Painting Class with Valerie Briggs

A few words from Valerie about her course
"This week sees the start of my summer term of day courses for beginners and improvers in watercolour, pastel and pencils. My classes run regularly throughout the year in the main house in which The Gallery at Bevere is situated.

In the early 1980's I decided to give up work to paint, an easy decision for me and luckily I was fully supported by my husband. As a self taught artist I was quite naive about being self employed and decided to try out college first by taking my art A level, unfortunately due to other circumstances I did not go on to attend a foundation course for fine art at that time.

I was left in a kind of limbo when a kind acquaintance recommended a club for leisure painters and other crafts held on the outskirts of Worcester. I did not really look back after that.

Heather and I can not remember when I started teaching at Bevere, it must of been in the early 1990's, some of my 'students' think that they have been coming to me for that long. In those days we held classes in the Coach House Gallery and upstairs in the well lit attic rooms of the main house. Three flights of stairs carrying half a beach was the norm for me!

These days life is much more refined, working with smaller classes and no stairs. My 'students' are usually mature and range from beginners to experienced artists. I love teaching beginners and have great pleasure watching how they develop over time.

My current classes have no structure and are tailored to the individual students needs, many of whom work from reference material although I do like to encourage them to work outside too.

During the autumn this year I am planning 'Project Tiger' which will probably cover three weeks of the 6 week term. An extra day will be arranged to visit the nearest collection of tigers so that the class can view and sketch from the real thing before attempting a portrait.

One of my class during the spring term agreed to her painting being photographed during the various stages of creation to illustrate one of the various techniques I teach. Lorraine has been painting in oils for years and is a natural artist, she has been getting to grips with watercolour over the last decade.

Lorraine says
"I have been attending Valerie's classes for some years and the time I have spent with her has been very rewarding, with excellent tuition given and above all patience.
I had in mind the picture of the otter and cubs, with Valerie's help with the composition she guided me through the techniques she uses to create a realistic watercolour painting.

Her classes are always enjoyable and companionable, a lovely day out."

' Art Europe'

The Gallery at Bevere’s major summer show was launched on the 4th July.

Two makers who were present – Thiébaut Chagué from France and Aase Haugaard from Denmark enjoyed talking to our many visitors during the “ launch” and also they enjoyed a walk round the Gallery garden and Sculpture Trail

It brings together ceramicists from eight European countries including the UK and
has been designed to compare and contrast.

The work of an individual potter cannot be expected to epitomise the work of a nation’s potters but we have eight diverse examples from the rich tapestry of European ceramics.


We hope that the exhibition"Art Europe" will stimulate and provoke – there is certainly a wide range of work and styles.

The ceramicists come from Denmark in the north, through Holland and Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Italy in the South and the UK.

Those taking part : -

France – Thiébaut Chagué
Germany – Petra Bittl
Belgium – Patty Wouters
Holland – Toon Thijs
Spain – May Criado
Italy – Pietro Elia Maddalena
Denmark –Aase Haugaard
UK – Sebastian Blackie

Pot Of The Month - July 2009

Stuart, The gallery's ceramic curator has chosen Yo Thom's Large Tsubo as July's pot of the month.


"Yo Thom’s work is often to be seen in the gallery and she is most commonly associated with domestic ware.

However, we have had one or two of Yo’s larger pieces and they have a presence and a volume which commands our attention. We know that larger pots are most often bought by clients who have ‘just the right place for it’ and in truth these vessels demand space and status.

The coming together of Japanese and British elements in Yo’s work is an attractive and significant element. The colours are subtle and understated – the pot sits well in any context whilst still retaining its independent spirit – speak of the pot, speak of the potter!"

Tableware Gallery

The Space upstairs has been converted into a Gallery for Tableware.



What a job it was - The beautiful wooden shelves hand made by 'Bono' wouldn't go up the stairs so the Café window came to the rescue.

Potters taking part-
Sue Paraskeva
Kaori Tatebayash
John Leach - the Muchelney Pottery kitchenware range
Jennifer Hall and
The Leach Pottery St Ives

Sue Paraskeva lives and works on the Isle of Wight and her tableware has been developed over time. This delicately speckled tableware is thrown on a stick driven momentum wheel. All the work is high-fired, glazed inside and unglazed outside and is dishwasher proof.


