Sarah Walton

Sarah has been a potter for 45 years and also makes work in oak, lead and cast iron. She trained in painting at Chelsea School of Art between 1960-64 after which, she spent five years working as a nurse. This period was followed by studying at Harrow where she graduated in 1973 with a Diploma in Studio Pottery. Sarah undertook apprenticeships with David Leach and Zelda Mowat.

In 1975, Sarah set up her own studio at Alciston, Lewes, East Sussex. For most her career in ceramics, Sarah has used the technique known as salt glazing which gives a strong durable surface with a low gloss. It requires working with its unpredictable character, in fact exploiting that. Until recently this was the technique she used for her birdbath pieces.

Sarah has now stopped both salt glazing and making birdbaths. She has reduced her scale and is using an electric kiln to make burnished stoneware forms that derive from landscape. Throughout her years of making, landscape has always been the inspiration behind her work, that and the human form.

Her intention is to achieve an ‘austere tenderness’. Her work is known for its tactile quality. Her ceramics are represented in fifteen museum collections in the UK and numerous private ones.