Richard Bramble

Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

Artist and designer Richard Bramble is feeling landlocked. It’s a hot and dusty day when we meet and I guiltily admit to having already been for a dip in the sea. Immediately his eyes light up. Richard grew up by the coast in Bournemouth and spent his childhood in, under and beside the sea. Still very much a water baby, the ocean’s pull on Richard is powerful and it rewards his excursions with a fathomless source of inspiration. >

Today we are 20 or so miles inland at his home and studio in Silverlake, just outside Sherborne. I am surprised to discover, that considering the global appeal of Richard’s instantly recognizable work and the huge product range, this is very much (and quite literally) a cottage industry. Richard is helped with the dayto-day running of the business by his wife Sarah and graduate Ed. The studio space is divided neatly in two. At one end stand huge towers of plates, pots, mugs, bowls, platters, cheese boards and homewares. Each one displaying Richard’s iconic, brightly illustrated observations of marine and wildlife. When I ask him to estimate how many of these paintings he has produced he can’t remember and picks up a brochure to count. It’s around 80 but probably more. ‘I enjoy the design element,’ he says of the ceramics. ‘Getting the colours right. As it is mostly done in pen and ink with watercolour, using the white of the paper as a highlight, it has the same medium effect as ceramics.’ The work is then screen-printed from the originals using 12 or more colours. That’s a lot of colour when it comes to screenprinting. Usually, it would be around four. But Richard is keen to accurately represent the many colours that appear on the scale of a fish or the feather of a bird. Once screen-printed it is then applied to the porcelain and fired into a glaze.

‘When sketching fish, I try to capture the essence of a subject using my knowledge from fishing and diving,’ he explains, surrounded by mountains of sketches and paintings from throughout his career – the chaos of a creative mind. Richard won an art scholarship to Sherborne School in 1980 and later went on to study fine art at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He hadn’t intended to get into ceramics, but circumstances presented a unique opportunity.

Richard was fresh out of Slade as the London foodie scene was in its ascendancy. The likes of Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay, among others – were making a name for themselves and Richard was drawn into the electric energy of their kitchens. I suspect that in another life Richard might have been a chef. ‘I have always foraged, fished and enjoyed cooking,’ he adds. We swap notes on Sherborne’s eateries (he’s looking forward to visiting fellow forager Mat Follas’ Bramble Restaurant). Amidst the fire, frenzy and ego of 90s London restaurants, Richard found himself working on a series of sketches of the chefs at work. Then came a commission that changed his course as an artist. >

‘From time to time, chefs began to ask me to create plate designs,’ he explains. One of his first bore an aubergine, for Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant that went by that name. But another chance encounter helped Richard’s ceramics take off.

At the time, Borough Market was making the slow move from a trade food market to a ‘farmer’s market’ as they are known today. ‘It had been one of the oldest wholesale markets in the country but was down to its last few wholesalers,’ says Richard. ‘It was at the time that Henrietta Green was working on the concept of the farmer’s market – a once-a-month thing when the public would come and fill up their cars with produce. I was in the kitchen of one of the chefs I was sketching when Fred Foster from Turnips came in to deliver the veg. It was him who suggested I joined a new market in Borough which was being set up for the public, so I did and began to sell my sketches and ceramics there. The camaraderie among traders and its sense of community makes Borough Market a nice place to sell the work.’ Richard explains. ‘When I travel, I always look for the local market to see the ingredients and explore the cuisine.’ Richard enjoys market life and has been part of the Borough Market scene now for over 20 years.

The frenetic kitchens of 90’s London now a fond memory, Richard and his family divide their time between Dorset and the Hebrides, where they are currently renovating a croft. The plot sits in close proximity to the sea allowing Richard free access to the shoreline and Hebridean wilds. A keen kite surfer when he gets the chance, Richard also dives and loves to fish. In fact, he has just returned from a fishing trip in the Seychelles. These activities serve as more than simple ‘sport and recreation’ however. They offer Richard abundant opportunities for research and privileged interaction with his wild subjects in their natural environment.

As he grows older, Richard has become more concerned with conservation. ‘I have been lucky enough to snorkel with basking sharks in the Outer Hebrides and it is truly a life-affirming moment. These gentle giants need protection and we still do not know that much about them,’ he explains. With this in mind, Richard recently designed a mug featuring the shark, the first design in a series of ceramics that donates 50% of the profits to the Marine Conservation Society.

When I ask about the future, Richard is reflective. ‘I did think of being a doctor like my father,’ he muses (which might explain the almost scientific attention to anatomy in his work). ‘My career has grown organically but the challenge is in knowing when to change direction. I need to follow my passions and work more on my conservation-inspired paintings and coastal landscapes,’ he says. This summer then will see Richard back and forth to the Outer Hebrides where work continues on the croft and the Atlantic Ocean beckons.

richardbramble.com mcsuk.org

Studio visits welcome, where Richard can personalise ceramics with inscriptions. 01935 812212