Tim Andrews

Tim Andrews has gained an International reputation for his distinctive smoke-fired and raku ceramics. He makes individual Raku pieces - black and white with linear decoration or burnished muted coloured slips. His work has been acquired for both public and private collections and are exhibited widely across the UK and abroad. Another busy year has seen two solo exhibitions and numerous lectures and shows around the UK and in the USA. Tim is also off to India in the new year for a workshop tour and an exhibition in Delhi. The work continues to evolve with new forms and glazes being developed and firing methods tweaked to achieve desired results. A new kiln was built recently – made from a redundant parrot’s cage – we hope the pots will fly out! Making is done on the potters wheel or by handbuilding methods, coils, slabs, etc. Each piece is then laboriously burnished using a pebble or the back of a spoon to achieve a smooth, silky surface quality before being dried and fired for the first time. Glazes or ‘resist slips’ are then applied before each piece is ‘nursed’ through its own individual raku firing. Heated in a special kiln to 1000 °C the piece is then carefully removed when red hot. It is then usually placed in a smoking chamber containing wood shavings. The burning results in a variety of effects, some planned, some entirely random. ‘Form and surface are abiding concerns in my work. Recent forays into larger, more sculptural pieces has brought with it new challenges, both technical and aesthetic. The forms often stem from observations of natural or manmade landscape such as the rivulet erosion scars of china clay spoil heaps in Cornwall. Using the very same materials and harnessing elemental forces to transform them once more is an exciting and rewarding process.’ Tim is a Fellow of The Craft Potters Association, member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and the Westcountry Potters Association.

Raku - New Directions 

John Bedding

‘I began potting when I was 17 in a small commercial South London workshop. I was drawn to pottery by its unique mixture of art, craft and chemistry. The balance of routine with experiment and discovery seemed to suit my character and my skills.’ John worked as an apprentice at the Leach pottery in St Ives in the late 1960s and then, after a year in France, returned as a member of staff. During this time he was allowed to develop his own work. ‘The philosophy behind my work is: after imitating the construction of nature, I play around with the deconstruction, taking the process one stage further.’

Raku - New Directions 

Deirdre Burnett

Deirdre Burnett studied sculpture at St Martins School of Art, then took a BA in three-dimensional design with ceramics main and silversmithing subsidiary at Camberwell School of Art. On leaving in 1967 she set up a workshop in Dulwich. At first for financial reasons the output was mainly tableware. The individual work developed and gradually took over. She makes individual vessel forms in oxidised stoneware and porcelain. Mostly wheel thrown, turned and altered, although larger floor standing pieces are handbuilt. Volcanic, reactive or colour qualities of the glaze come from oxides or materials in the body not applied to the surface. Deirdre is on the Crafts Council selected index and a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association. Work in collections worldwide include: • Museum of Modem Art, New York, USA • Victoria & Albert Museum, London • Museum Boymans – van Beuningen, Rotterdam • Musees Royaux d’art et d’histoire, Brussels, Belgium.

Bruce Chivers

‘With ‘Raku’ there is the necessity to embrace the element of surprise. Seeing and knowing then become as important as the making. There is a Daoist saying, ‘That which can be predicted is not it. The quality of real art is mysterious’ and this is why it is so intriguing. The pieces included in this exhibition show a synthesis between Japanese and sculptural influences in my work.’

Raku - New Directions 

David Cohen

David Cohen taught at Edinburgh College for more than 20 years before becoming Head of Ceramics at Glasgow School of Art in 1986. He was one of the first makers in the UK to experiment with raku techniques, and continues to produce ground-breaking individual ceramics and installation pieces. ‘Over the past 40 years, my work has evolved through the investigation of two elements: nature, and the geometric format. The elements are used separately or in conjunction with each other.’

Raku - New Directions