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.
Rob was born in Doncaster in 1945. He first became interested in pottery and art whilst at school, going on to further education at Leeds College of Art. Robert then studied sculpture at Cardiff College graduating in 1968, before finishing his education with an Art Teacher Training Course at Hornsey College. Rob returned to the pottery he had enjoyed while at school and the decision to become a potter was a flash of inspiration which he has never regretted. Since making this decision in 1970, he has made countless pots, set up workshops and taught ceramics in the UK and France.
Sabine completed an apprenticeship as a thrower in 1998 with Hans Joachim Grünert in Waldenburg (Sachsen) in East Germany, followed by a three-year training as a production thrower where she was introduced to wood firing. She became enthralled by the high demands of wood-firing. In 2000, she came to England to gain more experience and met fellow potter, Nic Collins who became her partner. In 2001, she moved to Devon.
Geoffrey Swindell was born in Stoke-on-Trent. First studying painting, it wasn’t until he took up a summer job at the Pottery at Alton Towers that he decided to follow in the footsteps of his ancestor and become a potter.
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.
Working with clay allows Sue a secondary voice, a line of communication through form. Her work explores the fragility and hidden strength found within the natural world.
The slow repetitive hand-building techniques she uses to create her pieces offer a considered way to develop the work as each piece calmly grows. Deliberate junctions are made by breaking and re-joining the form where collars or shoulders then evolve. Surface markings are infused into the work during the making, with slips and oxides being applied throughout the drying stage. Built with a white stoneware clay body, the work may be glazed or left bare.
Chris was born in 1959. His introduction to clay began at adult education classes in Islington. He went on to study Sculpture at St. Martins School of Art, London and graduated in 1982. Chris has moved around the country over the last decades. He helped set up the Chocolate Factory studios in Hackney, London in 1995. In 2006, he moved to Argyll, Scotland to set up another pottery. By 2009, Chris relocated to Cumbria setting up a new pottery in a converted farm building.
