Lisa Katzenstein

Lisa is a Maiolica potter whose subject matter are the plants and landscapes that surround us. She studied at the Central School between 1976-79, and then at the Royal College of Art between 1980-83. After working as an independent designer of tableware, in 1999 she set up a workshop in Camberwell, revisiting her love of earthenware tin glaze ceramics first discovered while living in Rome as a child.

She has refined her techniques of maiolica, which takes a centuries old craft built around painting onto an unfired glaze surface, into the present age. She uses multiple layers of colour to build up depth and luminosity, with black lines inlaid into the glaze.

Her subject matter also draws from various sources, from the floral exuberance of the Baroque to mid-20^th Century textile design, and landscape painting. These influences are updated with a 21^st Century interest in wild plants, with a free sense of colour and design.

All her forms are slip-cast, the shapes are originally hand carved or turned on a lathe. Although simple, they are specifically designed to carry the intricate and complex hand painted designs, and each piece is a one-off.

Lisa has exhibited widely in the UK, and lives in Hastings.