John Wheeldon is an established and respected maker with a reputation for high quality and an apparently indefatigable creative curiosity. His decoration is skillfully and imaginatively applied and changes as his exploration of making possibilities opens up new possibilities.
John was born in the Derbyshire Dales, the area where he still lives and has deep roots; his family has lived there for generations. He has always been aware of the early industrial past that surrounds him, being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
For several years now, John Wheeldon has been developing an interest in the history and qualities of early eighteenth-century ceramics the time of the Lunar Men, The Enlightenment – the very beginnings of Industrial Ceramics. For some time, this has been the inspiration for his fine work.
However, his constant search for new approaches to making and decoration has led to his most recent output. High fired earthenware vessels thrown or hand-built decorated with underglaze slips. The motifs used in the decoration are from various sources, some are re-imagined from previous work, some from drawings of objects seen or remembered or from things observed that have hung around in the recesses of his subconscious for years before surfacing.
