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.
Born and brought up in Norwich, Richard has been making pots since the early 1970s. After studying for two years at Great Yarmouth College of Art, he worked from 1974 to 1980 at Le Dieu Pottery in Norwich before spending 3 years in Australia and New Zealand, and a further five in Germany.
He is inspired by Hungarian and Romanian slipware from the 1800s and by English country pottery. Recently his work has explored colour and abstract patterns in strong forms that capture the ebb and flow of the sea and the landscape of South West Dorset.
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.
Taja came over to UK from his native country Japan to study oil painting and settled in Devon over 40 years ago. He was inspired by so many potters in the south west, so he started making pots using his friend’s pottery workshop. He is largely self-taught. He found that slab and coil built pottery suits him the most. He started experimenting with porcelain clay about 20 years ago after being inspired by enormous blue porcelain wall tiles at a new Japanese airport especially the water-like quality of the blue glaze.
Rachel Grimshaw’s sculptural ceramics are about the clay itself. Focusing on its pliable, immediate, qualities, Rachel likens her pieces to photographs capturing a ‘frozen moment’ in time, her pieces are fixed in a forever gesture once fired.
Carol is an artist potter and textile designer based in Yorkshire, England. Her highly individual practice explores the sensuous relationships between form, colour, texture and pattern; often using unexpected combinations of glazes and oxides to create unique and highly durable objects for daily use in the home.
Clive Bowen was born in Cardiff in 1943. Initially studying painting and etching at Cardiff College of Art from 1960 to 1964, Clive went on to train as an apprentice with Michael Leach at the Yelland Pottery in North Devon from 1965 until 1969. He worked alongside Michael Cardew at Wenford Bridge before setting up his own pottery in 1971 when he bought a small agricultural property at Shebbear, near Holsworthy in North Devon and set up a workshop in the former farm outhouses.
