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.
Lise was born in Norway in 1974 and grew up surrounded by nature and the urban environment of Oslo. She trained as a bespoke women’s tailor before embarking on an Art and Design Foundation Course at Bournville, UCE, followed by a BA (Hons) in Fashion and Textile Design at Ravensbourne College, UK.
Her interest in ceramics as an alternative creative outlet started with short courses at Putney School of Art in 2012, where she continued her learning for several years before joining communal studios in London. After nearly 20 years working in fashion, Lise switched to ceramics full-time in 2019 and co-founded a London studio and gallery in 2020.
Jonathan graduated from Farnham Art School in 1974 and worked for Joe Finch at Appin Pottery in Scotland. He began making once fired domestic ware in a pale stoneware body, guided and inspired by Bernard Leach’s ‘A Potters Book’. He went on to work in porcelain and to decorate with a brush.
In 1999, Jonathan moved to East Sussex where he built a smaller kiln in a more spacious workshop. He began to experiment seriously with reduction fired lustre which had fascinated him ever since he attended a course given by the late Marjorie Clinton two years previously.
SaeRi strives to intertwine personal narrative with broader social and cultural influences, creating a visual representation of her experiences. Central to her artistic exploration is the profound impact of the "good child syndrome" that has shaped her identity since her youth. This complex, deeply rooted in societal and cultural expectations, has greatly influenced her journey as an artist.
Annabel discovered clay at Farnham Art School through Saturday morning classes in the early 1960s. After studying at Winchester Art School and Croydon College of Art, she later gained a BA(Hons) in Sociology and a PhD in Lesbian History at Essex University. In her early 40s, she returned to ceramics as one of the initial students on the City Lit Ceramics Diploma course in 1989.
Annabel’s work is rooted in a fascination with the gradual transformations caused by corrosion, erosion and weathering. Living on a stretch of the Sussex coast, she is drawn to the surfaces and structures found in coastal and edgeland environments, where the effects of time, exposure and neglect create unexpected forms of beauty. Popular seaside amenities sit alongside abandoned industrial sites and forgotten structures, their remnants continually reshaped by salt, wind and sea.
Stephen’s first pots were made at Soham Grammar School in the late 1960s-early 70s where his art teacher and early mentor, Peter Askem helped and encouraged his to move onto the Foundation Course in Art and Design at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology.
He then progressed onto the BA Hons course in 3D Design (Ceramics) at West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham. The tutors and visiting lecturers at Farnham included Sebastian Blackie and Mo Jupp. Stephen found the ‘Farnham experience’ to be life changing.
Sue originally trained as a sculptor at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London gaining a degree in Fine Art (Sculpture). First working in wood and metal, she discovered clay in the late nineties.
A chance encounter with a South African potter led to Sue’s fascination with burnished and smoked African and South American pots. Then in 1997, she attended a transformative course in Greece run by ceramic artist Alan Bain. There she began hand-building pots, working with terra sigillata slips, acquiring burnishing skills, and being introduced to pit firing.