INTERNATIONALLY renowned potter Jennie Hale is opening her West Devon workshop to the public for only the second time this weekend.

Art and animal lovers will be able to enjoy a huge array of Jennie?s speciality raku animals and other ceramic works at her Longham Pottery at Coryton.

Raku is a Japanese word meaning ?enjoyment?, which describes the type of firing used in the kiln to produce the desired effect. Jennie?s raku creatures are exhibited at galleries across the UK as well as abroad, and are inspired by a love of nature.

The forthcoming exhibition follows the success of last year?s opening which attracted visitors from all over the country.

Originally from Scotland, Jennie moved to Devon at a young age and attended school in Kingsbridge. Her artistic talents were already showing as she made numerous sketches of local wildlife.

She kept nature diaries full of illustrations, for which she won a prize in a BBC wildlife competition.

These diaries, capturing a wealth of Devon wildlife, inspired her to create the ceramic animals which have become her speciality and can also be viewed at the exhibition.

Only last month Jennie experienced one of her strangest encounters with wildlife when she saw what she believes to be a wild puma.

?I was driving back from Bristol one night, just crossing the River Lyd, when my headlights caught this thing standing in the middle of the track.

?My first reaction was that it was a large dog, but as I approached I realised it was a big cat of some sort. It was very athletic-looking and muscular, tawny in colour, with a very long tail.

?Within seconds it leapt into the woods. When I got home I looked it up in a nature book and the closest thing to it was a puma.

?I?d always been very sceptical about the big cat theory, so when I saw it I was really quite staggered.?

Jennie?s work will be on display between 10am and 4pm on Saturday and Sunday (December 7 and 8). Wine, coffee and other refreshments will be provided.