wheel

Ceramic Review: Masterclass with Stuart Carey

21 Comments / Uncategorized /

'It was at the wheel where it all came together for me. Tableware became an obsession, I loved the functionality of it, that it would be used and loved.'

In this video, Stuart Carey takes us step-by-step through the processes he uses to throw a thin-walled bowl, which he spray-glazes once it is bisque-fired.

Discover how Stuart makes his work in the full step-by-step masterclass inside CR 299 (September/October 2019). You can order current and back issues of the magazine from ceramicreview.com.

Film by Layton Thompson for Ceramic Review

Korean Porcelain Trimming Skills w/ Moon Byeong Sik

22 Comments / Korean Ceramics /

On my recent visit to S. Korea I was able to connect with Moon Byeong Sik, a porcelain potter I had met a few years back. This was my first visit to his studio and he was gracious enough to offer me a wheel and some clay and we both threw pots and compared techniques. While neither of us speak too much of each others language, we were able to use the clay as a prop for conversation.

Throwing & decorating English slipware pots: Taena Pottery, Gloucestershire

14 Comments / English Slipware /

I had the pleasure of filming two exceptional people and skilled potters demonstrating their craft! The historic Taena Pottery – surrounded by mulberry trees and bee-filled lavender – is having its first flirtation with the internet!

Vici and Sean Casserley are the second generation of potters to run the beautiful Taena Pottery. It was started in 1948 by a group of conscientious objectors and survived their dispersal in the 1960s.

Specialising in traditional English slipware, Vici and Sean make and sell their pots from a studio and shop nestled on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment. You can buy read-made or bespoke pieces.

Contact details:
Whitley Court,
Upton-St-Leonards,
Gloucester,
Gloucestershire,
GL4 8EB
Tel: +44 (0)1452 610908

Slipware is a traditional method of decorating clay pots, practiced globally in a variety of styles. English medieval pottery is often decorated with slip and sgraffito (the two techniques demonstrated here) and can be seen on the Tring Tiles at the British Museum:

I am an Art Historian at Cambridge University, with a deep admiration for practitioners of heritage crafts. I grew up near Sean and Vici and hope this film serves as a celebration of lives devoted to creating useful & beautiful things, or, as Sean puts it, 'making nice pots for nice people.'

Bernard Leach – A Potter’s World (Extract)

14 Comments / Bernard Leach /

Bernard Leach is, without a doubt, the best known and most prominent of British studio potters.
Born in Hong Kong, he was taken almost immediately to Japan by his grandparents.
He came to England at the age of ten for schooling.
In 1909 he returned to Japan to teach etching which he had himself learnt from Frank Brangwyn.
After ten years of life in the East – both Japan and China – he met Hamada.
The following year they both came to England and set up the Leach Pottery at St Ives.
The years between the wars were hard for Leach; he spent much time re-building kilns, experimenting with materials, travelling – but not achieving much critical or financial success.
It was not until after the Second World War, and the publication of his first book, A Potters' Book, that he became widely recognised as a master in his field.
He continued to pot until 1972, but did not stop his ceaseless travelling.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London held an exhibition – The Art of Bernard Leach – in 1977, and in 1979 he died.

Ayumi Horie Dry Throwing

Leave a Comment / Ayumie Horie /

Dry throwing involves no water and I've used it for the last 15 years to make handmade bowls, dishes, plates- all low forms. At Alfred as an undergrad, I developed this dry throwing process in which I trim to center using a pin tool, scoop out the inside using a loop tool and thin out the walls by pushing them out with a rib. I use no water because I like the surface of moist clay, rather than wet. This method allows me to preserve the inherent textures in clay that I love- the stretching, cracking, and sagging. Fingerprints have a different kind of crispness and I can coax out a delicate edge of a line on a massive wall. Using this method, I can also work more spontaneously and intuitively because I dont have to wait for the clay to dry out quite so long. Many thanks to Lullatone and Joe Lutton for music and production!