Sutton Taylor
Sutton Taylor was born in Yorkshire in 1943. Despite originally training as a teacher, on his travels in Jamaica, Mexico and the USA, he met several potters and this lead him to return to England and set up his first pottery in Yorkshire.
Shortly after, he moved to Leeds, where he began to work in stoneware and porcelain. He also experimented widely with laminated clays. In 1974, he returned to Yorkshire and set up a wood fired kiln, with which he experimented in raku and using local clays.
He exhibited his first pieces of lustreware in Leeds in 1976 and these have continued to be exhibited internationally since. As Sutton has observed, the lustreware process is so notoriously technically challenging that he is sure that all lustre potters take comfort in the oft quoted passage on lustre from the 16th century chronicle of potter, Pilcolpasso – The art is so uncertain that of a hundred pieces hardly six are good….. but when they work they are paid for in gold.
His reputation grew as his making developed. He has pieces in many permanent collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum. His skill as a potter is widely acknowledge both in the throwing and decoration of his vessels.
He now lives and works in Cornwall, drawing on the landscape for his inspiration.
