Jitka Palmer
Jitka Palmer was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. She grew up in Brno, Moravia, where she studied and qualified as a doctor of medicine in 1984. She started teaching anatomy at Masaryk University in Brno and at the same time she set up her first studio.
In 1985 she moved to London and studied Ceramics at Croydon College of Art & Design. After graduating Jitka received a Crafts Council Setting-up Grant, which enabled her to start her studio in London. For ten years she worked as a freelance artist, exhibiting both in England and abroad. In 1995 she returned to the Czech Republic for three years, teaching English and Anatomy and Morphology for artists.
In 1998 she came back to Britain and since that time has been living and working in Bristol. She has taught master classes at Cardiff University, colleges in Bath and Bristol and workshops for children and adults. She was also involved with the CIP/Craftspace joint project in Birmingham teaching women asylum seekers.
Her work is figurative, narrative and expressive, inspired by stories and themes. She loves to watch people, their body language and facial expressions, she is always looking out for special moments and situations accompanying every human activity. She uses her sketchbooks, books and CDs as valuable collection of raw material.
Drawing and painting on clay surface is a pivot of her work. Jitka Palmer particularly likes capturing the movement and energy of people in various activities like work, sport and music. She also loves the challenge of quick intuitive drawing without unnecessary detail. The effect of the graffiti, which can be exercised so liberally in ceramics, gives immense, almost physical pleasure. It serves as a visual storage of energy.
