Funding the Future

An auction of contemporary studio ceramics raising funds for the Craft Potters Charitable Trust
19th January—11th February 2012
January 2012 launches the second stage of the appeal for funds to develop the Contemporary Ceramics Centre. Funding the Future is an exhibition and auction featuring exclusive pieces donated by over 100 artists and will be an unique opportunity to see and to buy something very special.
Karen Bunting, CPA chair explains: “Funding the Future... is to raise funds for the development of all aspects of this ceramics centre and to create a successful and viable education programme based at Great Russell Street and at other venues around the country as appropriate... We have plans to develop training and career development, opportunities for makers at all stages of their careers and to encourage a wider appreciation of handmade ceramics. We believe that this will help to secure the future of British studio ceramics”.

Janice Tchalenko

Emily Myers

Mike Dodd

Lesley Risby

Jane Hamlyn

Daniel Smith

Rosemary Wren

Prue Cooper

Bloomsbury Festival 21st - 23rd October 2011

Contemporary Ceramics Centre is taking part in the Bloomsbury Festival with Bowen & Bowen. Running over the weekend of the 21st - 23rd October, the festival hosts a fabulous free programme of over 150 events, taking place in over 50 venues across Bloomsbury. The Contemporary Ceramics Centre will open for an extra day on Sunday during this weekend between 12 pm to 5pm.

Visit the Bloomsbury Festival website for more details
http://www.bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/event/id/58

Bowen & Bowen - father and son exhibition

Bowen & Bowen

6 October—29 October 2011

The careful traditions of English Slipware are unseated and then thoroughly reworked through the ceramics of Clive and Dylan Bowen. Two generations of potters show their work in this new exhibition at the Contemporary Ceramics Centre. Clive & Dylan have taken this English inheritance and very definitely made it their own.

Bowen & Bowen communicates two personal journeys. The tradition informed pieces of Clive Bowen act as a canvas to his painterly approach when decorating. This expressive way of painting with slip has been taken further by Dylan, Clive’s son, whose work is more akin to action-painting and who works intuitively and directly through marks made into the clay.

Jar by Clive Bowen

Square plate by Clive Bowen

Jug by Clive Bowen

Platter by Dylan Bowen

Platter by Dylan Bowen

Vessel by Dylan Bowen

'Line, Volume and Space' - new work by Ashraf Hanna - an exhibition starting on the 8th of September (till 1 October 2011).

Originally from Egypt Ashraf Hanna trained in theatre design at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design 1991-1994. Discovered clay in 1997 and set up studio in 1998 and has enjoyed several years of success in this field.
In 2009 he returned to college and undertook an MA course at Royal College of Art graduating in 2011.
This is his first solo show since leaving college.
Ashraf says about his new work:
‘My work is concerned with exploring form through scale, colour, texture and material. These elements inform our perception and understanding of form. Scale determines the space an object occupies in relation to the wider space, other objects and to us. Colour, whether bright, soft, intense or vivid has a powerful effect in defining the character of a form. Textural treatment invites us to examine the tactile qualities of the surface and what role this has in influencing our ability to read and comprehend a form. This is further emphasized when choosing the material, whether solid, dense ceramics or translucent glass.
I am interested in the lines and spaces that develop through both the manipulation of the volume within the forms and their physical relationship to one another. The interaction between sharp and organic lines creates subtle and sometimes pronounced curves that invite the eye to engage with the sculptural aesthetics of the form’.

You can read more about Ashraf's work in the current Ceramic Review (issue 251) where Amanda Fielding has written an in depth article on his work.

'Domesticated' - a showcase dedicated to the domestic - finishes soon!

'Domesticated' finishes on the 2nd of September - last chance to come and see it! A great selection of functional pots on show.

Large jugs by Alistair Young.

Servers by Jane Cox.

Jugs by Jane Cox.

Small bowls by Nigel Lambert.

Jugs by Nigel Lambert.

Dishes by Nigel Lambert.

Dishes by Kate Scott.

Dishes by Kate Scott.

Pots by Louisa Taylor.

Nesting bowls by Louisa Taylor.

Mugs by Alistair Young.

Little and Large

Little and Large is a showcase that brings together four makers who work with scale and explore how the dimensions of an object influences its presence in a room and how we respond to it. This showcase illustrates a diversity of process and approach; Sandy Brown's spontaneous method of making and decorating contrasts with the more controlled and particular nature of Walter Keelers' pieces whilst Adam Buick demonstrates the effect of using the same form whether bigger or smaller.

Sandy Brown is famous for her spontaneous use of clay and decoration. Working intuitively and directly the same energy can be seen in both her larger objects and her smaller more intimate pieces

Adam Buick's vessels reference the form of ancient Korean Moon Jars. Moon Jars represented the epitome of the austere Confucian virtues of purity, honesty and modesty. Adam was so inspired by this pure form that he now uses it as the composition for his work.This celestial form is for him symbolic of the planet, his fascination with landscape and how humans have utilized and perceived it.

Walter Keeler is known internationally for his distinctive salt-glazed and earthenware pieces. His shapes are informed by eighteenth century Staffordshire pottery, the forms of Roman blown glass and old fashioned metal milk churns and oil cans. Keeler's work is functional in origin whilst being playful and challenging.

Marcus O'Mahony fires his work in a three chamber wood kiln and a salt glaze gas kiln.He is fascinated by the interaction of salt and wood fire with the clay. These methods of firing enhance the form and are a source of constant inspiration.

Mary White - A Restrospective - 9th June to 2nd July 2011

Early on in her career Mary combined her enthusiasm for ceramics and calligraphy. As a potter she works with porcelain clay exploiting the paper like qualities of this material employing a potters' sensibility with her approach to form. An early opportunity to experiment with porcelain led Mary to develop her distinctive wide flanged bowls, extending the thin rims to breaking point. The organic quality to the broken edges found in many of her forms takes ideas from coastal landscape, layers of rock on the seashore, shells and waves rippling over the sand and the colours of the sea and the sky. Pieces often combine throwing and handbuilding , using the clay as thin as possible, almost like torn paper and assembling the clay in layers.



Her porcelain forms create a three-dimensional canvas for her delicate and exquisite calligraphy. Through a considered use of colour and the balance of areas of light and shade, Marys' calligraphy explores and creates dynamics and tensions between text and form.