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.
Peter Smith was once a research chemist before turning his hand to ceramics and starting a pottery in Cornwall. He aims to combine the feel of traditional earthenware with contemporary ideas. The basic form is often thrown on the wheel in a heavily grogged brown clay.
Tessa trained in Ceramics at Goldsmiths College, London 1981-84. On leaving college she developed a method of sawdust firing for surfaces that were high fired and internally glazed making it possible for them to hold water. Her vessel ranges are both hand-built and slip-cast, sculptural in form but always functional.
Kim's work is inspired by the history, geology and people of South Wales, where she has lived and worked throughout her career. Some of her ceramics work is a direct response to historical events, whilst other pieces explore wider, more general themes and narratives. The geological structure of the South Wales Coalfield is a current theme, acting as a metaphor for the way that communities bury and distort the past, creating memories that fit their contemporary needs.
Lesley was born in Lancashire, England and is based in Stoke Newington in London.
She discovered ceramics at an early age, in Australia, where the textures and colours of the landscapes and terrain greatly influenced her. She studied firstly in Australia where she gained a Diploma (Distinction) in Ceramics at Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1982.
Martin describes his work as ‘ Clay – Water – Wood – Fire – Space’. These five elements are synthesised to create a reversed trompe-l’œil type of work, seemingly excavated or revealed, and simultaneously diminishing the third dimension.
Born and raised in London, Diane graduated with a BA (Hons) in ceramics in 1988. It was during her foundation course in the 1980s that she fell in love with clay. It lit her up, and her lifelong passion began. Initially she was drawn to how immediate, tactile and responsive it was, but it was during her degree at Farnham that she discovered how truly versatile clay is as a creative medium for artistic expression.
