I’m playing roving reporter for today’s post… I decided a while ago, I wanted to explore creating larger work and have been waiting patiently for a ceramics show to happen within a couple of hours of where I live so I could go and check out the whole scene. Looking at people’s work on the internet is good, but there’s nothing like seeing something in real life to really appreciate the depth of glaze, texture and skill that goes in to creating beautiful works of art.
A few months ago, I read about Ceramic Art York, a showcase of some of the best contemporary ceramic artists from the UK and beyond, to mark the opening of a new permanent Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) at the York art gallery. I booked a ticket immediately.
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| On Entry I received this beautiful program featuring all of the makers. |
On Friday morning I set off up the M62. Other than it being one of the worst motorways in the country, it’s a beautiful drive. I couldn’t take pics on the road, but here’s a couple of the views you get to take in along the way.
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| Scammonden bridge |
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| Across the moors. |
The weather is notorious up on the moors and changed from blazing sunshine to low cloud, but by the time I arrived in York, the sun was shining again.
York is a beautiful city, full of history and amazing buildings, so I took a detour on the way there to check out some of the sights.
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| Micklegate Bar - The main medieval entrance to the city of York. |
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| Ancient wood beam & brick building. |
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| York Minster. |
And after getting a bit lost and finding my way again, I arrived at the marquees in the museum's 10 acre botanical gardens.
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| Ceramic Art York exhibition marquees. |
Rather than babble on about how brilliant and lovely and amazing everything was, I will let my pictures do the talking! I've included links to each of the artists below their pic if you'd like to find out more...
After a few laps and chats with some of the makers, who were all lovely, I decided I couldn’t go home without a souvenir or two. First up I visited Peter Beard and bought a copy of his latest catalogue and some postcards. I would have loved to buy a pot from him, but I don’t think the kids would have been impressed with eating beans for the next 6 weeks! I’m just going to put the postcards up on my shed wall and use my imagination.
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| Catalogue & Postcards from Peter Beard. |
These reduction fired beads were from London based Karen Bunting.
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| Beads by Karen Bunting |
And I couldn’t pass by the book & tool stand, run by the Craft Potters Association, without a good browse. Here, I purchased Kathleen Standen’s ‘Additions to clay bodies’ It’s a really informative book, full of unusual techniques to create texture in your work. (Kathleen made the stunning buoy vessel pictured above.)
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| Bookshop & tool purchases. |
And I was good in the tool section, and only came away with a couple of serrated ribs.
I’m currently obsessed with reticulation glazes and have been doing some actual testing to try and create interesting surface textures, so seeing Paul Wearing’s beautiful bowls, I knew I had to have one.
Paul is based in Cardiff and takes his inspiration from urban and rural landscapes. I could have taken everything on his display, but I settled for this bowl.
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| Paul Wearing glazed bowl |
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| The base is just as stunning! |
It’s beautiful, the more I look at it, the more I see. The depth of the texture and colours is incredible, I’ve stared at it for hours!
Loaded up with my purchases, I took a slow stroll back through the gardens, around the medieval ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey.
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| St. Mary's Abbey |
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| Another view of the remains. |
And then it was back on the M62 for home.
I had a wonderful day. It was so inspiring to meet some of the leading ceramic artists and to see their work up close, every piece was simply outstanding. And although I still have a long way to go, I’ve come away eager to continue on my own path to creating something worthy.
Looks like it was a great exhibition and York is such a beautiful location..you're very lucky to be within day trip distance. Thanks for sharing your finds.
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