Contemporary Ceramics gallery and shop exhibits the greatest collectable names in British ceramics along with the most up and coming artists of today. Our distinguished makers are all carefully selected members of the Craft Potters Association.
All of our makers are members of the Craft Potters Association and each of them have a story to tell.
Many years ago, Harriet was inspired by an article by Dick Lehmann about carbon trap glazes. She has been exploring this intriguing glaze ever since. She believes that all the potters who work with carbon trap seek different qualities and achieve quite distinctive effects even though they may use the same recipe and fire to the same temperature in the same kind of kiln. The glaze is unusually responsive to the atmosphere in the kiln and even to the weather as it dries before firing.
David was born in South London and trained in Graphics and 3D design. After working in art education for many years, specialising in ceramics, he took early retirement to concentrate on his own work and established his own workshop in the Forest of Dean where he now produces a range of hand-built ceramics.
Jennifer works from her studio on the edge of Dartmoor in South Devon - a quiet space to develop her practice. She makes vessels inspired by ancient potters who remained closely attuned to their natural environment.
Vessels are hand-built from black, red, or white stoneware clays, using pinch and coil methods to preserve every mark and impression in the soft material. Using only a few simple tools, the process is slow and rhythmic. Surfaces are coated with thin layers of slips and glazes. The pattern left by the pinching process is accentuated as the glaze pools into the hollows. The colours are subtle, with occasional flashes of vibrant colour, all to be found within nature’s palette. Pieces may be fired several times, until a particular quality of colour and texture is achieved.
Matthew’s work explores the links between ceramics and geology and place, making pieces entirely from geological samples that he has collected from specific locations around the country, and that illustrate the ceramic qualities inherent in these materials.
Motoko was born in 1962 in Tokyo. She graduated from Saitama University, and trained at the Takasaki College of Art. From 1993, Motoko spent six years working at the Utatsuama Craft Workshop and the Oshigahara Workshop, and then came to England in 1999.
Paul studied studio ceramics under renowned ceramic sculptor, Mo Jupp at Harrow School of Art, graduating in 1977. Following a short period teaching in London, he relocated to Cornwall, where he established his pottery in 1979. He moved to his present home at Helland Bridge, where he works in a studio converted from an old chapel, in 1989.