Artist Statement

My work is figurative, narrative and expressive, inspired by stories and themes.

I love watching people, their body language and facial expressions and I am on lookout for a special moments and situations accompanying every human activity.
I use my sketchbooks, my books and my CDs as valuable collection of raw material.
Drawing and painting on clay surface is a pivot of my work.
I particularly like capturing the movement and energy of people in various activities like work, sport and music. I love the challenge of quick intuitive drawing without unnecessary detail.
The effect of the graffiti, which can be exercised so liberally in ceramics, gives me immense, almost physical pleasure.

It serves as a visual storage of energy.

I draw on personal experiences, past and present, with a view to reflect the spontaneity of ordinary human life.

I make clay vessels and sculptures, painted with slips, oxides and stains.
I carve sculptures from Bath and Portland stone.
I draw and paint on paper in watercolour, pastel and ink.

I have exhibited in Britain, Europe and USA. My work is in private and public collections including Musee National de Ceramique, Paris.
I like working to commission.

See Jitka's You Tube video from her 2012 show at Galerie du Don

Current Work

Coiled earthenware vessels
Earthenware sculptures and masks
Thrown porcelain cups and bowls
Hand cut tiles/ mosaics

Work Generally Available from:
Gallery at Bevere, Worcester
The Edge Gallery, Lancaster
West Wales Arts Centre, Fishguard
Cecilia Coleman Gallery, London
Contemporary Ceramic Centre, London

 Open Studio Weekend, every year, last weekend in November
(part of the North Bristol Art trail)

Studio Visit, by appointment

see Recent project: BATHROOM FOR HARD TIMES

Technical information

History and Memberships

1959 Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia

1978 First experience in ceramics in country workshop, Moravia.
1983 Set up first cottage studio in a village in Moravia.
1984 Qualified as a doctor of medicine of Masaryk University, Brno.
1984-1985 Anatomy tutor at the Masaryk University, Brno

1985 Moved to London.

1987 Completed BTEC Ceramic Course, Croydon College of Art & Design
1990 Received Crafts Council Setting-up grant, set up a studio.
1990-1995 Worked as a free-lance artist (ceramics, drawing, painting) in London.

1995-1998 Lived in the Czech Republic, worked as a tutor at Brno Faculty of Fine Art, teaching anatomy and morphology for artists as well as English.
1998 Received a grant for Anatomy and Morphology for Artists Project with Dr V. Novotny, Brno Faculty of fine Arts.

1998 Moved back to England, now living and working in Bristol.
1999 Received a Marketing Bursary from South West Arts as a first time exhibitor at the Chelsea Crafts fair
1999 Received a South West Arts Craft Award 1999/2000
2000 Professional Membership of Craft Potters Association (CPA)
2002 Work Experience: Tiled-Stove Building, Moravia, Czech Republic
2002 Received a South West Arts Craft Award 2001/2002

2005-6 Workshops for refugee women (with Melanie Tomlinson), Birmingham
2011 Stonemasonry Work Experience at Woodchester Mansion, Gloucesterhire
2011 Completed Stone Masonry Course at City of Bath College 
2012-13 Drawing Medicine Project, Anatomy Department, Bristol University

Memberships:
Professional member, CPA
Member of North Bristol Artists

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions
1988 “One Woman Show” Combined Harvest, London W11
1989 “Faceful” Endell Street Gallery, London WC2
1989 “Head of Clay” The Ice House, Holland Park, London W14
1990 “New Work” Artisans Gallery, Bath
1991 “Devils” Galerie Mladych, Brno, Czechoslovakia
1991 “Ceramic Pictures” Artemidorus, Herne Hill, London
1993 “New Ceramics” Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales
1994 “Retrospections” “pf” Galerie, Brno, Czech Republic
1996 “Venus” Galerie Dobreho Pastyre, Brno, Czech Republic
1999 “Touch Wood” Hotbath Gallery Art Café, Bath
1999 “Local Parade” Lunch Club Café, Bristol

2001 “Clay Diaries” Ceramic Showcase, White Gallery, Brighton
2002 “Poetry of Places” Rood Gallery, Bristol
2003 “Pleasures” The Arc Contemporary Crafts, Chester
2006 “There and Back” Gallery at Bevere, Worcester
2007 “People at Work” Artsmill, Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire
2008 Solo Show Prema  Arts Centre, Gloucestershire
2012   "GOOD COMPANY" Galerie du Don, Le Fel, France

