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.
Sarah has been a potter for 45 years and also makes work in oak, lead and cast iron. She trained in painting at Chelsea School of Art between 1960-64 after which, she spent five years working as a nurse. This period was followed by studying at Harrow where she graduated in 1973 with a Diploma in Studio Pottery. Sarah undertook apprenticeships with David Leach and Zelda Mowat.
Birgit Pohl grew up in Germany and porcelain objects in her family home always held a particular fascination. After moving to London, a chance visit to a potter’s studio first opened her eyes to the possibilities of working with porcelain. She learned how to throw on the wheel initially at evening classes and went on to study at Clay College, Stoke-on-Trent.
Angela has been working in bone china since 1991 using traditional slip casting techniques: designing her own models, making plaster moulds, and finally slipcasting translucent pieces. Conventional forms, vessels, bowls and plates retain both their functional identity but also serve as a natural canvas for decoration. Her work develops in series mostly inspired by nature; depending on the decoration each series has its own identity.
Margaret was introduced to clay at Bolton College of Art and studied at Stoke-on-Trent School of Art under ex-Bernard Leach apprentice Derek Emms. It was here that she met her husband-to-be, David Frith. They established their first workshop in the mid sixties and have been based in their 18th Century woollen mill workshop in Denbigh, North Wales since 1976, where they continue after fifty years to teach and create their own work.
Lea Phillips makes a wide range high fired stoneware pottery, mostly functional plus some larger one-off pieces. All the ceramics are wheel-thrown, fired in an electric kiln and decorated with free abstract designs using vibrant colourful glazes made to her own recipes. A firm believer that oxidised firing is no barrier to interesting surfaces Lea enjoys glaze development and the challenge of combining form, colour, and pattern.
Tim works from his studio/gallery and garden in an East Devon village, making and curating exhibitions and occasionally writing. It’s a combination of the immersion in his local environment with the many invitations to exhibit/lecture around the world that has influenced his work for well over forty years. Some of Tim’s favourite adventures have been in China, India, Australia - and many times in Japan, which has reconnected him with his family history in that country, which stretches back almost 150 years.
