CERAMICS

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My inspiration is taken from nature, the unseen world of the atom and the molecule, magnified under the microscope, referring to the hidden narrative of life that goes on around us but is largely invisible.

Before creating pottery from Dorset, Catherine attended Art College at Kingston, Surrey where she gained a first class B.A. Honours Degree in Fine Art. Catherine further developed these skills at Chelsea College of Art, gaining a Masters Degree in the field of Fine Art.

Catherine’s love of colour and line has fused together in her range of Spongeware and Mediterranean style ceramics, all handmade at her studio in Dorset. She is strongly influenced by visits to rural Portugal, reflected in her Dorset pottery with Lemons, Oranges, Olives Pomegranates and Grapes flowing across the surfaces of her ceramics, giving them vivid colour and vitality.

Elm House Studio only works with local Dorset pottery clay, fired to earthenware temperature. The thrown pots are covered with white liquid clay (slip) and later, the design is engraved through the surface to reveal the red clay beneath (scraffito). The pottery is then finally coloured using under glaze pigments and a clear glaze applied at the very end.

I completed a contemporary ceramics degree at Wolverhampton University. I moved into teaching and leading Art courses in Secondary and Post 16 education.

Now working as a full time ceramic artist, my pieces are all wheel thrown. Some are composite forms and then some are cut and altered. The pieces are then glazed and fired to 1250°C.

I enjoy layering glazes to create textured surfaces, to explore matt and gloss, rough and smooth, in one piece.

I'm fascinated by form. I like mixing shapes together, the sphere, cylinder, cone and disc. Altering the composition and proportions and being inspired by many man-made and natural forms.

Fired Thoughts is a studio run by artists Sue Whelan and Geraldine Francis.

Sue Whelan is an artist who works in ceramics and incorporates an array of other materials within her work. She draws inspiration from the skin and how it protects the human body. Sue is interesting in expressing these textures by accentuating the cracks, folds and qualities that could be interpreted as 'imperfections'. Sue is also inspired by the textures found within the landscape.

Geraldine Francis is an artist who works with ceramics, concentrating mostly on sculpture with a bird and animal theme but also inspired by the Wiltshire landscape.

I am an optimist, energetic, excited, and fascinated! I have an inherent need to create and the driving forces behind my work are simple. I am drawn to colour, print and pattern and love to experiment! I am excited to complete a challenge, to realise and articulate an idea and installation is my preferred method of display. I have always been interested in architecture and engineering - what it takes to build something, the components that are needed. I realise I like to break it down, map it and piece it back together.

More recently I have found myself 'looking inside' these structures. Using tower blocks as a framework, where people live in 'boxes', alongside and on top of each other - where a myriad of events are taking place at any one time, I consider what goes on within. Ultimately, I discover I am excited by the positive energy people create and troubled when I consider the opposite.

Donna works under the name Elemental Ceramics. She lives and works in Glastonbury, overlooking the beautiful Somerset Levels.

Her work in clay is an exploration and celebration of the Earth, we are inextricably linked; we belong to it and cannot survive without it. Nature and man are one, made from the same materials.

I make stoneware pottery with a traditional feel for a modern life, desiring them to have a use and to be used. Living in a village I make some of my glazes with the addition of locally sourced materials ranging from wood ash out of our open fire to locally sourced earth from the hills near by to mud from the near by beach, all of which impart there unique qualities into the glaze. Taking influences from many local places as well as from the international world of art and craft, my work evolves as I look for truth and beauty.

My work is inspired by classical Chinese pieces, finished in rich copper red and celadon glazes reconstructed from traditional Chinese recipes. Some of the pieces have handles and other embellishments made in Sterling Silver, a softer metal contrasting with the hard porcelain.

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. She now works from the Narberth Pottery in Pembrokeshire.

Sheena Spacey's folk art ceramics and paintings are an antidote to the high-speed world we inhabit. They’re innocent, simple and reassuring. "I like my work to evoke a sense of nostalgia for quiet days gone by, where home and storytelling offer comfort and a haven from the hustle and bustle of everyday living,"

I am a Ceramic Artist working in Bristol and a member of the Cotswold Craftsmen and Crafts Council.  I make handmade vases, platters and unique jewellery from my studio.  I collect leaves from local arboretums, forests and my own flourishing garden to inspire my ceramic collections.

My travels to far-away places also inspire my more sculptural collections of work.

Each pot is thrown and turned on the potters’ wheel. Relief sprigs and models are added to each pot transforming these traditional shapes into individual works of artistic fun. The pots are decorated individually with brushwork using metallic oxides and vibrant glazes.

Whilst these pots are decorative they also combine their fun with function; all pieces are suitable for use in the kitchen or dining room and are dishwasher and microwave safe.

I have worked as a production thrower in potteries in England, France and Bermuda. Over the years I have picked up a range of pottery skills but had always wanted to work for myself and produce the pots I wanted to make and here they are.

I enjoyed learning how to make simple relief sprigs and models. I developed my own glazes and decorating techniques. I throw all my pots, add sprigs to the forms and decorate them with beautiful glazes.