Annette Welch was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire and spent her early childhood in Uttoxeter. During her teenage years she lived in The Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire. She completed an Art Foundation at Cheltenham School of Art and studied for a Ceramics degree at Camberwell School of Art. She has maintained her own ceramics studio in South London since 1982 and currently lives in East Dulwich, with a studio in the garden.
Annette’s current collection of wheel-thrown, stoneware ceramics include large platters, lidded jars and groups of nested forms, which can be used, handled and displayed. Her work plays with contrasts – shadow and light, detail and restraint, coarse and smooth. Visual and tactile qualities vary from an elemental, scarred, raw-earth warmth to a light, smooth and subtle clarity.
Annette combines a variety of stoneware and porcelain clay bodies in order to exploit their distinct characteristics and to achieve a range of textures and earth tones. The pleasure, rhythm and meditative nature of wheel throwing encourages her to explore and develop subtle changes in the form and profile of shapes. The surfaces are achieved by applying slips and oxides using a variety of decorative techniques inspired by shadows, silhouettes and patterns made by the natural and built environment that surrounds her. The application of warm matt or luminous glossy glazes contrasts with and compliments the unglazed areas of fired clay.
