Paul’s passion for ceramics enlightens all his work. It is a passion that has been at the heart of his creative practice for over 25 years. He is inspired by many traditions, including English slipware, but his strongest bond lies with the Staffordshire wares of the eighteenth century. Potters like Ralph Wood, John Astbury and Thomas Whieldon continue to please, excite and amuse him. He shares with them both naivety and sophistication of execution,charm and honesty of interpretation. We are delighted to be showing an exception collection of Paul’s work at Harlequin. Rooted in the past and blossoming in the present, these beautifully crafted pieces are a joy.

Sue Thompson was born in Cornwall and grew up in the little fishing village of Porthleven.  She studied Art at Portsmouth Art College (Foundation) and Ravensbourne (BA Wood, metal, ceramics and plastics) before returning to Cornwall to complete a Studio Ceramics course with Bill Marshall (Leach Pottery) and David Metcalf.  Following this Sue moved to Brighton and worked at ‘Beach Ceramics’ on the seafront with John Dunn et al, whilst working in the evenings as part of an Arts Team travelling to various Youth Clubs and Boys Clubs around Sussex.

Sue retrained as a Medical Secretary and worked for some years in this field in Brighton and Hove before returning to her first love, ceramics, after her children were born.  She designed and facilitated a Millennium Project, funded by the National Lottery, working with every child at her local infant and pre-school to make tile panels for their four playgrounds.  She was also Membership Secretary for The Southern Ceramic Group at this time.

Since moving back to Cornwall at the end of 2003 Sue has gained an NVQ3 in Arts Development and Teaching and a Bsc (Hons) in Psychology with the Open University.  She now lives in Falmouth with her two children and four cats and has worked with children at Marlborough School and King Charles School in Falmouth making tile panels based on Cornish legends and stories.  The sense of joy, love of bright colours and freedom of expression enjoyed by children has become incorporated into her own work.  Hopefully, these quirky pieces will make you smile and brighten your day.

David is the maker of a striking range of hand painted, bright and lively tableware. The shapes are great, energetic, slightly retro, lovely to handle and use. His work would enhance a classic or modern environment. The clear, fresh colours reflect his love of colour and painting. He paints and draws the natural world where he lives and that work informs his pottery decoration.

David uses a white earthenware clay, painted with coloured slips to produce these attractive ceramics ideal for everyday use as well as special occasions.

Jenny successfully captures the character and grace of the Lurchers in her sculptures; whether singly or in groups they are statuesque, elegant and restful. These sculptures are hand built using a combination of coil and slab construction. Sometimes a coloured slip is applied before biscuit firing and then they are coloured with metal oxides before being fired to stoneware temperature.

Jenny grew up on a farm, in a village called Swanbourne in north Buckinghamshire. As a child she had close contact with nature and a variety of animals. She became especially interested in dogs, and years later a friend introduced her to Lurchers. She has kept Lurchers and Greyhounds now for over 20 years and greatly admires their agility, speed and elegance.

At school she intended to have a career in Art and Design, studying Art to A level, but things didn’t work out as she had hoped, and it wasn’t until she reached the age of 40 that she returned to her chosen subject. By then she was living in Norfolk, working long hours for low pay in retail, keeping a variety of animals that were costing her a fortune, and bringing up her daughter. So she decided to go back into full time education, completing a National Diploma in Ceramics followed by an HND in Fine Art at the College of West Anglia. She has been exhibiting and selling her sculptures for the last 10 years.

Arwyn works in what may be considered a “traditional” way, using the wheel to create sound functional forms. The utilitarian wares of Spain and Portugal, and the deep and subtle glaze finishes achieved in the Far East form the backbone of his inspiration. He endeavours to create pieces with a simplicity emanating primarily from function, and an elegance that is clearly derived from the Orient. His overriding intention is for the resulting wares to be undeniably functional and a pleasure to use.

Arwyn studied ceramics at Loughborough College of Art. After graduating he was fortunate enough to be given the technicians job on the course he had just finished and stayed for a year gaining further experience. He moved to Carmarthen in 1996 to work as a thrower at Gwili pottery and after a year moved to South West England where, after a brief trip to Zimbabwe, he started his own workshop.Arwyn now lives in the North of England.

