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.
Ben Arnup’s interest in ceramics started at home. With a sculptor and a potter as parents, he grew up learning ceramics skills and technology. Ben has exhibited in Britain, Europe and America, his work is represented in public collections in Britain and Germany.
James and Tilla Waters create their pieces from a studio in Mid-Wales. Carefully considering where hands hold pieces and edges meet mouths, their forms have classic clean lines with beautifully balanced proportions.
Hannah’s pots are inspired by traditional British earthenwares and her decoration is derived from the world around her. Often the floral abundance in her garden and the surrounding wilds, both cultivated and untamed, are referenced in her pots. Sometimes there are political statements veiled in imagery of folklore and symbolism.
Many years ago, Harriet was inspired by an article by Dick Lehmann about carbon trap glazes. She has been exploring this intriguing glaze ever since. She believes that all the potters who work with carbon trap seek different qualities and achieve quite distinctive effects even though they may use the same recipe and fire to the same temperature in the same kind of kiln. The glaze is unusually responsive to the atmosphere in the kiln and even to the weather as it dries before firing.
Jennifer works from her studio on the edge of Dartmoor in South Devon - a quiet space to develop her practice. She makes vessels inspired by ancient potters who remained closely attuned to their natural environment. Vessels are hand-built from black, red, or white stoneware clays, using pinch and coil methods to preserve every mark and impression in the soft material. Using only a few simple tools, the process is slow and rhythmic. Surfaces are coated with thin layers of slips and glazes. The pattern left by the pinching process is accentuated as the glaze pools into the hollows. The colours are subtle, with occasional flashes of vibrant colour, all to be found within nature’s palette. Pieces may be fired several times, until a particular quality of colour and texture is achieved.
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.