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.
Richard grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, a city with a long history of ceramics. Richard graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 with a BA(Hons) in Ceramics and Design, focussing on reduction firing and oriental ceramics. He set up his first pottery in south London, specialising in blue and white porcelain.
Maria's early creative training and work was in graphic design at a time when the industry was changing from drawing boards to computers. As her work became more computer based she realised she missed using her hands and making things, that realisation led to ceramics, initially experimenting in a shed in her garden, but later to an MA in ceramic design at Bath Spa University. Since graduating she has exhibited nationally and internationally and now works from her studio in Frome.
Irena Sibrijns has been a potter for over thirty years. Inspired by an avid interest in 20th century English decorative arts tradition Irena creates exquisite, and entirely unique, ornamental and functional pieces with equal enthusiasm.
Ruth's pots are built using sheets of soft clay, her dedication to the art and process of making, from construction to firing, has given rise to very particular work. Within this particularity lies a thought -provoking tension. While the pots are structured with great intention and tailored to contain space, their formal concerns are softened by an underlying sensuousness, best experienced by the all -important sense of touch. The vapours that caress each piece in the kiln create an inextricable link between the form and the smooth, rich and complex tones that articulate and enhance the pots' surfaces.
Suzanne began working with clay while accompanying her husband during their years living in the Middle East in the 1960s and 70s. She came to make clay her home ground and something she could take with her wherever she lived.
She discovered Oribe ware – Japanese tea ceramics associated with the Kaiseki meal and tea ceremony – whose glazes and playful geometric decoration greatly influenced her aesthetic. She ultimately decided to import English porcelain clay so she would have continuity wherever she worked and for the same reasons travelled with a small electric kiln.
Stephen Parry first trained at Croydon College of Art between 1974 - 1977, then moving on to Dartington Workshop until 1979 before discovering a passion for wood-fired ceramics in France.
