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Welcome to the new edition for 2023.
The biggest show to start the year has to be ‘Collect’ which is the initiative of the Crafts Council. It brings together over 40 international galleries who represent over 400 makers. It is featured in this edition of the magazine.
Whatever happened to the sudden cancellation of the Ceramic Art London? Show is still a mystery. It will be interesting to see how ceramics is represented in the Royal Academy Summer Show this year.
On a personal note, I hope the student shows revert back to actual shows and not the online versions. They have always been a favorite of mine. Cockpit Open Studios are in June and always worth a visit, while the British Ceramics Biennial is 23 September to 5 November at Stoke-on-Trent. More details from ‘britishceramicsbiennial.com’.
In this issue the Culford Studio has been showcased as it represents just how much the world of young makers has moved on and become established.
One of the new faces this year has been the front cover subject, Louise Frances Smith. I first met her at the open studio weekend by Kate Malone, who not only includes her own work but the work of those people working with her. Then she popped-up at Collect Open. A further feature of her work being done at Margate will be included in the next edition.
Clare Palmer
Ruup & Form Gallery
Still 2023. Stoneware, porcelain/stoneware
96h 69w 17d
Photo: Valerie Bernardini
Collect Show 2023
The leading international fair for contemporary craft and design, returned to Somerset House from 3rd to 5th March 2023
London has again become the centre of an international arts market following all the closures over the past few years.
One of the major UK’s shows for ceramics and other craft media COLLECT has once again returned to Som erset House in early March 2023 and is the initiative of the Craft Council. Collect offers an exceptional opportunity to acquire new, museum-quality work from living artists internationally. A line -up of close to 40 international specialist galleries, rep resenting over 400 ceramic makers had been selected to take part.
It is very much the hunting ground for curators wishing to extend their collections and is big in size and big in ambition.
Complementing the physical fair, which last year attracted over 9,100 visitors in 2022, all works will additionally be available to view and purchase online via Artsy.net. which cites Collect as one of its most successful virtual fairs.
Collect focuses on exclusivity, reputation, rich narrative and thoughtful curating - seeking variety and diversity in its content and vision. The fair provides an unparalleled opportunity for collectors to purchase pieces made in the last five years, and which are often created especially for the fair.
Alongside international galleries, Collect Open, the fair’s platform for pioneering and thought-provoking craft installations by individual artists and collectives, returns with 14 exciting projects by artists hailing from the USA, Poland, and from all ove r the UK including Northern Ireland.
“For the past 19 years, Collect has reinforced its pivotal position as the authority for contemporary craft and design. The increasingly diverse range of galleries and artistic voices featured at this year’s fair will make the show richer in content and discovery than ever before.” Isobel Dennis, Collect fair director.
On wondering through the rooms of Somerset House you chance upon many new makers and some that have found a niche in the show. Thrown Gallery is showing Zuleika Melluish and Matt Cronshaw who caught my eye, and it was good to see the pioneering work of gallery owner Claire Pearce who has given more support to new makers than probably anyone else in the UK.
The section called ‘Collect Open’ is for new makers who are represented by a gallery. One of the bright new talents this year is Louise Frances Smith who is an artist based in Margate. Since 2020, she has been using local materials to enhance the connection between art and her local landscape. This led to working with waste materials and creating biomaterials.
One of the long established galleries is Long & Ryle who are based in central London. Over the past 35 years they have built a reputation for promoting established British and international makers. This year one of the makers they represent is Katharine Morling, who had a new collection of work on show She is a ceramic artist best known for her life -size black and white sculptures full of quirky, graphic details of domestic objects. Each evokes a memory for the observer. The new work takes us to a new a more subtle experience.
For sheer joy and craftsm anship then Objekti Gallery was a stand -out example. On a visit to Mexico the owners Benjamin and Miriam discovered the pines which are both unique and rare, The pieces, created out of local clay elaborate details of incision, applique and openwork. Glazes mixed with copper sulphate and other materials induce the brilliant shine.
