MAKERS LUNCH

       CAROLYN GENDERS

       1^st June 2018

It was a particular pleasure to welcome Carolyn Genders as our Featured Maker guest. Carolyn has shown at Bevere several times over the past years and as always it was good to have her work back in the Gallery.

Once again, Carolyn's group of newly made pots contrasted strongly in making techniques and decorative styles with other featured makers, providing a stimulating show for all tastes.

Carolyn has an established reputation as a maker and teacher producing intriguing and colourfully decorated vessels from the small to the very large - although she now makes mostly smaller pieces. From my perspective, I have always seen Carolyn as a three dimensional painter. An artist who has adopted clay as the most effective vehicle for carrying her work. For her part, she has worked with clay since she was a young child, so in many ways her high level decorative skills complement her facility with clay and its potential.

Reference was made to two stimulating books by Carolyn on inspiration and decorative approaches – Sources of Inspiration: For Ceramics and Applied Arts and Pattern Colour and Form; Creative Approaches by Artists.  Writing these works enabled her to take time to think about her creative drivers as well as those of other well known  makers and artists.

It became clear during our conversation that Carolyn's ' decorative voice' has emerged over a number of years. It was also evident that her decorative style was much looser than the pattern derived style of some 15 to 20 years ago.  The largest of the pieces in front of us showed that a wide range of decorative techniques had been employed on the one pot.

She spends considerable time sketching and developing her decoration.  Essentially, she started each piece with a clear vision of what the finished piece would look like. There is no sense in which the Genders' approach is standing still and we will see her decorative approach develop and change over time.

Although Carolyn produces a wide range of paintings and prints she is in no doubt that her prime focus is on the making of clay vessels. It was evident that her love of clay iis deeply felt and that is why she prefers hand building rather than throwing as it reinforces the sense of each piece as a product of the hand.

These were just a few of the many issues discussed during the two hours over lunch and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the stimulating interaction. Many thanks to Carolyn for her major contribution to this event.

LUNCH WITH WALTER  KEELER - FRIDAY 6th JULY

Stuart Dickens

Ceramic Curator

2 June 2018

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