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.
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.
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.
Mandy Cheng’s focus is on porcelain and to make pots that are unique ergonomic forms. Her works are designed to be graceful and minimalist, to conjure a feeling of lightness and a sense of movement.
The signature mesmerizing patterns mimic the vivid diversity of nature. Using the nerikomi method, the patterns are meticulously prepared by repeated cutting and layering of plain and coloured porcelain sheets.
Vanessa's work is influenced by natural patterns, colours and forms found in and beside the sea. Over time Vanessa has developed her own technique of using slip as a resist and for texture to pattern her sawdust fired pots.
Daniel obtained a BA (Ceramics) from Royal Melbourne Information Technology University (co-presented with Hong Kong Art School) in 2007.
Daniel creates carefully sculpted porcelain vessels. The start of Daniel’s creative process begins with throwing. He is fascinated by the patterns and ongoing variations that emerge during this stage. The unique traces left on the forms evoke for him a sense of a path paved with the sedimentation of memory.
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.
