The featured maker programme plays a major role in the Gallery’s concern to regularly change the look of the Gallery but importantly to promote ceramicists and their diverse range of making techniques. We are very pleased to be showing makers this month who display contrasting skills and enable our visitors to appreciate and compare the impact of their very different approaches to decoration.

Irena Sibrijns has been making for over thirty years and her love of the 20^th Century English decorative arts tradition is very evident in her attractive ceramics. She uses a wide variety of techniques including wax and latex resist, slip-trailing and sgraffito. She retains her creative energy which is evident in vessels which make an immediate impact. Having moved from the South of France in 2001 she established her workshop in Suffolk where she lives and works.

Daniel Boyle – Daniel makes one-off thrown salt and ash glazed stoneware. He explores unconventional firing processes to enrich his thrown pots, which are contemporary and individual.   Vibrant slips and ash glazes are used which encourage the firing process to leave its mark on the ware, developing textures and movement within the fluid glaze, producing unique works. He clearly demonstrates how firing is such an influential aspect of the making process. Having qualified in ceramics at Harrow in 1991 he has since lived and worked in South Wales.

daniel boyle ceramic vase

We are also delighted to have the fine work of Jennifer Amon – a Devon based maker who has not exhibited here before. She has shown her work across the UK and is clearly highly respected. Her vessels are hand-built from red, black and white stoneware clay, using the coil and pinch methods. Each coil is finely pinched out before another is added, in a rhythm that creates a distinct pattern. The technique is a contributor to her textural decoration as the pinching highs and lows are enhanced by her glazing.

So, we have three makers here who fulfil our major criteria – skill and distinctive creativity. There will be much to enjoy.