Left: Collect 23 – House of Today – A Lover’s Discourse by Nathalie Khayat
Left below: Collect 23 – CBG – Banana Tree by Noa Chernichovsky
Collect 23 – Gallery Revel – Xanthe
The studio in east London was first featured in the April -June edition in 2019 of this magazine . The group included Alice Walton, Emily Stapleton Jefferis, Clare Flatley, Eugene Chene Cheung, Sun -A Kim, Pam Su, Tana West, and Irina Razumovskaya.
The group moved in to the studio in October 2018 after a lot of searching for premises. They had the ground floor of the building with a photography studio and events space occupying the upper level. Alice Walton commented, “The Haines Family were looking for ceramic makers to take over the studio as they are great supporters of the arts. With the help of Kate Malone we were there at the right time’.
Formally Kate Malone's ceramic studio and the birthplace of some of her iconic and accomplished works, Culford Studios is a ceramics hub and a home for artistic enquiry. The resident artists are a group of early- career ceramic artists, with practices within the field of sculptural ceramics, many of whom are recent graduates from the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins.
The studio is currently launching it’s series of courses and workshops. Members today are: Elizabeth Jackson, Joely Clinkard, Ella Porter, Tana West, Phoebe Ho, Bisila Noha, Emily Stapleton Jefferies, Zahed Tajeddin, Antonio Fois.
She lives and works in London. In 2013 she graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and in 2021 with a MA in Ceramics & Glass from the Royal College of Art (RCA). On graduating she was awarded the Anglo Swedish Exchange Residency at Lonstfack in Stoclholm, Sweden. Her work has been exhibited at the Ingram Prize where she was a 2021 finalist, and at the British Ceramic Biennial.
Her work is concerned with embodied making and the transformation of clay into something rooted in the knowledge that it can’t quite be explained verbally, but is activated within us. A translation of the experience of being in the world and the clay that stains her hands and of learning and discovering a meaning through making.
She first found out about Culford Studios while studying at the RCA during the pandemic and unable to regularly attend college. Culford studios meant she could travel without taking public transport and be in a supportive environment with fellow makers.
Her work can be found on her Instagram@ejacksonjackson and her website: ejackson.online
E lla’s work can be viewed on her Instagram @ellaporterstudio, website https://www.ellaporterstudio.com/ and is available for sale through Contemporary & Country http://contemporaryandcountry.com
Ella is a London based artist specialising in ceramics and printmaking. Her practice di splays a strong relationship between surface and form, informed by her BA in painting and printmaking from Glasgow school of art (GSA). She explores ideas surrounding the maker’s mark, temporality, trace and place. Following the GSA fire of 2014, Ella was awarded the Phoenix Bursary and received the NL Cultural Prize. She began working with clay which led to a ceramics diploma in 2017, and later a MA in ceramics at the Royal College of Art (RCA), in 2021, which was supported by The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.
She commented, ‘I have made my ceramic work at Culford for the last couple of years, joining midway through the lockdown of the pandemic in 2021, which was during the final year of my MA in Ceramics at The Royal College of Art (RCA) … During this time I wasn’t able to access the studio at the RCA full time, so Culford provided the perfect opportunity for me to continue with my ceramic art practice and facilitated helping me to finish work for my MA. I am currently making work for an exhibition East to East opening 23 rd of April with Contemporary and Country in North Norfolk.”
Phoebe , a Hong Kong designer, focuses on ceramic and homeware design. She is a recent graduate from Central Saint Martins (MA Design, Ceramics) from the Class of 2021. Previously, she obtained a degree in Economics and Business and has worked first as a management consultant in the finance industry. Her designs are inspired by the glorious, crowded energetic, ultra-human metropolises of London, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
She commented, ‘I had been searching for a studio to settle down into since graduation and came across Culford through friends, and luckily found a vacancy’.
Instagram: @phoebeho_
Website: WWW.phoebe -ho.com
Joely is a graduate in ceramic design at Central Saint Martins College. Her vivid and energetic hand painted works echo imagery from the architecture, nature and art that adorns city streets. All of her work is hand -built or thrown on the wheel in a range of coloured clays, the unique forms then guide the marks which are painted on the surface, appreciating the small nuances and idiosyncrasies in each piece.
She commented, ‘ I found out about the available studio space through someone that I graduated with in 2016, but had been aware of the studio before, and worked with a couple of the studio members on various projects in the past’.
