Autumn Exhibition at the Stour Gallery, Shipston-on-Stour.
This was a particularly good exhibition, so much so that there will be two more posts.
Jane Wheeler:
Wheeler's vessels are reduction fired to 1260 degrees centigrade in a gas kiln. The rich textured surfaces are created by the addition of a coarse grog (grit) and sand to the stoneware clay body - the impurities produce the irregular spotting, and by glazes composed of china clay, barium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, wood ash and feldspar.
Jack Doherty:
Doherty's vessels are thrown and soda-fired. The thin layer of liquid porcelain that is applied on the surface has copper carbonate added as the single colouring material. Only one firing is required. Soda firing involves mixing sodium bicarbonate with water, which is then sprayed into the kiln during firing at high temperature. The resulting vapour is drawn through the kiln chamber where it reacts with the silica and alumina present in the clay, creating this rich patina of surface texture and colour.
Elisabeth Raeburn:
Raeburn's ceramics are raku fired. The pieces are hand-built, mostly decorated with white or coloured slip and finished with a semi-transparent glaze, sometimes using the clay from her own garden. The shapes and shadows of her forms are often emphasised by leaving some surfaces unglazed: these are blackened by the post-firing reduction which is achieved by plunging the red hot pot into sawdust or damp newspaper and quenching with water.
Edmund De Waal:
Janis Ridley:
Ridley's sculptures are wonderful. With the exception of the first two, the others were all crowded together on the top shelf of a glass cabinet: they had apparently just come in and the gallery staff had not had time to display them properly or price them. I hope I'll have the opportunity to view them properly next time I visit.
a back view
Learning to Fly, (acrylic on canvas)
Lowland Call (acrylic on board)
Night Swimmer, (acrylic on canvas)
Head On, (acrylic on canvas).
I love Jack Doherty's pots with their apparent simplicity and the subtlety of colour. He is also a very lovely man, keen to talk about his work in a lively way...and he lent me his phone when mine had no signal at Cermaics London last year. I am a fan!
ReplyDeleteI like his work too, and could not resist a few years ago and bought two of his smaller bowls that complement each other beautifully. I also agree with you about the pleasure of talking to him about his work - I also like his assistant, I don't know if you have met her.
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