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.
Phil throws and hand-builds in various stoneware clays, making bowls, vases and sculptural forms. However, his main output is concentrated on small-scale porcelain and white stoneware bowls and bottles. They are exclusively hand thrown.
From an early age Penny enjoyed playing with clay at home as her mother had a small pottery studio. However, it was not until she lived in Japan in her twenties that she became more seriously interested in making pots.
Jane is a self-taught ceramicist and began coiling and smoke firing over 30 years ago. She worked for many years as a lecturer in art specialising in ceramics and finds inspiration in neolithic landscapes and artefact. Living on the Somerset/ Wiltshire border provides rich source material.
The meditative simplicity of coiling is a fundamental part of her practice. Jane is fascinated by the universality of clay and how it lies at the heart of the human experience. She travelled widely in Africa researching the spiritual use of clay and visiting remote pottery communities, running workshops in the Namibia and Kalahari deserts with funding from the British Council.
Birgit Pohl grew up in Germany and porcelain objects in her family home always held a particular fascination. After moving to London, a chance visit to a potter’s studio first opened her eyes to the possibilities of working with porcelain. She learned how to throw on the wheel initially at evening classes and went on to study at Clay College, Stoke-on-Trent.
Patia studied at Harrow College of Further Education 1986 – 1988 and subsequently spent a further two years at Cardiff School of Art and Design from 1998 – 1990. During her time at Harrow and Cardiff she was tutored by Mick Casson, which after her graduation led to an invitation by Mick and Sheila Casson to join the team at Wobage in 1990. This is where Patia continues to work today in her own workshop making slip decorated earthenware and high-fired ash and feldspathic glazed porcelain. Patia was made a Fellow of the CPA in 2015, and has exhibited in the UK, Japan and Europe.
Robyn creates finely thrown vessels in porcelain, for both decoration and use. She is inspired by the combination of delicacy and strength in porcelain. She creates pieces whose pared-back forms evoke a sense of balance and harmony, whether in a bowl wide open to the skies or a moon jar in its spherical containment. Surface decoration is minimal - an incised line around a narrow foot, or a slip decoration to add a dynamic to the stillness of a moon jar.
