The Liner, the Rigger and the Sword

Ant first encountered pottery in primary school. His teacher, Mr Wright introduced him to clay and planted the beginnings of a lifelong passion. He started out as a science teacher but gave up teaching in his late twenties after years of evening classes and moved to Lincolnshire to set up his own pottery workshop.

Ant has been making pots for over 50 years, the first 25 spent producing terracotta garden pots and then, side by side with his wife Di making maiolica ware. Together in late 2019, they decided on a fundamental shift away from wheel thrown, functional domestic orientated ware. In the early months of 2020, just before lockdown, they began their quest to produce large hand-coiled vessels, decorated with black geometric designs and without the use of glaze.

Influences and techniques come from many sources but most significantly from the Pueblo Potters of New Mexico, USA; and in the UK, from the work of Gabriele Koch and Magdalene Odundo. These makers are responsible for pots of outstanding merit and craftsmanship and have established a level of excellence that Ant and Di aspire to achieve.

Ant & Di Edmonds’ present work has been developed over the past six years. All the pots are coiled by Ant and subsequently pinched, scraped and beaten into shape. The decoration is applied by hand – a full time occupation for Di – between coiling sessions for Ant. The monochromatic designs and abstract patterns are drawn and adapted from many sources including Pueblo Pottery of New Mexico. USA and 1960s Op Art. Each of this couples’ magnificent vessels are dazzling accomplishments embodying the culmination of skill, passion and time.