Ken and Valerie Shelton

Valerie studied fashion and textiles at Brighton and Bristol art colleges. Valerie’s art is about a combination of brushstroke and knowledge of colour acquired through a lifetime of painting. Ken learned to pot with potters in Bristol and London and has had a long association with potters throughout the country in his work for the craft ceramic materials industry and kiln manufacturing.  He has organised seminars with many of the best-known potters, an activity that enabled him to closely observe their skill and techniques which has influenced his approach to shape in his pottery.

Valerie paints onto the fired ceramic with underglaze colours; sometimes designs are loosely sketched in first and each piece is a unique painting. Colours are freely mixed to produce the desired shade and often applied with two colours on the brush, a technique that gives depth and interest to the work.

Ken and Valerie were made Selected Members of the Craft Potters Association in 1997.