Jeremy Steward trained in Cornwall and then in Cardiff before being invited to join Wobage in 1995. Since then he has made wheel-thrown, wood-fired salt-glazed stoneware and porcelain.
"Alongside a driving motivation to make functional pots, I am inspired by the soft fluidity of the materials themselves; clay on the wheel, slip and raw-glaze.
My work is decorated in various ways; I often draw, a sort of wet scragfitto, while the pot is still on the wheel, or after the pot has been slipped. Otherwise they might be embellished with stamps, roulettes or finger-wipes, a vocabulary of abstract marks which are forever changing, but which cons
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Patia Davis was invited to join the workshops at Wobage in 1991 following graduation from Cardiff and previously Harrow Studio Pottery Course.
Her gentle porcelain forms evoke a sense of quiet and calm. It is the beautiful smoothness of the thrown material which emphasises the directness of the maker’s touch; hand against rib, inner tension with lift and softness of rim. With crispness, fluidity and care in the making, these qualities are relinquished to the glazed pot upon firing, captured underneath the subtle pale hues of transparent glaze. The porcelain is bisqued and then gas-fired to 1300C.
The warm, rich colours and strong for
Petra Steward (nee Reynolds) trained in the South East and then on degree at Cardiff before joining Wobage in 1995.
Petra’s innovative techniques in slab-building and decorating have in recent years earned her a reputation as one of the leading contemporary makers in the UK. Construction begins with one of many paper templates. Clay slabs are then cut around, mitred, bent and folded into a range of domestic shapes.
The inspiration for her decoration is many fold. From playful experimentation with line, pattern and composition, sketches evolve firstly on paper into monochrome or colour monoprint and collagraph. Decoration on pots takes
Nigel Lambert's pots are both decorative and useful. He began his love of pottery and paintings whilst at art college in Cornwall. His interest in the work of abstract painters, particularly Roger Hilton, Terry Frost, Patrick Heron and other artists from the Cornish peninsula has influenced his work and the decorative marks he makes. His work is approached not as a painter, but as a potter. Clay is the starting point. After the pots are thrown or pressed from flat sheets of clay, these are cut and re-formed into ovals and square forms. They are dipped in a white clay slip, dried and then glazed, this produces a flat white surface on which
Wobage warmly welcomes Ana to begin work at the pottery from September 2012, following graduation in summer 2012 from the Ceramics BA(Hons)degree in Cardiff. She works in wheel-thrown porcelain. Broad throwing lines describe the spontaneous gesture of the maker's hands, whilst capturing the malleability of the soft porcelain she uses. These marks which are key to Ana's functional shapes, are enhanced by a quiet palette of fluid reduction glazes, fired to 1280˚C.
Ana will share space in Jeremy's studio, where she will be part-time apprentice. Ana and Jeremy jointly run a 10 week block of evening classes on a Tuesday. For availability for t
Walter Keeler has been a friend of Wobage for as long as it's been a pottery and we most look forward to him joining the Wobage crew this Summer. Wally continues to wow audiences all over the world, last year on a tour of North America, with his deft and thought-provoking demonstrations and lectures, always full of wonderful anecdotes. Unquestionably one of the very finest, most innovative and deeply respected potters in the UK, Wally's intelligent, often precise and geometric jug shapes, vary from simple handleless creamers, to ever more extravagant and sculptural explorations. For the 2014 programme, we're delighted to welcome Wally for two
We are delighted to welcome Hermann to the Wobage course programme 2014. Hermann started his career with a three year apprenticeship at Winter-Andres Pottery in Gmund, Bavaria. He then worked for 2 years as a maker & assistant teacher at the International School of Ceramics in Tuscany with Piedro Maddalena. A further 2 1/2 years were spent working as a thrower at Bandon Pottery near Cork / Ireland and then at Dartington Pottery, Devon, UK. After his travels Hermann completed the German craft education with a half year 'Meister' course at the ceramic school in Höhr-Grenzhausen.
In 1997 Hermann returned to his homeland, the North Fri
We are delighted to welcome Jane to guest demonstrate in 2014 during the 5-day 'Earthenware Throwing & Slip-decoration Course', new to the programme last year.
