The CURATOR'S VIEW

 THE CURATOR'S VIEW

         MAY / JUNE FEATURE

 May 4th until  June 26th 2018

The meteorologists may be less able to foretell the onset of summer, but our featured maker programme absolutely does with a two-month feature involving six high quality makers who will bring us much needed sunshine. Two of the makers are new to Bevere and are very much part of our endeavour to continue to bring new and stimulating talent to our visitors.

Rebecca Appleby is the first of our new names. She has come to the attention of ceramic enthusiasts over the past two years and has made an impact with her abstract ceramics and paintings. We are always delighted to show the two-dimensional work of ceramicists, which gives a different perspective on the creative drive of the maker. 

 

Midori Takaki was a child in Japan with ambitions to become a writer. As it happened her vivid imagination turned to ceramics to express the almost continuous flow of ideas and images that are in her head. This is finely made ceramic sculpture with a strong oriental influence – not surprisingly.

Mark Dally is one of the best slip decorators we know. The confidence and precision of his black on white vessels and his design talents have been much admired on previous occasions at Bevere  - great to have him here again. He will also be joining us for the Makers Lunch on Saturday 5 May.

Christiane Wilhelm who lives and works in Germany produces meticulously designed and made pots, which we always welcome in the Gallery.  She is highly respected for the quality of her making and the original perspectives she brings to all of her work.  

Elly Wall  is our second new name. She makes distinctive vessels, which are often minimally glazed with marks and flashes of glaze. In her own words, she wants to maintain the freshness and rawness of her materials. Her work will contrast most effectively with other featured makers.

Carolyn Genders has an established reputation as a maker and teacher producing intriguing and colourfully decorated vessels from the small to the very large. She has not shown here for a while and it will be good to see her work here again along with her paintings. Carolyn will also be joining us for a Makers Lunch arranged for Friday 1 June

So there we are  - I hope that it brings our visitors as much pleasure as it does the Bevere team in setting up this stimulating show.

Maker's Lunch - PENNY FOWLER - April 2018

This was a fully booked lunch event which gave us all the opportunity to explore the elegance, precision and effective use of colour in Penny Fowler's porcelain and bone china pieces. Penny was last at Bevere when we held the CPA at 50 show which feels a long way back now.

Influenced by her sculptor grandfather, she developed turned thrown pieces originally, but became more and more interested in developing fine, precise pots that would show her carving to best effect. When she decided to make moulds and cast her pieces it was that point at which the voice we now recognise as distinctly hers, began to emerge.

All of us were particularly impressed with the structure of her small pieces and the apparent simplicity of her decorative design which belies the subtlety of her undoubted design skills. Penny sees herself as a City potter  - having lived and worked in London for may years – and her work reflects her interest in architecture, design and the world around her.  It was evident from the detailed processes she described that even the smallest of pieces could take several hours to complete. We can so often underestimate how long it takes to make high quality studio ceramics.

Over an excellent lunch we discussed a range of questions about Penny's work and the wider ceramic market. All round a very satisfying event and thank you to Penny for coming up from London for the day.

Stuart Dickens

8 April 2018

Next MAKER'S LUNCH -   SATURDAY 5th MAY with  MARK DALLY