Mo Baker-Swaffham Potter

05/05/2026

27/04/2026

Had a very enjoyable weekend at Danny’s basket making course. New to trying to make a basket, had a great deal of attention and encouragement from Danny and came home with my first basket.

Slightly obsessed with making these trays and traditional Irish skibs at the moment.
I'm leading a workshop here at on June 6th if you'd like to learn how to make one.
This workshop is appropriate for intermediate weavers and improvers, or very confident and capable beginners. Willow weaving requires good hand strength and dexterity.
Bookings to [email protected] please

10/03/2026

15/10/2025

Pope Leo’s secret letter to U.S. bishops just leaked. TrumpWorld is not going to like what it says.

This week in Rome, Pope Leo XIV quietly handed a letter to a group of visiting U.S. bishops.

Inside were messages from migrants families separated by deportations, children afraid to sleep and one unmistakable command:

“You must speak. You must not remain silent.”

According to Vatican officials and border clergy, Leo told the bishops to publicly confront Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, calling it “inhuman” and “morally indefensible.”

This is the first time the new pope has explicitly addressed Trump’s second-term raids — and he didn’t hold back.

“Where the world sees threats,” Leo said, “the Church sees children. Where walls are built, she builds bridges.”

That line, delivered to stunned bishops, echoes through his new 104-page exhortation Dilexi te (“I Have Loved You”), a sweeping document about dignity, inequality, and the moral cost of indifference.

Leo’s warning is clear: A society that treats compassion as weakness is already in decay.

He called the growing cruelty toward migrants “a test of our humanity,” adding that a nation that forgets mercy “falls into a cesspool.”

The message is not subtle.

It’s a direct challenge to Trump’s so called “Christian nationalism” a movement that claims to defend life while supporting family separations, mass deportations, and detention camps.

“Someone who says they are against abortion but supports the inhuman treatment of immigrants,” Leo said, “is not really pro-life.”
That single line has conservative Catholics scrambling and MAGA media fuming. But

Leo isn’t here to please politicians, he’s here to call their bluff.
His tone is fatherly but firm.

Where Trump demands obedience, Leo calls for conscience.

Where Trump trades empathy for applause, Leo reminds the Church that silence is complicity.

This bears repeating: “Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity,” he writes, “or we fall into a cesspool.”

This isn't just an appeal to Catholics. It’s a warning to the entire free world.

Our country isn’t just in a political struggle.

It’s in a struggle for its very soul.

It cannot be denied that we are no longer a country that says “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”

We’re a country that says “You are not welcome here. Leave or be forced out.”

This cannot stand.

03/09/2025

Heritage Open Days Talk | Sunday 14 September | 11.30am-12.30pm | FREE - booking essential

As part of Heritage Open Days, The Burton is presenting a mini-exhibition of ceramics selected from our archive, focusing on the relationship between Bideford’s history of ceramics and international maritime trade. Come along on Sunday 14 September for a free talk on this fascinating topic and hear about how Bideford's influence stretched across the globe.

The talk is free to attend but booking is required. To book call 01237 471455 or see https://www.burtonartgallery.co.uk/exhibitions-activities/heritage-open-days-talk-bideford-ceramics-and-international-maritime-trade/

19/07/2025

09/07/2025

Lots of beautiful pieces on show and for sale in our new exhibition in this beautiful church right in the centre of Norwich.
Do come and take a look.
I am there all day today and next Monday if you have any questions about my jewellery or ideas for commissions.

08/07/2025

05/07/2025