I came into the world of ceramics not because I liked pots but because I liked clay.  When I was a young student most ceramic departments in art colleges taught traditional studio pottery and I knew that was not what I wanted to do. I resisted applying for a ceramic course, so my first post Foundation year was on a 3D Design Course where we were given equal amounts of time in wood, metal and clay.  I enjoyed the time in the ceramic department much more than the other two options but at that time Buckinghamshire College was only approved to offer degree level work in furniture design and silversmithing (some years later they were approved to offer ceramics).  During that year I started to research into the possibility of a transfer to another college.  I eventually found out that one or two art colleges were exploring, what seemed to me, a more exciting approach to the teaching of ceramics so, I applied to get a place on one. With Frank Vining as an inspirational Head of Ceramics and Tom Hudson as Vice Principal and Director of Studies, Cardiff College of Art was a very exciting place to be in the late 1960’s (and beyond).  We were taught how to explore, discover, and invent with clay without preconception.  Sometimes the approach was almost scientific and at others playful.  This combined with an earlier experience on my Foundation Course, where I was pushed and cajoled into realising a sculpture can evolve naturally step by step and develop further than I ever imagined, has been the bed rock of my working methods for over 40 years.

My work is as much about how I make as what I make.  The physical properties of clays are a major part of the attraction for me.  The immediacy of the material allows the marvellous combination of head and hand to work together.  I like to invent, to surprise myself, to struggle to something just out of reach, and I am most excited by making discoveries that add to my continuous long-term development.  Working with clay for me is like a journey where you always want to see what is just round the next corner but also occasionally go back to look at something anew or check for things not noticed on the first visit.  My approach has resulted in my work, when seen over a long period, being very diverse - but I rarely repeat old ideas unless I see the chance of an extension of the original.

Most of my work is hand built slab work often using thin sheets of clay.  I do occasionally coil, throw, or use casting slip (but not necessarily in a conventional way).  The work I produce is sometimes sculptural, sometimes functional, but always, I hope, interesting to look at.

 

History

Born 1946.

 

Education

Shrewsbury School of Art – Foundation Studies 1964-6

Buckinghamshire College, High Wycombe – 3D Design -1966-7

Cardiff College of Art - First Class Honours (Ceramics) – 1967-9

Goldsmiths College (University of London) – 1969-70

 

Professional Membership

Craft Potters Association - from 1996

 

Work Experience

Ceramic Technician at Buckinghamshire College – 1970-71

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Ceramics at Bradford Art College - 1971-97

Full-time Ceramicist - from 1997

 

Selected Exhibitions

2018 - Loes & Reinier, International Exhibition of Ceramics Boxes, Deventer, Holland – Oct to Nov

2018 - Witherslack Group Show (Cumbria)

2017 - Cumbriam Ceramics, Upfront Gallery, Cumbria

2015 - Gallery II2 Dopsstraat 75, Belgium

2015 - New Ashgate Gallery, Surrey – Summer Craft Collection – May to August

2015 - Bevere Gallery, Worcestershire - work in gallery

2011 to 2014 - relocating - establishing new studio

2010 - Wow Gallery, Dorking, Surrey,

2009 - Clay 16 – Woodbury Studio Gallery, Woodbury, Exeter

2008 - Afresh – Gallery Top, Derbyshire

2007 - Spring Exhibition – Iona Gallery, Woodstock, Oxford

2006 - Bevere Gallery, Worcester - 2 person show (with Jitka Palmer )

2005 - 3e listrum expsitie – Gallery Groot Welsden, Margraten, Holland

2005 - Maidenbridge Arts centre – Tatham, Lancashire

2003 - Stoneware – Alpha House Gallery, Sherbourne, Dorset

2002 - Clay 9 - 2006 - Woodbury Studio Gallery, Woodbury, Exeter

2001 - Galerie Toon Thijs – Nijmegen, Holland

2001 - British Ceramics – Loes & Reinier International Ceramics – Deventer, Holland

2000 - Prize winners (Keramisto & Frechen) - Mus. Het Valkhof  - Nijmegen, Holland

