This month is again an opportunity to look at the work of two fine makers who have shown their work with us in previous years. They clearly have contrasting styles; however, they have in common highly developed ceramic skills – and these are our fundamental criteria for curating each month’s feature.

Guy Routledge has been a ceramic teacher and maker for many years however, like so many creative makers, there seems no end to the innovation and development of his distinctive style – such well-produced work sits well in any context. His making has some mid-century artistic influences but, as with all creative artists, the work we see is clearly Routledge. Whether his pieces are large or small they each have great presence and will have a wide appeal to our visitors.

Jon Bull has been making for over 20 years and his work has evolved several times – however, the one constant is the use of clay and the wheel. He feels that there is something about throwing that is both honest and exposed. It is this that makes him strive for quality in design and craftsmanship He is drawn towards the more challenging forms and techniques. Jon is always pushing his own boundaries and capabilities and as skills improve his work changes and develops.

Importantly, these makers demonstrate the important relationship between craft skills and creativity. If you have an untiring creative spirit, then applying high-level skill is the way that spirit can be translated into a reality.

Our featured printmaker this month is Victoria Keeble. Since becoming a printmaker in the 1980s – having originally trained as a textile designer in Falmouth – her work became more illustrative, incorporating her love of pattern and texture, stylisation and fluidity of line, which have always been important elements in her designs.

Her subject matter is often influenced by classic legends, sometimes sparked by a line in a poem, a fairy tale, a chance remark or just ‘out of the blue’ but still featuring natural forms including animals, birds and mythical beasts. Victoria creates her prints using a variety of techniques etching, screen printing, wood engraving and linocut but collagraph is her preferred medium to create her exquisite limited edition work and we are delighted to have seventeen framed and unframed original prints on show.