Instagram: @joelyclinkard
Tana,is also a London based artist working predominantly with ceramic processes, using the language of ceramic materials and object making to connect with social, political, and historical contexts. She Studied sculpture at Central St Martins, completing her MA at the Royal College of Art in Ceramics and Glass (RCA) in 2014. Whilst at the RCA she received the Sir Eduardo Paolozzi Travel Award to go on a journey overland by train to St. Petersburg to visit a museum of Soil Science. She has been involved with several place specific and collaborative projects including investigating apple culture in Somerset, wading into the mud with environmental historians examining our relationship to water, and for the Brownfield Research Centre, West Brought to light reclamation and renewal by surveying the soil of planned and unplanned green spaces within the city and investigating the process by which a brownfield site could be rewilded.
In 2017 she won the Award at the British Ceramics Biennial for her [UN]WOVEN project, made with the help of a distributed online community across borders sending clayey soil in a variety of ad hoc receptacles, she was selected for Jerwood Ma kers Open in 2019, making ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ a black ceramic version of a funfair hall of mirrors and for the Whitegold International Ceramics Prize, she created a 6 -metre circular panoramadepicting St Austell’s clay country, made using waste materia ls from china clay extraction and using local stories to develop imagery .
She commented, ‘My practice and research methods are mobile, the process of making work begins with a journey, the path it takes is contingent on what is found and can be transported. Like a present-day hunter gather in search of materials, I have collected and used estuarine mud, excavated clay, brick and rock fragments to make glazes and clay bodies which are regionally specific. I am semi-scientific in approach, experimental and with a certain acceptance of uncertainty, this way of working allows for materials to express their vibrancy. I also appreciate ceramic objects’ abilities for deception, it can pretend to be other things but is ultimately always ceramic with all that entails. The materiality of ceramics has a wide vocabulary: ideas, making and objects weave together to navigate contemporary concerns.’
Website: www.tanawest.co.uk
Instagram & twitter: @west_adrift
One of the great international centres for ceramic makers is the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts (The Bray). It was founded at the foothills of the Montana Rockies USA in 1951 by entrepreneur, brickmaker, and avid arts patron Archie Bray. He intended it to be a place to “make available for all who are seriously interested in the ceramic arts, a fine place to work.” The primary mission is to provide an environment and connection with other serious artists that stimulates creative work in ceramics.
Located on the site of the former Western Clay Manufacturing Company, the 26-acre historic brickyard campus has more than 17 buildings, including a 12,000-square -foot resident artist studio facility, a new education and research facility, multiple sales and exhibition galleries, renovated administrative offices, and a facility for ceramic retail and manufacturing. The property is open to artists, students, gallery visitors, and ceramic supply customers, as well as the general public for classes, gallery visits, retail activity, selfguided tours, and structured group visits.
The Bray Resident Artist programme offers an unprecedented opportunity to work within a community of global artists actively creating new work. It provides studio space, facilities, and a supportive community for ceramic artists with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and aesthetic approaches. The residency programs vary in length, emphasize the crossfertilization of ideas among artists, and provide kilns and facilities geared toward experimentation and exploration.
Named after David and Ann Shaner, the studio complex houses ten long-term resident artist studios, the Executive Director's studio, Voulkos Visiting Artist studio, glaze lab, plaster lab, and photo lab.
The Resident Center is a 1100 square foot communal space including a kitchen and meeting room, while the Summer Studio is a shared environment featuring ten artist studio spaces for short-term summer resident artists from late May through October, annually. It boasts 3,500 square feet with one 200square-foot workstation per art ist with each artist workstation equipped with a worktable, a 2’ x 3’ x 6’ cart and ample metal shelving
The Frances Senska Center for Education and Engagement houses three large studio classrooms used for community outreach and education, as well as the Fab Lab and the John C. Board Research Library. The Fab Lab includes a CNC router, 3 -D scanner, 3 -D printers (2) and a clay printer. The John C. Board Research Library is a 690-square- foot area located upstairs in the Education and Research Facility and houses a truly unique collection of clay and art-related books, magazines, and catalogue s.
