CENTRE FOR
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CERAMICS AND
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Our main gallery space has been remodelled to enable us to show a wider range of studio ceramics and original art and craft. It will have constantly changing displays where new work will be regularly introduced Each month we will be highlighting the work of individual makers. Featured Potter for April - Robin Welch
Open 10.30am - 5pm (Closed Sundays and Mondays) |
Ceramics and Art Exhibition
Sat 7th April - Sat 28th April 2007
"Spring Surprises - New Vessels"
Featuring
John Jelfs with
Claudia Lis and
Françoise Dufayard
Also new oil paintings by local house artist
Michael Salt and others.
The Gallery at Bevere near Worcester celebrates the end of its first year as a regional centre for ceramics with the twelfth of its monthly series of exhibitions. During April, the impressive stoneware vessels of John Jelfs are contrasted with the luminous slipware of Françoise Dufayard and the minimalist tableware of Claudia Lis.
Gallery owner Kim Taylor said, "We're proud to have welcomed some of the most talented studio potters in the UK and abroad to the Gallery over the past year - and the programme for the rest of this year is just as exciting, offering something for everyone! And alongside the ceramics, we have exhibitions of original paintings, glass and other works of art, so there is always something new to see."
The Ceramicists exhibiting in April
John Jelfs was born in 1946 and studied ceramics at Cheltenham College of Art. His pots are all hand-thrown, and the focus has always been on pure form. John uses celadon, ochre and shino glazes, made from wood ash and clay, ingredients local to the studio. Decoration is kept to a minimum. He says, "I am excited most by the work of Bernard Leach, Hamada Shoji and the Eastern School of pottery. The strength of their pots lies, I feel, in their quietness. A newly built kiln has enabled me to start soda-firing."
John's work has been widely exhibited in leading galleries including Gallerie Besson, Contemporary Ceramics and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Alpha House in Sherborne, Primavera in Cambridge, Rufford Ceramics Centre in Nottingham, as well as other important galleries. It is included in many collections at home and abroad. John is a Fellow of the Craft Potters' Association (CPA), and a member of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen.
John's aim has always been to make simple heart-felt work. It is that simplicity which is the mark of the master potter.
A diverse range of influences have informed the work of Françoise Dufayard. Born in France in 1960, Françoise studied ceramics at the Ateliers de Fontblanche in Vitrolles in the late 1970s, before travelling in Asia in 1981-1982. From 1983-1987 she worked for Gustave Tiffoche and Suzy Atkins. In 1988 she set up her studio at Rennes (Brittany) where she makes open platters, big vases, large dishes and witty teapots, using slipware techniques.
Françoise uses a red earthenware clay fired to 1040C° in a gas kiln. She has developed a very personal interpretation of terre vernissée, or slip ware, which creates a translucent quality that gives her decoration painterly qualities not often found in this medium. This can be attributed in part to her exploration of Eastern ceramics as found on visits to Nepal, India, Burma, Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Uzbekistan and Tibet. Her evident brushstrokes can be read as personal reflections of this Eastern influence.
Françoise has exhibited in U.K., France, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and India. Her work gained the Sotheby's Award at Potfest in the Park 2006.
Françoise' colour sense and painterly decoration produces warm tactile pots which positively ask to be handled. This is contemporary slipware at its best.
Claudia Lis works out of her workshop in the historic market town of Montgomery, Powys. Her carefully thrown functional ceramics reflect her attention to detail and the importance that she attaches to form and clarity of shape. The subtle shades of her celadon glazes emphasize the tranquil nature of her work. She says of her work, "My ceramics are primarily wheel-thrown in small batches using porcelain or white stoneware. I develop my own glazes through an ongoing process of experimentation and testing. I currently work with a range of iron-rich celadon glazes that need to be gas-fired in order to develop their subtle green colours."
Claudia underwent a traditional apprenticeship in ceramics in Germany, from 1993 to 1996, after which she worked with a number of highly-regarded German ceramic studios, including Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhoehe under Young-Jae Lee, which was famous for its association with the 1920s Bauhaus style.
The clean lines and elegant design, which are the hallmarks of Claudia's work, make for a strong contemporary feel whilst embracing the ceramic influences of her training and experience.
In 1997, she moved to the UK to work as personal assistant to renowned British ceramicist Rupert Spira in his Shropshire studio, a position that she held for seven years. A start-up grant from Powys County Council allowed her to launch her own ceramics studio in Montgomery. Just a year later she received Wales Trade International support to enable her to show at the Ozone Design Centre Exhibition, in Tokyo, Japan and to include her work in the design project Casa Foa, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was a first-time exhibitor at Chelsea Crafts Fair, London in 2005, where she received a UKTI Export Award.
Featured Artist
Michael Salt was born in 1955 in North Worcestershire and studied at Stourbridge Art College. After working in Jersey and Wales as a graphic artist, he returned to his own town of Stourbridge, to concentrate on painting. He finds inspirations in varying subjects, the British countryside, whether rural or coastal, buildings, railways and aircraft. He works in oil, acrylic, pen and ink and pencils but it is oils which have a particular appeal to him.
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Bevere Gallery, Bevere Lane, Worcester WR3 7RQ • 01905 754 484 • enquiries@beveregallery.com
Open 10.30am - 5pm Tuesday - Saturday throughout the Year
Plus Sundays in July & August
(Café closes at 4pm)
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