Ceramics

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Before creating handmade pottery in Dorset, ceramic artist Catherine attended Art College at Kingston, Surrey, where she earned a first class B.A. Honours Degree in Fine Art. She further honed her skills in contemporary ceramics at Chelsea College of Art, obtaining a Masters Degree in Fine Art. Catherine’s passion for color and line is beautifully expressed in her range of Spongeware and Mediterranean style ceramics, all handcrafted at her studio in Dorset. Her work is deeply influenced by visits to rural Portugal, which is reflected in her Dorset pottery featuring lemons, oranges, olives, pomegranates, and grapes flowing across the surfaces of her pieces, infusing them with vivid color and vitality. Elm House Studio exclusively utilizes local Dorset pottery clay, fired to earthenware temperature. The thrown pots are coated with white liquid clay (slip), and later, the design is intricately engraved through the surface to unveil the red clay beneath (scraffito). Finally, the pottery is colored using underglaze pigments, with a clear glaze applied at the end.

I completed a degree in contemporary ceramics at Wolverhampton University. Afterward, I transitioned into teaching and leading Art courses in Secondary and Post 16 education. Now, as a full-time ceramic artist, I focus on creating handmade pottery, with all my pieces being wheel thrown. Some of my works feature composite forms, while others are cut and altered. Each piece is then glazed and fired to 1250°C. I take pleasure in layering glazes to achieve textured surfaces, exploring the contrast between matt and gloss, rough and smooth, all within a single piece. My fascination lies in form; I enjoy mixing shapes like spheres, cylinders, cones, and discs, altering their composition and proportions, drawing inspiration from various man-made and natural forms.

Kirstie studied painting at Brighton University, and went on to enjoy a career as a photographer and illustrator. She briefly encountered the potter’s wheel many years ago, and moving to the Isle of Wight in 2017, knew that this was exactly what she wanted to do. The downstairs loo was quickly converted into the smallest pottery on the island (and possibly the world) and she has never been more content. 

Bryony grew up playing in her father's pottery Studio. Making pots became second nature at a very early age. After school she studied at Carmarthen CCTA Art College , specialising in fashion and textiles. This interest took her travelling to Sri Lanka and Thailand visiting ceramic and silk painting workshops.
On her return, she divided her working life between the pottery studio with her father and cooking in restaurants that specialised in international cuisine. Bryony has been doing this balancing act of having two careers for five years,however, she is now working full time in the studio and has taken over the gallery.

I use a combination of techniques to produce my work. Some pieces are thrown and turned on the wheel, while my Torn Edge and Simply Lines collections are completely formed by hand. I start with a lump of clay and through a lot of hitting, patting and moulding I turn it into something that is entirely its own.

I’m thoroughly obsessed with colour, pattern and form and I’m always looking for ways to do things a little differently. I’ve never been particularly interested in making things that simply blend in and that has become a pretty important part of why I make what I make.

Over the years, ceramics has become about much more than making pots for me. It gave me the space to figure out who I was, to stop worrying quite so much about what I was supposed to be and to discover that there is a lot to be said for doing things your own way and JUST BEING YOU. 

That’s at the heart of RJ Ceramics. I make colourful, functional ceramics for people who don’t necessarily want to blend in either. Pieces that bring colour, personality and a little bit of rebellion into everyday life and hopefully make you feel just a little more comfortable being completely yourself.

Sonya Wilkins is a UK-based ceramic artist and creative mentor at Bath Spa University, whose ceramic practice explores nature connection, material memory and wellbeing. Working with wild clays, organic materials and various making processes, she creates forms that hold traces of landscape, ecology and quiet observation; in particular inspired by transitioning trees. Following a Masters in Fine Art Ceramics in 2023, her work has been shown at national ceramic shows, exhibitions and select UK galleries. She practices from her home studio in Bleadon Village, North Somerset and Sion Hill Campus in Bath. Her vessels can be used functionally and ornamentally as a remembering of our innate connection to nature, creating a bridge between ‘outside’ and ‘inside’ within our homes.

David Wright is a studio potter based in Redditch, Worcestershire with connections to North East Lincolnshire, he was born and brought up in Cleethorpes and studied at Grimsby School of Art in the mid-1980s. He gained a first class honours degree in 3-D Design (Ceramics) from Wolverhampton Polytechnic before postgraduate study for a Master’s Degree in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art during which time he completed a placement at Wedgwood.

A 27-year career in secondary education followed, teaching design & technology, serving as a faculty head for 22 years. In 2021 David took early retirement from teaching, this allowed him to revisit his earlier interests in ceramics.

Hand building techniques such as press moulding, extruding and slabbing are employed to make components that are then assembled into finished pieces. His work is mostly on a small scale and has been described as quirky and possessing a ‘different voice’.