Their short- and long -term resident artists range from beginners to professional artists and many have Masters Degrees. Resident artist selections are based on the quality of their work, artistic merit, how the residency program may benefit the artist and their larger community, and diversity in practice of the prospective group.
To sustain its international leadership in the field, The Bray relies on the creative and financial contributions of its benefactors. Guided by its mission, “to provide for all those who are seriously and sincerely interested in the ceramic arts, a fine place to work,” The Foundation provides free access to some of the finest ceramic art found anywhere in the country.
A sales gallery, open year- round, houses work for sale by current and former resident artists and the North Gallery, open seasonally, features rotating exhibitions. Exhibitions by resident artists take place at different times during the year, and additional Bray exhibitions are held at galleries throughout the country.
One of this year’s current 2023 residents is Janina Mironova, whose work is well known across Europe and has worked in many countries. Here she gives us an insight into what it is like to be a part in this incredible environment.
“The first time I heard about the Artist in Residency at Archie Bray Foundation was in 2013. At that time, I had already met artists from the United States, and they recommended this Residency as a great place to create work within an amazing community. Since then, I had always been thinking that I would be very happy to participate as well. I was following artists who had joined this residency and admired how freely they could create their works on a different scale, and how great the facilities were at the residency. I could see a big development in the artist’s work, and I was sure it was a great environment to work on my own ideas and experiment with new techniques.
“I started my stay there by preparing works for the Resident Artist Exhibition which is going to be part of NCECA Conference this year in Cincinnati. Two of my sculptures are talking about joining the ceramic community in the United States. It shows my everyday life as a ceramist. The work progresses through to the final conclusion of the project. Next, I am planning to work here on larger scale sculptures soon. My work looks at sculptures which reflect the places I visit – through facial features, colors and symbols which I give them. Montana the home of the centre is such a special place with a beautiful environment. I have already prepared drawings which are inspired by being here and which are going to become sculpture s”.
Visitors to the big Potfest shows, taking place within palaces and stately homes find the ticket usually includes a look round the beautiful, peacock strewn (in the case of Scone Palace) gardens. And there is the option of paying a bit more to see round the house. At Potfest in the Park a ban d plays, lots of people take their dogs for a walk as they peruse the ceramics.
Picnicking is popular, and as well as the usual cafe at the house there are outdoor food and drink temporary venues. At Potfest by the Lake, Compton Verney, you might even find a Pims van, as well as a barista coffee van. These always do a brisk trade. The organiser got a wonderful vegan food company, Vegan Earthlings, from Brighton, to setup at the first Potfest South East, and they were such a hit that he invited them also to come to Potfest Scotland and Potfest in the Park, and they did travel all the way to attend A special treat has to be their loaded fries for lunch, whilst doing a show. Really delicious food.
So visitors can expect much more from the catering at Potfest, than just ice cream and coffee and cake. A picnic blanket should be taken as a matter of course, as visitors need to rest between seeing up to 100 quality potters, and making their decisions on what to buy.
It can be a whole day out, or for some enthusiasts a whole weekend, or even three days out !
There is the chance to win a Potfest Passport at each show, which you can enter by voting on the competition. This gives the lucky winner free entry to Potfest for life !
Wendy Kershaw – ceramic makerPotfest South East
Glynde Place 21,22 & 23 April
Spring Potfest in the Pens
Penrith Dates to be confirmed
Potfest Scotland
Scone Palace 9, 10 & 11 June
Potfest by the Lake
Compton Verney 23,24 & 25 June
Potfest in the Park
Hutton-in-the -Forest 28, 29 & 30 July
Potfest Suffolk
Haughley Park 11, 12 & 13 August
Autumn Potfest in the Pens
Penrith Date to be confirmed
Potfest in the Pens
Melton Mowbray Dates to be confirmed
Alan Parris is the joint owner of the Aylesford Pottery in Kent, together with master potter Billy Byles. You can also read Alan’s review of the book ‘Contemporary Ware’ on page 24. Here he looks at the resurgence of craft tableware for high -end restaurants.
He commented, “The choice of hand -made pottery for a restaurant is very much up to the chief, or chef come owner. With the rise in the ‘celebrity’ chef dating back to the 70’s and 80’s came a desire to have something unique for a particular restaurant. It was influ enced on TV by a host of celebrity chefs who needed something visual to compliment their food.
