MIDLAND POTTERS' ASSOCIATION 30TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW

  Many potters and visitors enjoyed being the first
to







view the work of 19 members of
the Midlands Potters' Association on Saturday at the launch of this  special Anniversary Show which celebrates 30 years.

 This exhibition was supported by  Prints and
Pastel Paintings by David White

We were especially pleased to welcome Henry Sandon to the Gallery

Christmas Show

This exhibition, as befits the season, has something for everyone - a mix of established tradition and contemporary sensibilities including Carol Singers from our local church on occasional Saturdays throughout December.

The Gallery at Bevere has a reputation for quality and diversity in studio ceramics and the exhibitors in this show certainly meet those criteria.

POTTERS -Sasha Wardell - Tony Laverick - Kevin de Choisy - Carina Ciscato - Peter Beard.

The featured painting exhibition will show a variety of work from the most popular artists that have exhibited over the last 12 months. 

ARTISTS- A range working in a number of styles and mediums to include Jane Arkwright, Beth Fletcher, Anja Percival, Paul Floyd, Ali Yanya and Thelma Ayre.

PRINT and CLAY

Exhibition of ceramics and original prints

This exhibition brings together master print makers and ceramicists for whom print is the dominant decorative medium

The Gallery at Bevere prides itself on the quality and diversity of its exhibitions. This one is no exception and we hope that bringing these artists and ceramicists together will promote greater understanding of the technical processes and possibilities.

Ceramicists – David Rhys Jones, Annabel Farraday, Joanna Veevers, Jo Lee, Fiona Thompson, Patrick King, Paul Scott

Printmakers – Anja Percival, Sarah Ross Thompson, John Duffin, Vicky Shaw

Print and Clay seem to have been partners for a long time. We are all familiar with the transfer printed pottery of the 19^th Century and indeed our everyday drinking mugs are often printed with logos, images or aphorisms. We think nothing of it, we take for granted that this is easy to achieve and that the technology is now a routine aspect of ceramic design and production.

What is less well known is that the processes involved in transferring print to clay are many and varied and we are often left open-mouthed as we wonder - ‘How did they do that?’ This exhibition has been put together to demonstrate how the studio potter is at the forefront of innovation and creative thinking to make their vessels and objects beautiful, evocative, provocative, sometimes political and most importantly difficult to ignore.

USA Master Potter -Rarely Seen in the UK

Thomas Hoadley

New Work straight from American Studio

Thomas creates breathtaking porcelain vessels using the ancient technique of nerikomi, creating patterns with colored clay. Through a masterful, sometimes magical manipulation of the clays, delicate, organic, and often complex patterns are created. These award winning bowls are works of beauty and mystery and it is a great pleasure to display and sell these in the Gallery at Bevere

Thomas says
“My current ceramic work reflects an investigation into several areas of interest and an attempt to unify solutions to various visual problems. One interest is in the vessel as an abstract sculptural form and its many associations, both literal and metaphoric. Another is pattern and colour and how a collection of abstract elements can create various feelings or impressions. A third is an interest in the integration of surface pattern and three dimensional form.

The technique that I use, which results in a penetration of the pattern through the thickness of the wall so as to be visible on both the outside and the inside, is a partial solution to the problem; but from a strictly two dimensional standpoint I am also concerned with how the pattern relates to the form as seen in profile.

A certain degree of illusion of depth is created by some colour/pattern combinations and I enjoy the play of this implied visual depth vs. the "flat" modulating surface of the pot vs. the real depth that is present in the interior space. My aim is not, however, to create strong illusions nor representational or abstracted pictures on the pots.

My initial attraction to the nerikomi technique came from its organic union of pattern and structure. Rather than the former being applied to the latter, as in most decorative pottery traditions, the two are one and the same. The natural world abounds with this sort of union and as a result, offers endless inspiration for pattern making.

The other aspect that was particularly attractive to me was the translation of the physical properties of clay into a visual format. By this I mean that the very plasticity of the clay is made visible in the way that an imposed pattern is altered. Straight parallel lines are created by stacking up slices of variously colored clays but in the manipulation of the resulting soft block of clay, the lines become undulating or are perhaps made to taper down to a hair's breadth. Porcelain of course shows off this quality to its greatest extent but the principle is the same with any clay. I think of my patterns as being a collaboration between my imposed structure and the clay's wise alteration of that structure.

In addition to the natural sources, I have found inspiration for patterns in a number of other areas. Fabric design has recently been of great interest to me as well as a variety of non-ceramic craft traditions. Graphic design of all sorts serves as visual stimulation and colour ideas can come as easily from a magazine ad as from a rock, shell, or flower.”

Made in America

It arrived in the nick of time as it was held up in customs till the very last minute. However in the Gallery’s true tradition the Exhibition "Made in America" was mounted and launched on time.

The Gallery at Bevere takes pride in the imaginative programming of its monthly exhibitions and the hope that throughout the year our visitors will see new ceramicists and those they have not seen for some time. September is the month when we try to organize a special show including makers of exceptional interest and quality.

The American ceramic scene is one that has interested us for some time and we are delighted to be able to show the work of three New England potters – one from Connecticut and two from Massachusetts - who have not exhibited in the UK before.

Stuart Dicken the Gallery’s Ceramic Curator says

"The three potters were selected after discussion with Thomas Hoadley and Sam Taylor - they are part of the wider community of New England potters and I know that they have a high regard for each other’s work.

Hayne Bayless's work is hand built stoneware or porcelain, mainly reduction-fired, using slab techniques and extruded elements, some with added handles and stems of metal or hand-carved hardwood.

Sam Taylor makes wood fired stoneware pottery. All his pottery is made on a Leach or treadle style wheel. He likes to throw pots on the wheel and then alter them, using a knife to cut facets or a paddle to change the form. He loves to decorate or paint on the pottery too.

The work sent by Hayne Bayless is very but it is a significant contrast to the work of Thomas Hoadley – He was

selected as his work is very vibrant and immediately attractive.

We see Thomas Hoadley's work as the centrepiece of this show - it is wonderfully crafted and these opulent vessels are going to interest serious collectors. “

Exhibition & Book of the Month

PATTERN, COLOUR AND FORM

New Approaches to Creativity

This exhibition is an exciting first for this gallery.

Carolyn Genders, whose work has frequently been featured here, has completed her second book about creativity and the artistic process.

We are delighted to be supporting the launch of this stimulating book in an exhibition that features nineteen makers and artists that she has profiled. Together they make up a rich and eclectic mix of talented artists and skilled craftspeople in widely diverse media.

Creativity and innovation have become key themes in the present debate about how to emerge from the current recession. Hard times or not, artists and makers have constantly striven for new ways of expressing their vision and developing the use of their chosen medium.

The exhibition at The Gallery at Bevere, brings the book to life with actual pieces featured. Carolyn herself and some of the other makers were available at the launch on 8th August to sign books and talk to visitors to the show which surprises and delights in equal measure –

Exhibitors:

Jewellery: Kayo Saito, Susan Cross, Nora Fok
Metal: Wayne Meeten
Enamel: Joan Mac Karell
Textiles: Judy Dwyer, Jeanette Appleton
Painting: Jane Ackwright, Howard Coles
Works on paper: Rob Peel
Collage: Hetty van Boekhout
Basketry: Mary Butcher, Jackie Binns
Ceramics: Ken Eastman, Maggie Williams, Yuk Kan Yeung, Carolyn Genders
Glass: Peter Layton, Katherine Coleman

This show surprises and delights in equal measure –