Barry Stedman

After a career in retail, Barry discovered the joy of working with clay through evening classes, and soon realised he wanted to explore further and learn as much as possible. He then gained a place on the ceramics course at the University of Westminster, Harrow.

Barry has always drawn and painted and particularly enjoyed working outside responding to the natural environment in all its moods. This love of mark-making and colour is at the core of his ceramic practice. Working with the vessel form he tends to make in series, influenced by natural phenomena, places, and emotions, developing ideas from drawing, painting, and previous firings. Barry likes to work quite quickly and intuitively on each piece and his aim is to create individual vessels to celebrate the imperfections of nature that in some way may feel infused with the vivid light and colour of a constantly changing natural world.

“I like the warmth and brightness of earthenware, the clay is thrown soft and altered or formed from soft slabs, it is then scratched, cut and marked and brushed in layers with pigment, slip, oxides, and glaze.”