Made in England was a project in three parts. The first was a mosaic installed in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke. The second was a series of public workshops. The third was a website documenting the project: www.made-in-england.net As the project depended on public involvement, it was essential that as many people [...]
I remember my first development trip to Stoke. I drove up the M40. Repeatedly listening to the same CD, I’d achieved a meditative high of anticipation and excitement, when the phone rang. It was a Stoke-on-Trent number. ‘Hello duck’ said an unfamiliar voice. ‘Snow is forecast. Best get here early.’ It was the landlady from [...]
Yesterday’s post was the first of a series on Made in England. I explained how I came to use ceramic tableware. Today I am going to look at the content and context of the material, to help to explain what the finished work is about. I’m also going to continue the discussion about the use [...]
Now and then I am going to look at a single piece of work, and explain the thought process behind its making. This week I am going to talk about my project Made in England. It is the first of five posts. I often explain to students that their work is likely to be most [...]
As a reward for hard work Sonia took me to Heath Ceramics yesterday – a factory producing tiles and ceramic tableware, founded fifty years ago by Edith Heath. Edith was a fascinating woman. She found a source of clay, developed glazes, and made forms so elegant and practical that many of her originals are still [...]
In between arguments and stopping periodically for tea and toast we are working and talking about how to get across what the paintings are about. Matt thinks people will find it hard to see why the paintings aren’t nostalgia for a moment in the early twentieth century when painting was interested in science and colour [...]
Fascinating series on Radio 4 this week. Whatever Happened To The Teapots by Roger Law, of Spitting Image. Apparently he went first to Stoke-on-Trent (the birthplace of the English ceramic industry) in the 80s to have a Thatcher tea pot produced by Moorland Pottery — still a thriving small potbank. (Moorland features in my project [...]