handbuilding and some wheel-throwing technique which, says Ms Eddy, can be adapted to any kind of style and need not be restricted to vessels.

"This time frame of four weeks will enable the students to acquire some degree of skill. They will be able to complete their pieces and we're planning to have a show at the end. We will also be giving slide presentations so that they can see the many different kinds of styles. We have imported a large supply of clay so that people can make big items if they wish.'' Although born and raised in Bermuda, Ms Hudgeon, who is currently working on her Masters in pottery, has spent the last 39 years in the US. The mother of nine children, she says it is "coincidental'' that she and her daughter both ended up as potters.

"But,'' adds Ms Eddy, "maybe it's just in our genes! In Africa, there are families of potters. It's an art that is passed down from generation to generation.'' She points out that pottery is a universal craft that has flourished all over the world for thousands of years. "Although we don't have a tradition of pottery in Bermuda as such, just about everybody here comes from cultures that do have well developed and distinct pottery traditions. I am really interested in the idea of developing pottery as a craft for people, not only as a way of satisfying their artistic needs but as a reflection of the culture here. The artifacts of a society are the only things we have over time to tell us what those people were like.'' Ms Eddy says she is very interested in ancient, traditional techniques: "Most of the work in ancient Africa, South America, or Europe was done without wheels, and no glazes. Even in places where kilns were used, they were often very primitive, just piles of sticks and stones, really. It's not necessary to have fuel-driven kilns. Some of these modern kilns take all night and in Japan, for instance, they use a type that takes an entire week.'' One of the bowls that she has made eloquently demonstrates the fact that pottery may indeed be fashioned using simple techniques. From a basic mould which holds the clay, she placed a coil of clay round the edge, took a scraper (this could be a gourd or calabash seed) and smoothed it out. "When it reached the dryness I wanted, I took a smooth stone and `burnished' it.'' Sigillatta, a very fine decanted clay is placed on the piece before it dries out. Ms Eddy then smoke the bowl on an open sawdust fire, after having drawn a simple arrow design round the lip for decoration. "Anybody can do this!'' she enthuses.

Already, she has experimented in using Bermuda clay, but found that its lack of elasticity meant she had to mix it with ball clay from the US.

Frances Eddy reveals that she started her love affair with pottery about 25 years ago in college. "After I graduated, I took a pottery course and loved it so much I went back to do a whole semester, doing nothing but pottery. I always wanted to go back to do it but it wasn't until I returned to university in 1990 that I decided to major in art. This is because I had intended doing Botany but found that my Maths wasn't too good! You can't do an art major and just study ceramics so I had to do the whole range of art, but it was wonderful and I now have my Masters. I would add that I got it from Maharishi International University which is one of those small, but definitely accredited university in the cornfields of Iowa!'' Mae Hudgeon, who now has 12 grandchildren, saw her own children through college -- and then decided to go herself.

"I was in junior college and doing quite well, or so I thought, but my teacher saw that I had a lot of tension and sent me down to the art department -- and that's how I got into pottery. In 1987 I went back to university and I've been doing it ever since. Now, my professor has talked me into doing my Masters and I'm starting that in August. I want to do some sculpture and I may do one piece in bronze.'' She has returned to Bermuda to help her daughter run the course and may return for another session next year.

They both agree that their separate adventures in the field of pottery has brought them very close. "We got into it at completely different times in our lives, but pottery and our love of literature seems to give us a common grounds,'' says Ms Eddy.

The Summer Pottery Course for Teens takes place at the Bermuda College (Roberts Avenue) from July 3 through 28 from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., Mondays to Fridays. Cost is $250 for the four weeks, with financial help for deserving cases. Telephone Frances Eddy as soon as possible, at 238-0059 to register in the first instance and to receive further information on details of the course.