THE CURATOR’S VIEW – February 2013

Each year Bevere Gallery adds to the range and diversity of the makers it represents. Amongst the three featured makers in February, who offer real contrasts in style and technique,

we have the work of Barry Stedman who is showing in the gallery for the first time. His painterly decoration in unusual colour combinations certainly made an impact on me the first time I saw it and I hope that this small group of new work will evoke the same response in our visitors this month. 

Andrew Palin  
comes from a science background which perhaps explains his exploration of glaze effects and the precision of his work. His pots have developed over recent years and we always look forward to a new group of work from him. These are almost straight out of the kiln and onto the plinth, so this is Andrew’s latest work.

Suet-Yi Yip was a popular exhibitor in last year’s Graduate Show (2012) - you may remember her if you visited the gallery then. She is becoming increasingly well known for her fine draughtsmanship and fertile imagination within an oriental tradition. She has sold successfully during the last year, which is testament to her creative imagination and the appetite of ceramic enthusiasts for an original voice.

We also have a handpicked group of pots by Walter  Keeler, which will be on show for the first time this month. I never tire of his work. For me he is the epitome of the master potter and these pots simply and elegantly confirm that.  

Stuart Dickens

A Milestone - our 10.000th pot on the web - a Walter Keeler Mug

10,000 POT!

It is hard to believe, but we have just uploaded the 10,000^th pot on our website and it could not be more appropriate –a Walter Keeler mug. Walter is an elder statesman of studio pottery and I am delighted that one of his pieces marks this milestone.

We have shown his work for a number of years and had innumerable conversations with visitors to the gallery about this supreme craftsman.
 

Then why a humble mug, I here you cry? Well, this is what fate has determined should be number 10,000. It is not just a mug. It is a vessel that embraces all of the qualities that so many of us admire in Walter’s work. It is elegantly designed and beautifully proportioned – sitting so well in the hand. The lustrous ink wash glaze emphasises the shape and the volume of the pot. His signature mark is the only decoration. This is a simple mug – but as the great Hamada once said in response to a comment by one of his students about the simplicity of a particular pot – there is nothing simple about it at all.

Some of latest collection in The Gallery- includes "THE MUG"

                      Stuart Dickens