All his pieces are microwave, oven and dishwasher safe. Arwyn makes a comprehensive range of oven and tableware including jugs, serving dishes, teapots and bread crocks and we can order any combination of pieces to suit customers’ needs.

The pots are thrown using a smooth white stoneware body and either left unaltered or allowed to stiffen before being cut in order to remove sections and then reassembled. Surfaces of freshly thrown pieces are either marked using simple tools to create areas where the glazes can pool or run, or a slip made from the clay body is applied and then combed away leaving subtle ridges to catch and direct the pooling glaze. Dry work is biscuit fired and then glazed before being fired to 1280 degrees centigrade in the oxidising atmosphere of an electric kiln. The glazes used are the result of continual testing, trying to achieve the correct balances between colour, gloss, fluidity, opacity and durability.

Born in London, Pauline Zelinski trained at West Surrey College of Art & Design. She taught ceramics at a number of art colleges in the South East of England before deciding to concentrate on her own work. She now lives and works in the West Country.

Current work is focused on developing ideas through the use of underglaze colours. White earthenware clay is used and underglazes are applied through hand painting in order to build up layers of colour until the right balance is achieved. This process can create subtle tones and hues once the piece has been fired with the addition of a transparent glaze.
Pauline’s platters are rich in geometric & natural forms and the cups cry out for hot chocolate! She has also extended her work to include decorative tiles for interiors.

Her inspiration is found in the work of Seguy in France and the richness of colour and design in the work of artists such as Matisse, Klee & Gauguin.

Meryl specialises in handmade porcelain ceramic lighting with decorative textured surfaces; pierced to project delicate patterned light on the surroundings. She studied for a degree in Three Dimensional Design in 1990 at Loughborough College of Art & Design and graduated in 1993 with First Class Honours.
As well as having gained experience as a ceramics teacher and a lecturer she has had many exhibitions of her work including; stoke Open, The Potteries Museum, Staffordshire, Ceramic Contemporaries , V&A Museum, London, and New Designers, The Design Centre, London.
She has won several awards for her work such as the BT newcomers Innovation Award and the Development Award, East Midlands Art.

Situated on the rugged south coast of the Isle of Wight, Tregear Pottery produces a beautiful range of hand thrown stoneware pottery.
Each piece is hand thrown from a fine white clay. The work is decorated in a variety of designs – all drawing their inspiration and influences from the exceptional beauty of the surrounding landscapes.
The surface patterns featuring shoals of fish swimming are created using a slip and resist technique.

In her ceramic work, Michelle uses a mix of handbuilt, press mould and thrown techniques, creating work that is tactile and visually pleasing. Lines and text are inscribed into the surfaces and slips and oxides applied.
Her functional work embodies both utility and content, acting simultaneously as art pieces, whilst complementing the food within. This seems to enrich the eating experience. Each individual piece embodies its own character, giving an internal life of its own.
Michelle has worked as an assistant to Rob Bibby at Woodnewton Pottery as well as with saltglazer Christine Pedley in La Borne, France.

In the summer of 2000 she was selected to take part in IWCAT 2000, an international workshop in Tokoname, Japan and subsequently invited back two years later, to make work for an international group exhibition. She also spent time studying in Finland, returning later to make a body of work in a studio in Hameenlinna.
Past exhibitions include, Leeds City Craft and Design Gallery, East Riding Open Studios, Potfest in the Pens, Penrith, NPA at the Lund Gallery ,York, The British Craft Trade Fair, Harrogate and Kyouei – Gama Gallery, Japan.

Ken Eardley lives and works in Brighton making his bold collection of ceramics, which express his love of pattern and colour. Originally a textile designer, Ken moved on to create a distinctly fun and graphic range of functional earthenware ceramics for the kitchen and home. Each piece is hand-built using slabs of clay and then decorated using hand-cut stencils. Ken often repeats familiar patterns such as spots, circles and lines, which celebrate the world of surface pattern design.

