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.
Ian was born in Birmingham - a city famous in its past for guns, cars, motorbikes and jewellery: a city of makers. He studied ceramics at the Central School of Art, London. His teachers included Gordon Baldwin and Dan Arbeid who encouraged skills and making of all types, from hand-building to industrial techniques as possible means of artistic expression. Ian’s own teaching and exhibiting in the UK, Europe and the Far East has provided opportunities to produce work as a response to different places and cultures.
Barbara Gittings’ smoke fired, nerikomi porcelain vessels are quiet, contemplative and sensual, as she wants anyone looking at the work to want to touch it and be drawn in.
John completed a degree in ceramics at Harrow University in 2001 where he became intrigued by wood-fired ceramics and kiln building. He has since built several wood-fired kilns and has been exploring the unique colours, surfaces and effects which can only be achieved with this process.
Wendy discovered clay on an art foundation course. She went on to study at the University of Central Lancashire in 1998, gaining a BA in 3D Design (Ceramics). Since her graduation, she has continued to teach ceramics and run workshops for schools, colleges and community groups. She has participated in symposiums and workshops in Britain, Europe and America.
John Jelfs' work has been widely exhibited in leading galleries including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Alpha House in Sherborne, Beaux Arts, Bath, Rufford Ceramics Centre in Nottingham and is also included in many collections in the UK and abroad.
Karen throws carefully considered porcelain pots for everyday use. Her forms are elegant yet robust: these are pots to be held, filled, drunk out of and eaten from. The purposeful use of one material (porcelain), a single creamy white glaze, a deliberately restricted vocabulary of form and the process of repetition throwing combine to create both unity and diversity in her work.
