David Binns’ carved and glazed ceramic forms evolve through a direct and intimate engagement with clay. The making processes he employs involve starting with an almost solid lump of clay, mostly porcelain or finely grogged stoneware clay. Once the clay has dried to a leather-hard state, he uses woodworking chisels and blades to carve each piece, applying an intuitive mix of part control and part chance. All his work is glazed with a single felspathic-based glazed, adapted with different metal colour oxides and opacifiers. He fires his work in an electric kiln (oxidation atmosphere), to very high temperatures – usually around Cone 11 (1320°C). Firing to such a high temperature causes the glaze to flow down the vertical surfaces of each piece in exciting, yet unpredictable ways. Firing to these high temperatures also means the clay body itself plays an important role in effecting the aesthetic qualities of the fired glaze. Occasionally he adapts the clay body with additions of a granular feldspar, which melts and dramatically effects the overlying glazed surface. The chance elements he allows within his making and glazing processes mean each piece is completely unique and unrepeatable. Opening each glaze firing is therefore often a mix of excitement, anxiety, despair and hopefully delight. He draws inspiration from the contrasting shapes and textures found in contemporary architecture and the natural landscape. Shaped by a deep respect of the fundamental principles of Japanese aesthetics, he strives to make work that has visual beauty whilst conveying a sense of quietness and simplicity.
Paul Wearing’s approach to his practice embraces contrasts of control and chance within the glazing process. This can be seen within his treatment of the glazed surface which renders evidence of intentional brush marks and chemical reactions of the glaze. The surface is built up and transformed through the brushed application of multiple layers of slips and glazes – generally six glazes and two slips are used on each piece. The pressure, direction and speed of the brush connecting with the vessel’s surface determines only some of the outcome. The surface develops in a partnership between Paul, the materials and process. Layers simultaneously build and crumble under the application of further layers. The process begins to reveal its own language, determined in part, by chance. Once applied the glaze materials are set to react within the conditions of the oxidised firing process. Here the inclusion of selective volatile materials brings further disruption to the surface through blistering, cratering and crawling. Glazing and firing processes are repeated until the optimum depth and complexity of surface appears.
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This exhibition profiles the works of eight esteemed makers, each of whom have recently been awarded Selected Member status by the Craft Potters Association.
Lise’s primary interests lie in creating decorative and sculptural forms with highly textured, expressive surfaces. The work is deeply rooted in the rugged landscape she grew up in in Norway, imbuing a sense of place, timelessness and quiet beauty within each piece, as if they were found, rather than made.
This exhibition profiles the works of ten esteemed makers, each of whom have recently been awarded Selected Member status by the Craft Potters Association.
As his working practice approaches fifty years, Jack Doherty’s work has become simpler and more focused. By stripping away what he considers unnecessary, Jack’s process now involves just one clay, one colouring mineral, and a single firing. For inspiration and courage, he looks back to prehistoric vessels, powerful anonymous objects that held both practical and spiritual significance in everyday life. These forms, made before art or craft, speak profoundly of their time and the people who lived with them.
“Simplicity is complexity resolved” - Constantin Brancusi
Lara Scobie is an Edinburgh based ceramic artist specialising in individual slip-cast vessels and bowls made in porcelain and parian clay. Focusing on the dynamic between form and pattern her work explores the cohesive integration of drawing, surface, mark making and volume. The off-center ellipses of the individual forms echo line drawings and decoration applied to the painted surfaces.
“The theme of balance is a constant, significantly underlining my current work in which ideas of dynamic interplay between form and surface develop.” – Lara Scobie
Sue’s work draws on the quiet resilience of trees and bones—forms shaped by time, marked by fragility and carrying memories of growth and decay. Through slow, receptive hand-building, each piece develops as if guided by an internal rhythm. Textured surfaces hold lines like weathered stories, while a soft matte glaze evokes a sense of calmness.
‘My hurt, my joy, my scars, my healing, all shape the work I create in clay.’ – Sue Mundy