2000 - Gallery Groot Welsden, Margraten, Holland - 2 person show (with John Mullin)

1999 - World Competition of Arts & Crafts – Kanazawa 99 Japan

1999 - 3rd International Biennial of Ceramic Art – Brussels

1998 - The European Competition – Nove, Italy

1997 - Kutani International Decorative Ceramic Fair Competition – Komatsu, Japan

 

National & International Festivals

Art in Clay, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire – 1995/6/2001/2/3/4/6/8/17/18

Art in Clay, Farnham, Surrey – 1999/2000/1/2/4/7/8/10/14

Buxton – 2008

Clay Art, Denbigh, Wales – 2002/3

CPA Fair, Oxford – 1999/2000/1/2/4/7/8/10/14/15/17/18/21

CPA Fair, Bloxham, Oxfordshire – 1997/8

CPA Fair, York, – 2018/21

Diessener Topfermarkt, Diessen am Ammersee, Germany - 2006

Earth & Fire, Rufford , Nottinghamshire – 1999/2000/1/5/6/7/8/10/14/15/17/18

European Potter’s Market, Maaseik, Belgium – 1997/8

Keramisto, Millsbeek, Netherlands – 1998/9/2000/5/6/7/8/9/14/15/16/17

Potfest in the Park, Penrith, Cumbria – 1994/5/7/8/9/2000/1/2/3/4/5/6/8/14/15/16/17/18/21/22

Potfest Scotland, Perth – 1998/9/2000/1/2/3/5/14/15/21

Swalmen, Netherlands – 2004/6

Topfer Markt, Frechen, Germany - 1999

 

Demonstrations & Lectures

2018 - Scottish Potters (also 2003)

2018 – Forest Row School of Ceramics

2018 – CPA Autumn Fair (Oxford) (also1999)

2017 – Earth & Fire (also 2015)

2017 - Art in Clay (Hatfield) (also 2008, 2001 &1996)

2015 – Sedgley Annual Demonstration

2015 - PACs Potters Petersfield, Hampshire (also 1999)

2014 - Keramisto, Millsbeek, Netherlands (also 2008)

2014 - Art in Clay (Farnham) (also 2000 & 1999)

2011 - Northern Potters (York Art Gallery)

2010 - Northern Potters (University of Central Lancashire - Preston)

2003 - East Anglian Potters

2002 - North Wales Potters

2002 - Kent Potters

2001 - The Barnet Collection

2001 - La Meridiana, Tuscany, Italy (with Walter Keeler & Michael Casson)

2000 - London Potters

2000 - Dacorum & Chiltern Potters (with Toff Milway & Gilder Westerman)

 

Prizes & Awards

2002 - Potfest Perth (1st prize)

1999 - Topfer Markt, Frechen, Germany (1st prize )

1999 - Potfest Penrith (3rd prize)

1998 - Potfest Penrith (2nd prize )

 

Collections

Museo de Ceramica (Adolf Egner Collection) - Valencia, Spain

Nickolas Tredwell Collection - Aigen, Austria

Hardingham Collection (Senator Dr Oswald Harding) – Jamaica

Plus, Numerous Private Collections

 

Contributions to Magazines

New Ceramics (Neve Keramik) 3/17

De kleine K (No29) 2017

Ceramic Review  - September 2006  - ‘Balance & Contrast’ - Author: Roger Lewis

Klei Magazine - Netherlands – May 2002 (featured in article)

Ceramics Monthly – USA October 2001 (Photo)

Ceramic Review  - September 1999  - ‘Boxing Clever’ - Author: Roger Lewis

 

Contributions to Books

Colour in Glazes – Linda Bloomfield – 2012

Advanced Pottery - Linda Bloomfield – 2011

Slab Techniques – Jim Robison & Ian Marsh – 2010

500 Ceramic Sculptures – 2009

Potfest in the Pens x10 – 2003

Ceramic Surfaces – Jo Connell

Pottery – The Essential Manual – Doug Wensley – 2002

Stoneware – Richard Dewar – 2002

Clays & Glazes – Ceramic Review Publication – 2001