Welcome
to the
Red Lion Pottery
Website
About the
pottery
I set up pottery
in 2004 in a purpose built extension at my home which also housed a small gym now changed into a showroom! All work is
made and fired on-site.
About
me
I became a 'potaholic'
in my late teens whilst passing a ceramics department in a college where I was studying science. After two
years of pottery evening classes I was seriously afflicted but then went on to fulfil my dream and study medicine. Some 35
years later I took early retirement from General Practice in order to pursue my love of ceramics.
In the intervening
years I had developed an eclectic taste in pots initially stimulated by a patient whose house was re-mortgaged to fill
it with a wide range of ceramics, sculpture and ethnic art, ranging from early English salt-glaze ware to Epstein bronzes
and African effigies. Home visits were always essential to deal with his medical problems! The stimulus to collect and to
make was firmly planted, but it wasn’t until retirement that time allowed the making to become a reality.
After obtaining a
City & Guilds certificate and diploma and a University of Derby
ceramics diploma I also studied aspects of Chinese calligraphy and painting. Attending a two week course under the
guidance of the Japanese master, Matsuzaki Ken, was a major influence on my further development, as was a visit
to China in March 2006. I have also gained
considerably from attending courses run by David and Margaret Frith and Nic Collins.
Artist’s
Statement
Starting in ceramics
at this stage of my life has given me the freedom to develop my pottery as I wish and I am able to indulge my interests in
any direction that appeals to me. My inspiration is influenced by many sources but two remain most significant.
Elements of Oriental
philosophy, especially Zen and Wabi-sabi in relation to ceramics has a resonance with that of my own. I have a preference
for simplicity in ceramics and like the concept of finding “beauty in the impermanent, imperfect and the incomplete,
in things modest and humble and in the unconventional”.
The other main inspirational
influence is the natural world particularly geological formations and flora.
I make mainly thrown
and some hand-built ceramics principally in stoneware, my glazes are based on traditional oriental recipes and often
incorporate local wood ashes. Until recently most of my pots were reduction fired in a propane gas kiln but I have recently
built my own wood-firing kiln and am enjoying the wonderful effects natural ash and the raw flame can produce. Each firing
allows me to discover and explore new effects.
