Stuart's May Report

In the Gallery May sees the start of our year-long promotion of the work of the Associate members of the Craft Potters Association. From the outset we have been committed to showing a wide range of studio ceramics from the well established to the emerging and less well known. As always, our criteria remain quality and a distinctive voice. The first two in our rolling programme are Sylvia Holmes and Sandy Layton. 

Sylvia produces elegant thrown and hand built vessels which enable her to show her decorative skills to great effect. I am reminded of some of the work of Jackson Pollock - in the sense that the abstraction of the decoration has a beautifully balanced feel to it. This is certainly not reliant on the chance flick of a brush, every stroke and colour application is intentional - serendipity plays no part in Sylvia's well chosen group of pots.



Sandy Layton has work which is similarly disciplined but with an entirely different look and feel.

 Her work is often made up of one or more smaller pieces contained within wider and shallower vessels.  I like the organic fluidity of this work and the subtle contrasts of colour. Relatively small scale, Sandy's groups of pots are made for thoughtful reflection.


We have two featured makers this month. Fred Gatley is new to the gallery.  I first saw his work at Ceramic Art London.  There are a number of interesting features which contribute to the aesthetics of these small plinth based installations.  His use of found materials from the River Thames and Deptford Creek means that each small pot and wood plinth has a unique provenance. The elegant refinement of the small bowls contrasts with the found wood bases on which they stand which are inevitable softer and more random.

Claire Murray whose figurative ceramics have been featured in the Gallery for the last two years, is providing half a dozen new pieces later in May.  Her current range of work focuses on the complexities of human communication and we know from the response of so many of our visitors that her work certainly makes very positive connections.

We are well advanced with our preparations for the Cornwall Show in July and August. We now have over fifty exhibitors each of which has
 been thoughtfully selected.   I am particularly encouraged by the positive response to our invitation to show at Bevere.  Most see the show as a major opportunity to expand the interest and hopefully the market for their work- watch this space!

Stuart Dickens -  Bevere Gallery's Ceramic Curator