Sam Hall

Sam Hall’s work is primarily thrown in stoneware with each piece starting as a simple cylinder, which is then cut and altered to produce a flat-sided oval form. Initially the bisque pot is covered with a black glaze, which is rubbed back or washed away. A surface is then built up using slips, oxides and glazes, often being worked many times over. Reacting to incidental changes and chance markings, Sam will often alter results and impose a direction. ‘I may scratch the surface in a certain way one day, and a couple of days later I rework the surface completely, leaving only traces of the original marks. That’s what I mean by building up the history of the pot, it can take quite some time to make and the vessel becomes a diary of the making process.’ Every pot is fired at least four times, and some even seven times. In the last firing Sam adds enamels – yellows and whites – and then occasional splashes of colour, such as red, green or gold to accentuate an area or produce a focal point.

Lisa Hammond

Lisa Hammond has for the last 25 years pioneered soda vapour-glaze studio pottery in the UK. Experimenting with clay, slips, soda glaze and kiln firing, to produce a seemingly endless palate of colour and surface. Her work embraces an extensive range of thrown functional ware for the preparation and cooking of food, and to serve and eat from. However, recent trips and exhibitions in Japan have led her to reassess functionality and further develop her more individual pieces and she now also uses a shino glaze. The forms are strong fluid and unfussy, and aim to preserve the soft plasticity of the clay. Work is often altered to achieve the final form soft on the wheel, using this reshaping as a form of simple decoration. ‘Pinched holes’ and ‘belly buttons’ suggests handholds, and references to medieval pots. Fellow of the Craft Potters Association Exhibits and teaches widely in the UK and abroad.

Ashraf Hanna

Ashraf Hanna has rapidly found a place in the UK ceramics scene with his highly burnished work. The pieces are handbuilt, each form starting as a pinch pot and then developed with slabs. Once completed, the form is refined with metal and rubber kidneys and then burnished using a smooth, semi-precious stone. ‘One can never take the results for granted, since a successful piece is essentially the result of a collaboration between design and chance, precision and spontaneity, artist and elements.’

Raku - New Directions 

Sue Hanna

Sue Hanna graduated in Fine Art (Sculpture) from Central St Martin’s School of Art in 1985 and then spent two years studying in West Africa. Her striking slab-built and burnished heads are strongly informed by this experience and draw on imagery and meaning that embody both ancient and modern sensibilities. ‘It is man who is most fascinated by man. This is why both the primitive and most sophisticated instinctively attempt to recreate their own image on a wall, or a piece of paper, in the sand or snow.’

Raku - New Directions 

Peter Hayes

‘I have always been interested in the history of ceramics – why and how ‘things’ are made of clay. This interest was extended after I spent several years travelling through Africa, working with various tribes and village potters and being intrigued how, with limited technology and basic tools, they were able to get such exquisite, beautiful surfaces.’ Peter has had many group and solo exhibitions to his name, along with numerous private and public commissions. His work is represented in collections around the world.