Curator's View November 2015

The 2015 featured maker calendar is drawing to an end. However, we like to ensure that, as that special time of year approaches, we have the most interesting group of makers from the beginning of November through to the end of December. As well as those featured makers, which I will introduce in  a moment, there will be the usual array of ceramicists – some very well known, others less familiar – to ensure that we have work to appeal to all tastes.

The featured makers include two names new to Bevere; someone who last appeared here some years ago, and a maker whose new work will be welcomed back again.

Robert Cooper – a newcomer to Bevere -  is an experienced and respected ceramicist who makes much use of recycled materials and found objects. I have always admired his lidded boxes and the quality of his decoration. Each piece is distinctly different and the range of his decoration is evidence of a deep well of creativity. I am sure that visitors will find much to admire.





Charlotte Stockley is another first time exhibitor.  Charlotte is a maker of domestic ware which undoubtedly adds pleasure to eating and drinking. Her pieces, which are thrown and altered,  have a freshness and energy which gives each a distinct look and feel. The Mid Surrey Collection, which will be featured, is decorated with fruit and vegetables. Her use of porcelain gives an added elegance and lambency.

Petra Bittl will be remembered by some of our visitors as one of the makers in our German Show that we put on some years ago. Based in Bonn, Petra is one of Germany's leading potters. She had aspirations to be a painter originally,  however she took the ceramic route instead. As it happens her work is a fine vehicle for her abstract painting and I like the way that shape and decoration interact. It is a pleasure to have her back at Bevere again.




Akiko Hirai has featured at Bevere several times over the years and we are regularly asked when we will be getting new work from her. Well here it is.

Her work displays her Japanese upbringing although she has lived in the UK since 2000. The oriental influence is evident, but this is also distinctly contemporary ware which will enhance both table and home. She is a thoughtful potter who makes constant links between the written word and her ceramics. She sees story lines in her work and the ambiguities of language are similarly expressed. As with so much of the work we are showing, our visitors will ascribe different interpretations.

Like all good art, studio ceramics can and does provoke such a range of responses. Long may it do so.

Stuart Dickens
November 2015