Group Exhibitions (selection)
1987 “Diploma Show” ICA Gallery, The Mall, London SW1
1987 “Jugs” Cecilia Coleman Gallery, London NW8
1987 “Bi-annual Open Contemporary Applied Arts, London WC2
1989 “The Cultivated Garden” Oxford Gallery, Oxford

1991 “Rendez Vous” Galerie u Orloje, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1991 “Avant Garden” Oxford Gallery at the Barbican, London
1991 “Human Interest” Sudbury Hall, Sudbury, Sussex
1992 “Fletcher International  Ceramic Competition, Auckland, NZ (commendation prize)
1999 “Quay Open” Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight
1999 “Secret Lives” Cheltenham Arts Centre, Cheltenham
1999 “Green Fingers” The City Gallery, Leicester
1999 Chelsea Craft Fair Chelsea Town Hall, London

2000 “All Fired Up” Sui Generis, Southam, Cheltenham
2000 “Hark” Sui Generis, Southam, Cheltenham
2000 “Making Their Mark" Six Chapel Row Contemporary Art, Bath
2000 “White Christmas” The City Gallery, Leicester
2001 “South West Academy  Open” Phoenix Gallery, Exeter
2001 Chelsea Craft Fair Chelsea Town Hall, London
2002 “Craftspace Touring” Touring Exhibition, Staffordshire
2002 “Ceramics in the City” Geffrye Museum, London 
2002 “South West Academy Open” Phoenix Gallery, Exeter
2002 The Literary Muse Coombe Farm Gallery, Dittisham, Devon
2003 New York Gift Fair Jacob Javits Centre, New York, USA
2003 “Wish Dish” Brewery Arts , Cirencester
2003 Philadelphia Museum of Art & Craft Exhibition, Philadelphia, USA
2003 “Scapes” Moreton Gallery , London
2004 “Naked” Moreton Gallery, London
2004 “The Story and the Song” Brewery Arts, Cirencester
2004 “Chelsea Craft Fair Chelsea Town Hall, London
2004 “Oxford Studio Ceramics” St Edward’s School, Oxford
2004 “Bowls” Carlin Gallery, Paris, France

2005 “Ceramic Art London” Royal College of Art, London
2005 “Battersea Contemporary Art Fair, Battersea Art Centre, London
2005 “Carnival” Bilston Arts and Crafts Centre, Wolverhampton
2005 “My Hearts Desire” Brewery Arts, Cirencester
2006 “Ceramic Art London”, Royal College of Art, London
2006 “Fairy tales &Urban Myth, Millennium Galleries, Sheffield
2007 “Under Milk Wood” Red Biddy Gallery, Guildford
2008 “Ceramic Art London”, Royal College of Art, London

2008 “Winter’s Tale" New Brewery arts, Cirencester
2009 Open Ceramics Exhibition, RBSA, Birmingham
2009 Ceramics in the City, Geffrye Museum, London

2010 Christmas Exhibition, Bevere Gallery, Worcester
2011 Winchcombe Festival, St. Peter’s Church, Winchcombe, Glos.
2011 Summer Open, Redearth Gallery, Bickleigh, Devon
2011 Showcase 2011, Gorey Market House, Gorey, Ireland
2012 Crafted for Christmas, New Brewery Arts, Cirencester
2012 Funding the Future, Contemporary Ceramics Centre, London
2012 Physicality, New Brewery Arts, Cirencester,
2012 Physicality II, Olympics Showcase, Contemporary Ceramic Centre, London
2012 Drawn to Craft, Bilston Gallery, Wolverhampton
2012 Art at the Edge, Octagon Chapel, Bath
2012 Woodland Sculpture Trail, Goblin Combe , Cleve, Bristol
2012 Winchcombe Festival, Charingworth Court, Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Glos.
2012 Sculpture in the Garden, Showborough House, Twyning, Glos
2012 North Bristol Art Trail, Open Studio Event, Bristol

Awards, Grants, Work experience:

Bibliography:

Collections and commissions: