Our exhibition programme for 2024 launches in February, just as the shoots of spring start to unfurl. ‘Colour & Movement’ is a group show celebrating contemporary and emerging potters who work with colour, flowing decoration and lively movement. Expect pots with a sense of freedom and energy.

Dylan Bowen makes slip decorated earthenware using both traditional and contemporary materials and techniques. Dylan works on a small but ever mutating range of shapes, large platters, bowls and more sculptural forms. The clay can be thrown, cut, carved or hand built, then slips are poured, dipped or brushed on. Marks are made quickly using trailers while the layers of slip are still wet.

His work has its roots in traditional slipware, but with many contemporary influences. He aims to capture some of the dynamism and spontaneity of the making process in the finished work.

Dylan trained with Clive Bowen at Shebbear Pottery before studying at Camberwell School of Art. He has shared a studio in Oxfordshire with Jane Bowen for the past 20 years. Dylan is Fellow of the CPA and has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad.

Heather Gibson is a London-based ceramicist. She is currently undertaking an MA at the Royal College of Art and is a recipient of the Marit Rausing Scholarship in Ceramics and Glass (2024).

Heather makes a range of hand-built ceramic stoneware, including large chargers, carved vessels and tableware. Exploring clay as a canvas for trace, memory and mark-making, she uses a careful alchemy of slips, oxides and glazes to create bold, sculptural and dynamic pieces.

Dawn Hajittofi studied Ceramics at Havering College and the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham. She set up her own practice in January 2020.

Dawn throws vessels in white earthenware, then alters and marks the surfaces with various indentations, sometimes adding pieces to the surface. She decorates using coloured slips, oxides, glazes and underglazes.

“Influenced by my previous work in counselling, I make vessels that represent a 'life story'.  They embody the scars and marks of our struggles yet show the hope and possibility of recovery and joy.

“The abstract marks and decoration symbolise the significant events we encounter and acknowledge the lasting impact they can have. I also add gilt to the surface which is a reference to the Japanese art of ‘Kintsugi’, the restoring of a broken vessel with gold. This has become a much-loved metaphor for our lives; a reminder to stay hopeful when things fall apart and to celebrate all that we overcome.”

Jennifer Hall works from her home studio overlooking the sea on the north coast of Pembrokeshire. Using a geared kick wheel, she throws domestic ware in small batches. She decorates her pots with slips and oxides, using a combination of slip trailing, brushwork and sgraffito techniques.

“I use earthenware for its warmth of colour, softness of edge and its ability to enliven daily rituals surrounding food and drink. My pots do not challenge but give comfort; they appeal to the eye, sit comfortably in the hand and are gentle on the lips, enriching meal times.”

Tarragon Smith is a Canadian born ceramicist, currently residing in Norfolk. He has a BFA from NSCAD university, Halifax, Canada, and an MFA from Central Saint Martins, London.

His work carries an over-riding aesthetic, in both form and decoration, that he sums up simply as ‘artefact’.

“An artefact is an object that speaks of individuality, a timeline, a story; something that builds relationships. The wave motif that can be found in varying guises on much of my work, a catchall for distance, loss, and migration, which carries both political and personal significance.”

The exhibition runs in the Leach Pottery Entrance Gallery.
All works for sale.