Artists Statement

Trained in the seventies at Camberwell and in the studios of Janice Tchalenko and Colin Pearson.
Originally produced ranges of domestic slipware using traditional tools and techniques, but strived always to experiment with surface and form to create a looser, personal style.

My time as a resident potter at Sibford School has been a productive environment for experiment and evolution.
After a lengthy process of development, the functional roots of my key vessel forms have become increasingly ambiguous. My latest body of sculptural work attempts to combine my underlying love and commitment to the wheel and thrown form, with responses to geological formations, weathering and coastal landscapes. Subsequently I have revisited mug and tea pot making with a new impetus, where playful abstraction and function coexist.

I use a coarse-grogged terra cotta clays. Thrown elements are cut, altered and assembled, with additional rolled and textured slabs. Slip brushing and sgrafitto is carried out on the leather hard surface. After bisque, areas of plain clay are stained, and pieces are selectively protected from glaze by wax resist. I use either transparent clear or honey glaze fired in an electric kiln to 1125 degrees centigrade.

Current Work

Richard runs an extensive range of Throwing Courses from his studio “Specifically dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the craft of the potter’s wheel for small, mixed ability groups of beginners, amateurs, undergraduates, teachers and professionals.” Details can be found on our courses page and on Richards website.

Work Generally Available from:
Alpha House, Sherborne
Contemporary Ceramics, Marshall Street, London
St. Ives Ceramics, Cornwall
Broadway Modern, Warwickshire
Where I Fell In Love, Shipston on Stour
Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool
The Arc, Chester
The Gallery at Bevere, Worcester

And various occasional galleries nationwide.
Mail order - Please visit the website gallery to view pots, and the mail order page on my website to find out more details.

Look out for Richard's new Book on "Throwing" part of a new series from A and C Black due out in Summer 2012

Background History

2001 Took up 'Resident Potter' post at Sibford School, Oxfordshire
1999 Moved home and studio to The Leadenporch House, Deddington, U.K.
Established Phethean Studio Pottery Centre
1998 Commissioned to write 'Throwing' chapter for new book - 'Complete Practical Potter' by Anness Publishing
1994 Moved home and studio to Peckham, London SE15
Established Phethean School of Studio Pottery
1993 'Complete Potter - Throwing' published by Batsford books and release of self-produced video cassette - 'An Introduction to Throwing'
1992 SELECTED MAKER - Crafts Council Index
1988 Studio re-established in garden of new home - Herne Hill, London SE24
1990 SELECTED - Fellow Craft Potters Association
1985-87 VSO posting to Papua New Guinea as Business Development Officer at Eastern Highlands Cultural Centre - a crafts training project with pottery and textiles workshops, museum and shop.
1978 Established studio at 4011/12 workshops, London SW8
1977-78 Assistant and production thrower at Colin Pearson's studio - Aylesford, Kent. U.K.
1975-79 Occasional studio assistant to Janice Tchalenko
1977 Art Teacher's Diploma, Goldsmiths College, U.K.
1976 Ceramics Degree Show - Camberwell School of Art and Crafts, U.K.
1968 Visited Scott Marshall's pottery, St. Just, Cornwall - resolved to become a potter
1953 Born in South East London

Seminars
Northern Potters Weekend, Scottish Potters Weekend, Potterycrafts, Museum of Mankind (Pottery in the Making), East Anglian Potters , Tel Hai Pottery Symposium 1999 Israel, Kent Potters, South Wales Potters 40th Anniversary weekend, Southern Potters Master Day

Teaching
Currently:
From 1995,Visiting Tutor, University of Westminster, Harrow College – currently module leader on Year1 Introductory Throwing programme
From 2001,Resident Potter, Part time ceramics teacher, Sibford School
Studio based intensive short courses in throwing throughout the year
Previously:
1987-1999 Part time Ceramics teacher, Richmond Adult College
1978-1983 Visiting tutor, Ceramics, Epsom College of Art and Design
1978-1982 Visiting tutor, Ceramics, Croydon College of Art

Exhibition History

Solo
Anderson Gallery,1998-
Bettles Gallery, 2000-
Contemporary Ceramics,2001-
Bettles Gallery 2004

Mixed
Alpha House Gallery, Amalgam, Beatrice Royal Gallery, Black Swan Guild, Bluecoat Display Centre, Brewery Arts, Clode Gallery, Collection Gallery, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Gallery Top, Hugo Barclay, Ladygate Gallery, Leicester City Gallery, Mid Cornwall Galleries, New Ashgate Gallery, Open Eye Gallery, Oriel 31, Paddon and Paddon, Plymouth Arts Centre, Porticus, Rufford Craft Centre, Rye Art Gallery, Sanderson, George and Peach, Terrace Gallery, Tolquhon Gallery, Walford Mill, Yorkshire Sculpture Park..

Ceramic Fairs
Ceramic Art London 2005/2006/2007, and a regular exhibitor at Earth and Fire, Rufford, Nottinghamshire, Oxford Studio Ceramics, Ceramics in the City

Publications

'The Complete Potter ~ Throwing' Series Editor Emmanuel Cooper (Batsford - ISBN 07134 66480)
'The Complete Practical Potter' By Josie Warshaw - Throwing chapter by RP (Anness Publishing - ISBN 07548 01950)
'Ceramic Review' Featured in issue 169 pp36-41

VHS Video
'An Introduction to Throwing' - Designed to complement Richard's Batsford book, it is a live introduction to the fundamental techniques of clay preparation and throwing.

Commissions

West Oxfordshire District Cultural Services 2007
‘Strata’ – a sculptural work inspired by the life and work of William Smith, a poor blacksmiths son from Churchill, West Oxfordshire and became known as ‘the father of British geology’, who in 1815 published the first national geological map