Then came the impact of Grayson Perry winning the Turner Prize, and suddenly ceramics was cool. Those small craft potteries that had managed to survive found there was a sudden demand for teaching classes. Restaurant chefs started to re -discover the crafts men and women in their area and commission work. What did it mean in practice? Well, for us we were able to discuss directly with the chief what was unique about the restaurant and food.
We could demonstrate throwing something on the wheel to show them the size and shape of a concept. This in turn sparked off ideas for other items and special dishes.
Today the trade in hand- made items has spread further and students attending ‘open studios’ where they can pay for facilities by the hour are common. This has also attracted a new group of chiefs looking to continue the work of those early pioneers”.
By Jo Davies and published by the Crowood Press
ISBN 978-0-7198-4147-7. £18.99 and ebook £14.99
www.crowood.com
This very prepossessing publication has to be one of the most important books to be published this year for anyone involved in, or wants to develop their interest in ceramics. It is also very timely in that it meets the new market for ceramic making and people wanting to start their own studio at whatever entry level.
Unless you have a very understanding kiln master, then kilns can be akin to the dark arts. Mistakes made by new makers can be very expensive and time consuming. So many books only seem to look at the big hand built kilns which can be found in Japan. Large commercial kilns are far beyond the access of new potters.
This book by Jo Davies starts from the premise of asking what is it you want to fire and with which effect. Not forgetting the type of clay used and where will the kiln live, that you are just about to buy? My advice is stop immediately and buy this book an d read it from cover to cover. It’s going to answer all the questions you need to know and save you a lot of money.
Areas covered include what type of kiln for the clay used, how to design the layout of a studio, inside the kiln, running the kiln and setting the firing programme,. At some point every potter will need to talk to experts on maintenance and how to ensure a legal electricity supply, so be armed with knowledge in advance.
Anyone who attends one of the new pottery ‘open studios’ will have heard the stories of buying bad second hand kilns and those that are a genuine bargain as their owners can no longer keep them. This book will advise on the pitfalls and how to spot a good one. Throughout the book there are also contributions from makers who are using kilns continuously. At the end of the book there is a very helpful list of suppliers.
So, if you are told you are suffering from glaze run-off or slumping and warping this book will give you all the advice needed.
Note: Jo Davies is a graduate of the Royal College of Art and has run her own studio for the past twelve years in East London.
By Linda Bloomfield and Sue Pryke £30
Published by the Herbert Press. www.bloomsbury.com
ISBN 978-1 -78994 -072- 5 Readers of Emerging Potters magazine can claim a 20% discount – use code TABLEWARE 20 at the web checkout. Available until 31st May 2023
This is undoubtedly a very beautiful book but who is it actual for? The examples shown in the book are aimed at makers who have a level of experience and skill. Something that new makers will aim to emulate in time.
Is it for the next generation of art students? Well no in my viewpoint, unless the ceramic courses decide to focus on basic skills, such as throwing and an understanding as to how domestic ceramics can transform someone’s environment and stand apart from mass produced but functional table ware.
Then who is the primary audience for this book? In my view it is the generation of ceramic students who over the past decade have flocked to the new commercial studios who rent out space by the hour and provide teaching when required. These can b e found in every major city now and many small independent studios have an element of teaching as part of their business plan.
In the book you will find some very welcome and respected faces from the ceramic world. They include Alice Funge and her applied messages and family recipes decorating the surfaces of kitchen ware. Then there is Jessica Thoren and her blue edged ware whose method of making is shown in some detail. A lso a mongst many examples in the book is husband and wife team Catherine and Matt at Pottery West in Sheffield. Each of them making a living from studio pottery.
What makes this book different is that it not only looks at areas such as clay preparation, making methods glazing and firing, but interestingly looks at the dark arts such as health & safety, combining materials, and d esign. The latter being an area which often separates the goo d amateur from a maker who has been through a formal university system.
A fine book with much to commend it.
