Norah Braden

摘要

Of her near one hundred years, I knew Norah Braden as a tutor and friend for fifty and shall miss her no end. Hardly ever was a sentence uttered without a happy smile that shone through in her voice and her twinkling brown eyes. She gave practical advice and encouragement at Camberwell School of Art in such a self-effacing manner; a judgement would be expressed only with a wry smile. This was economic and masterful. It taught that self examination is most valuable in developing a keen eye; her own would spot any deviation from honesty in a pot or, for that matter, in people too. She taught that The Pot itself must count for more than the decoration and glaze and to appreciate every nuance of form and proportion, as well as the strictest attention to details of foot and rim. Sometimes, such was her confidence in her own judgement, so far as ideals in art were concerned, that she would show an insensitivity at odds with her character and unwittingly reduce a young student to tears.Dorothy Kathleen Norah Braden (she signed herself N.B.) was born in Margate where her father; formerly a lay preacher, had opened a bookshop. After seven years they moved to Tilehurst, near Reading, in those days a quiet market town, where she was very happy and attended a private school run by a mother and daughter. She learnt to play the fiddle, as she called it, during the Great War (1914-1918), performing in concerts and to the troops. During World War Two she worked as a nurse at East Grinstead Hospital.