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 Phethean is a long established professional potter whose work has been exhibited and collected widely across the UK and Europe. He is a Fellow of, and recently retired as Chair of the Craft Potters Association, a member of the Cornwall Crafts Association and of the Penwith Society of Artists.
Akiko Hirai produces both practical and decorative ceramic ware that is held in private collections and museums worldwide. Her Japanese background and aesthetics strongly influence her ceramic work while her pieces are also perfectly rooted in contemporary designs.
Making in her hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, Laura draws from the creative heritage and ambition of the pioneering potters who made the city famous. Her contemporary forms echo the grandeur of 18th century ceramics, she has long admired. Thrown in porcelain, each piece is a unique ‘sketch’ in clay, carefully turned and refined to reveal the precise form.
Josie Walter became passionate about clay in 1976 when she enrolled on the Studio Ceramics course at Chesterfield College of Art. After three years of throwing, building kilns, visiting potters and generally being immersed in pottery, she opened a workshop in Matlock with a fellow student.
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.
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.