Tydd Pottery was established in 1974 producing mainly terracotta garden pots. Around 2000 a new range of tin-glazed earthenware, decorated with cobalt oxide and manganese, was developed. This proved to be very successful and eventually took over completely from the terracotta. The classic blue and white designs are real winners, suitable for any home.
We have a wide range of Tydd jugs, mugs and bowls available at Harlequin in a choice of designs.

Tilly is West Country potter. She hand makes and throws her range of domestic ware using a rich red teracotta clay. Her beautifully simple decorations are achieved by painting on or impressing into the surface,  shells are often used as a tool to create a delicate edging pattern. Her range of shapes is vast from eggcups to large serving platters. Her glazes are rich and distinctive, creams that complements the terracotta base, soft gentle green to rich green, like the mossy stones in a shady dell at the edge of a stream, and a delicious turquoise slip as well as rich dark blue. All are finished with a clear glaze, are fully functional for the home and can be put in a dishwasher.

Internationally renowned artist Lawson Rudge embraces the interrelationship between his paintings and ceramic sculptures, his love of gardening and of landscape.
His much sought after and collected flat cows create a flat surface for him to explore their relationship to landscape and pattern. His meticulous mould making and Raku type firing methods create completely individual pieces of art. His work has a humour and gentleness that is compelling and his creations are well able to stand the test of time.
Lawson studied ceramics and painting in the West Midlands. A formal exploration of the traditional aspects of art training created a platform from which he could rebel and become more expressive and individualistic. At a point in the 60′s he began to take images from paintings and transform them into three dimensional forms. As a teacher he contributed to the development of many talented individuals.
Lawson Rudge’s highly sought after work is in collections all over the world as well as museums and galleries across the UK.

Russell Coates has a unique style which is influenced by the Kutani Ware that he studied in Japan. He successfully combines his sense of the geometric pattern with  images of natural forms of birds, plants, animals and sea-life from African and American art in a way that is entirely his own.

Hoopoes, deer, dolphins and many other ceatures combine to create beautiful designs depicting the timeless, universal natural themes of sea, land and sky.

Russell lives and works in the South West of England.

Working from his ceramics studio near Richmond, North Yorkshire, Gordon Broadhurst’s innovative and highly distinctive style distinguishes his beautifully sympathetic and thoughtful bird forms.
After completing his design studies in ceramics at Cardiff, Gordon set up his ceramics studios in Richmond and York where he successfully pursued his passion for designing and manufacturing thrown stoneware, tableware and decorative ceramics.

Throughout his career Gordon has developed his interest and expertise in a wide variety of ceramic media and production techniques which are combined in innovative and experimental ways.
He loves the range of possibilities that different ceramic media and firing techniques offers the maker. He is able to draw upon his repertoire of skills and experience to create highly individual pieces of work.

Cultural influences such as the disciplined perfection of the 12th Century Chinese Sung Dynasty porcelain (with its understated cool, crisp celadon porcelains), the free brushwork of European Majolica and the sophisticated technologies of primitive pre-historic potters and metalworkers are all sources of inspiration.

Closer to home, the geology, topography, texture, elements and the light of the North Yorkshire Dales, feature as an ever-present language that is alluded to in Gordon’s work. His forms are classical, elegant and contemporary, incorporating surface treatments with rhythmic movement and strong linear geometry.
His most recent work uses local clays and minerals in the manufacturing process and as decoration. Oxidised and reduced firing techniques make permanent the beautiful, subtle colours and textures of the materials found within the local landscape.

Katie is inspired by nostalgia and vintage patterns and the notion of ‘high tea’ with its elaborate table settings and ‘handcrafted’ceramics. Her pieces are delightfully light and delicate to the touch, great to use for a special occasion or just enjoy and admire.
Her forms play on the similarities and differences between paper and porcelain almost substituting one for the other. She sees the porcelain as a blank canvas for the decorative images and ideas. Her work is both contemporary and nostalgic at the same time.
Each piece is hand built and given multiple firings and features transfer printing and precious metal lustres.