Jane Bowen works in Oxfordshire alongside her husband Dylan, also a potter. Jane's inspiring work beautifully conveys the fluidity and movement of the softly thrown terracotta which she makes on a kick-wheel. Her forms are simple and are wonderful to use at the table and in the kitchen. The pots are complimented with a palette of gestural and painterly decoration, including brushwork and scrafitto. There are several contrasts in the work which in less skilled hands might comp
Stephen Parry set up Ryburgh pottery in Norfolk in 1981. after training at Croydon collage of art , and then Dartington pottery in Devon.
At his pottery in Norfolk, Steve makes small batches of individual pots, softly thrown on a momentum wheel. His pots are often thickly slipped, and then glazed with fluid wood ash glazes before firing too 1300c in a 125cu ft wood fired kiln.
Stephen also uses an anagama type kiln, which he fires for three to four days, allowing the wood ash that enters the kiln during the long firings to glaze and colour the work.
More recently Stephen has become known for his very large pots some up to 5ft tall, w
Originally from Germany Antje studied at Camberwell College of Art, London. She lives and works in North Norfolk.
Antje has been working with porcelain and high temperature glazes since 2004 using a combination of throwing and slab building techniques. In her bowls and platters she plays with edge lines, gestures and markings in plastic porcelain, then uses fluid glazes to work with the forms and surfaces and add layers of depth and colour.
The glazes are a combination of celadon, wood ash and copper red. Pots are fired in a gas kiln to 1300 C reduction
Antje is a professional CPA member and exhibits widely in the UK. For further inf
Bridget Drakeford has been designing and making pottery since 1977.
During the early years in Scotland she made domestic stoneware, but now works exclusively in porcelain using both reduction and oxidised firings.
She has been a prizewinner at the Mashiko Ceramics Competition in Japan, and at the World Ceramic Exposition in Korea. She won an Arts Council Award for an exhibition and study tour to Japan in 2005. She is a professional member of the Craft Potters Association of Great Britain and has exhibited widely at major venues throughout Britain and Internationally.
Bridget's influences come principally from the classical forms of Eu
Adam is eldest son of Jim and Dominque Keeling who established Whichford Pottery in 1976. Adam is a highly skilled thrower of terracotta, both plant pots and domestic ware. He works across a wide range of scale, right up to the seriously large garden pots made at Whichford. Adam provided a tremendous evening of demonstration in Spring 2012, images from which you can view in News. We look forward to welcoming him back to Wobage in the not too distant future.
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Born in the UK, Matthew emigrated to Australia in 1988, where he studied at the National Art School in Sydney winning the State Medal in 1993. He moved from his first workshop in Sydney to the mid-north coast of New South Wales in 1997. Here Matt built workshop and gallery, making ranges of tableware and woodfired pots in porcelain and stoneware.
Moving back to the UK in 2002, he once more set up workshop and kilns near his current home in Lode, Cambridgeshire. Wobage is delighted to welcome Matt to the 2012 course programme. He will join us for demonstration and glaze lecture during the Porcelain course at the end of June. Here he explain
Tavs Jorgensen arrived in Britain in 1991 after completing a four-year pottery apprentiship in his native Denmark. He has been running his own design consultancy since 1995. Throughout this period Jorgensen has been closely associated with Dartington Pottery, operating as the pottery's main shape designer. He continues to work as a freelance designer and researcher, frequently guest lecturing at international universities and colleges. He has been involved in numerous and wide ranging projects, focusing in recent years on research into the creative use of digital technologies.
Wobage is delighted and privileged to welcome Tavs onto the tea
Sarah Dunstan works from the Gaolyard Studios situated in St. Ives, Cornwall. Her slab-built stoneware and porcelain vessels have earned her international renown. After the success of her teaching at Wobage on the 7-day course in 2007, we are delighted she has agreed to return again in 2009.
She writes, " I collect images, such as the shape of the railing in a hidden doorway in St.Ives or writing on an antique glass bottle. I use my sketchbook to draw and paint these impressions but also as a scrapbook. Feathers, fabric and packaging are glued in next to photos. These photos are fragmented memories of places I've visited, a close up deta