Kaori Tatebayashi grew up in a family who traded in pottery in Kyoto, Japan a city renowned for its ceramics. From a young age she was surrounded by the simple, elegant forms of Japanese tableware. The simple ceramic forms are created by a special moulding technique which gives each piece a unique character. She likes her work to be fresh and innovative but comfortable to use at the same time.



John Leach - the Muchelney Pottery kitchenware range, designed by John Leach, eldest grandson of renowned potter Bernard Leach is enormously popular and provides a wide choice of table, oven and kitchen ware. The pots are hand-thrown by the Muchelney Pottery team led by John with Nick Rees and Mark Melbourne before being wood-fired in the three-chambered kiln at temperatures exceeding 1300°C.


Jennifer Hall graduated from Cardiff in 1994. She has a studio near Rhayader in mid Wales where she pots on a kickwheel, making slip-decorated, useable earthenware. Her range of table and kitchen ware is much sought after and is amongst the best of the studio made domestic ware in the UK.



The Leach Pottery St Ives – we are proud to be the first gallery outside of the restored Leach Pottery Gallery to show the new domestic ware being produce by the team led by Jack Doherty. This range is an exciting outcome of the immense energy and passion that has been put into restoring the pottery which is the old home and workshop of Bernard Leach the grandfather of studio ceramics in the oriental tradition.

Muchelney Team Visit the Gallery

The Gallery at Bevere and the Muchelney Pottery in the Somerset Levels have had a fruitful relationship for some time now and it was a particular pleasure to have a visit from the Muchelney team – John Leach grandson of Bernard Leach and the son of David) together with Nick Rees and Mark Melbourne.

They had the opportunity to talk with our team as well as look around the galleries and the garden. John’s interest in trees was particularly evident as he strolled through the sculpture trail. We all share a passion for studio ceramics and in particular the need to promote interest in and an understanding of ceramics to a wider public.

The Muchelney Pottery domestic ware is very popular. The pottery’s appeal comes from the warm colour, derived from the ‘toasting’ in the wood-fired kilns and many different pots for all purposes in the kitchen and on the table. The Gallery at Bevere is delighted to have a wide range for sale in the Gallery’s Space Upstairs.

Solo Exhibition - Jill Fanshawe Kato

The Gallery at Bevere has always placed emphasis on showing ceramicists with a distinctive voice - Jill Fanshawe Kato
is undoubtedly one of them. Her work is instantly attributable and her long association with Japan is clearly evident in everything that she makes. We are delighted to see her work in our 2009 exhibition schedule, particularly as it coincides with a large exhibition in Japan at the Keio Department Store in Tokyo, and the associated pressures of both making and shipping such a significant body of work across the globe.

She spent an extended period in Japan last year and she talks enthusiastically about how working with Japanese potters fired her imagination and her creative drive. Her ceramics are inspired by travel and nature and sometimes by ancient buildings returning to nature.

Jill uses a range of making processes - coiling, slabbing, sculpting, throwing and altering. She uses a range of stoneware clays and is currently experimenting with additions of River Dart clay – the effect of which is to produce an entirely different surface and feel to the work. All her work is fired to 1270ºc in gas reduction. Her use of a wide range of making techniques produces an extensive range of work from the functional – with a strong Japanese influence – to the purely sculptural.

Her use of decorative panels on an unglazed but textured surface is reminiscent of the red ware produced by Wedgwood at the beginning of the 19th century and it is the combination of tradition and modern design which is the strong appeal of her work.

This exhibition will be an opportunity for Jill’s many admirers – and the team at Bevere are amongst them - to see her work and to see how it has developed over the last two years.

Pot of the Month - JUne 2009

CURATOR’S CHOICE - POT OF THE MONTH

TIM ANDREWS - Tall Resist Humbug

Tim Andrews has an international reputation as a raku potter. His ‘humbug’ pots in a variety of shapes and sizes have almost become the signature pieces of this elegant ceramicist.

The inward curve of the lip and the swell of the body enhanced by the minimal but perfectly accented lines create a vessel that is sensuously tactile and visually stunning. It is a pot with great presence and clearly deserves its own space.

This pot transcends the debate about art versus craft, traditional versus modern or post modern – it is simply a thing of beauty.