Potters’ Day (January 2019)

26 January 2019 at Knowl Hill Village Hall

Mark Smith

Each piece of work by Mark Smith draws inspiration from the sea, and each as it’s own unique appearance and story to tell.
Objects found on travels or by shoreline often become part of the work.
Mark uses a variety of techniques to achieve the finished look of a piece, focusing mainly on decay and repair.
The work is constantly changing due to the materials found, each piece can never be replicated.
Ships, boats, wrecks, beach huts and houses are the main focus of the work, all textured with raised and indented objects that have an indication of our industrial past.
 
For more information visit Mark’s Website: 

Richard Ballantyne & Carol Read (13 Feb 2019)

Wednesday 13 February 2019, 7:45pm at Polehampton Junior School

Richard Ballantyne and Carol Read have been working together and collaborating for around 8-9 years. Richard from a background of a degree in Interior Design and many years of teaching followed by completing a BA in Glass and Ceramics. Carol worked as a nurse while completing an Access to Art and Design Course and then Adult education classes in sculpture and ceramics. She gave up the nursing in April 2016 to focus on ceramics.
“We both enjoy the process of throwing. Working together enables us to push ourselves and each  other creatively. The Raku animals all start as a thrown piece before being manipulated and added to in order to create the animal. Each is unique, both in the making and in the process of Raku firing. Raku Firing is a pyromaniacs delight and very unpredictable. However the results really suit the subject matter, and the hares and polar bears ( and all the rest of the menagerie) come alive with the white crackle glaze.”

 

 

Jan Griffiths (13 March 2019)

Wednesday 13 March 2019, 7:45pm at Polehampton Junior School

  Jan has been working with clay for more than 20 years starting in adult education, but says she is mainly self taught. Jan’s work largely involves using a ‘Raku’ process of firing , a technique evolving in Japan.  The pieces have a second firing in an outdoor kiln heated to 1000 degrees centigrade and whilst still glowing red hot removed individually with long metal tongs and placed in a container with combustible materials such as leaves and sawdust. Once cleaned the finished pieces have a characteristic lustrous or crackled surface where glazed and smoky black where not. Each item is individually made and no two identical.

 

 

Russell Kingston (10 April 2019)

Wednesday 10 April 2019, 7:45pm at Polehampton Junior School

Russell Kingston 

Spending my youth spread between heavy metal festivals and sub heavy raves (that’s loud music for you older folks). It dawned on me that at some point I was going to need a “real job”. I decided that a 2 year course in ceramics might calm the soul…it didn’t, but it certainly fired it up and it turned out I was quite good at it.

So after escaping Devon to the Hustle and Bustle of Brighton (that’s as near to a city I would live), to see what metropolis had to offer, I soon realised that you can take the boy out of the Shire, but you cant take the Devonshire out of the boy. Returning to my roots seemed the best thing to do.

Loving all things Devon (and Brian’s kiln not reaching stoneware temperatures) Slipware was the only way to go. Taking from the traditions and heritage of North Devon and mixing in some contemporary freshness to create functional wares at affordable prices. My current work has a real folky appeal and is now being collected by those who have discovered the joy of handmade wares with personality.

Im always experimenting by modifying glazes and varying firing techniques. After all, being able to control fire to create, instead of destroy, is a sensible pyromaniacs dream.