Alan Parris, master potter at the Aylesford Pottery, commented:
"This book takes us into the world of how commercial factory ceramics are made, as well as items made by the studio potter. It looks in detail at the slip making process and how to avoid problems. Today the tableware we use is important in our everyday lives, a simple mug or bowl can give us a connection with the hand of the maker or the mind of the designer. Bloomfield and Pryke look at the importance of inspiration and consistency in design, providing step- by-step guides to the main making methods. As well as the work of other makers working today".
By Jess Jos and published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd
ISBN: 978-0-2413-8185-4 £25
Like other books from publisher Dorling Kindersley it is beautifully produced and aims to cover the basic subject matter in a comprehensive way. For someone just starting out and been inspired by any of the TV programmes it is a good starting point, or should you be about to start a university degree course or school course, then it is a good introduction. I gave the book to a 12 year who was just starting to take an interest and she loved it.
The basics are covered, as are forming techniques such as pinching, slabbing, coiling and throwing. Next the author looks at decorating and finishing techniques, such as glazing and firing. For the beginner it is a good introduction, but for those who have gained some experience then it would be best used in conjunction with a more technical book where the pros and cons of an issue can be examined in detail.
Throughout the book the photography is excellent and adds a vibrancy to the pages, aiding the step by step demonstrations.
Note: Jess Jos trained at Camberwell Art College and now has her own studio in East London. From there she continues to innovate and experiment with thrown and handbuilt pieces which form part of her new collections.
By Claire Ireland and
published by The Crowood Press
ISBN 978-0-7198-4153-8 £20 and ebook £15.99
www.crowood.com
Over 30 ceramic makers share their individual way of working in this extensive book. The techniques also include the importance of a sketchbook and the development of design. Tools, texture and embossing are examined together with slip techniques, printing and transfer.
Another interesting chapter is the use of different clays and mixed media. Mixing pigments into the clay offers another possibility to the potter. The use of the fired surface is considered as an outside resource – smoke firing, saggar firing, barrel firing, pit firing and fast firing are all looked at.
Developing a decorative surface can take as much time and effort as it does to make the ceramic piece, and is crucial to the individual style of the make r. This book is an easy reference point for any maker to consider the options which are open to them, and should be used in conjunction with other reference points to support a long term development.
Note: Claire Ireland teaches contemporary ways of making and experimental decorative techniques.
Wendy Kershaw, ceramic maker, commentated “Surface decoration is often considered at the end of the making process, as an add on. I believe there is greater success when it is a fundamental part of the initial design process, and becomes integral to the making. Doing so provides the opportunity to combine and layer different techniques, at different stages, for richer and unique images”
The exhibition comes at a pivot point in the students’ two year journey at the R oyal College of A rt. Up until this moment they have been predominantly working in closed studios, fermenting a quiet before.
A ‘Work in Progress’ show provides an opportunity to share with an external audience the makers future directions whilst allowing them to examine progress, and possible final detours and ruptures in their practice. This exhibition comes at a point where they crystallise what their future practice will become - it’s an e xciting moment
The work showcases this latest cluster of makers as they expand their sense of the possible, before embarking on a final push toward completing their studies and creating work for their graduate show.
Fermenting - An exhibition of works by the Royal College of Arts, Ceramics and Glass final year MA students.
One Year On - Fermenting :
Abi Freckleton
Alexander Aitken
Aria Kiani
Aya Simone Schmidt
Christina Kryey
Chiuxin Chen
Dean Mueller
Ekta Bagri
Fo
Georgina Fuller
Giles Watkins
Holly Hooper
Isis Dove-Edwin
Jacqueline Ramrayka
Jan Nardini
Jeanne François
Jihyun Kim
Jo Guile
Xiangying Lei
Leonora Lockhart
Meichen Chen
Pamela Pudan
Sharyn Wortman
Shinye You
Sophie Southgate
Stella Arion
Xuchen An
Yaron Meyer
Ying Chen
Zoey Han
Zihao Xiong
Ziying Li
Ziyu Wang
Left:Xiangying Lei
Back copies of the magazine can be found on the ISSUU platform.
E: paulbailey123@googlemail.com
Contribu tions to the gallery of work from makers and students are welcome and will be included wherever possible on a first come basis. Send to the email address. The editor’s decision is final.
© Paul Bailey 2023
