Douglas
Fitch and Hannah McAndrew | A Love Affair with Clay
28
November - 17 January
Hannah McAndrew, Photo by Phil Rigby | Doug Fitch, Photo by Clare Borlase
‘Before
Hannah and I got together we had been best friends for years’ says Douglas. ‘We
had been to the States together to do demonstrations, made numerous pots in each
other’s workshops, fired wood kilns together, looked out for each other, looked
after each other, and talked to each other about slips and glazes and brown
pots and Isaac Button and medieval jugs in the V&A. A couple of years ago I
came to Scotland to visit her. She had made a jug which was sitting there on
the shelf. When I looked at it I could see a culmination of our influences, but
more than that, I could see a synthesis of the two of us. Upon seeing that pot
it struck me that we had grown together so much in our work because we had
grown together so much in our lives’.
Sharing studio space and materials,Douglas
and Hannah work in red earthenware, using the traditional techniques of slip
trailing, sgraffito and wood firing, to create a contemporary range of pots
decorated with a limited palette of coloured slips and rich honey glazes.
Having developed their practice from similar influences, their works are
nevertheless clearly distinct from one another. The essential elements of
Hannah’s work comes from her love of pots with a purpose, pots for use in the
kitchen or at the dining table. Her pieces take their influence from English
country pottery and medieval earthenware, and draw on the rich heritage of British
slipware. Douglas’s pots, predominantly large jugs, are thrown on the wheel and
simply decorated with appliqué decoration or sgrafitto, using traditional slips
made from local materials. They too draw influence from the work of the
medieval English potters and the tradition of slip decorated pottery prevalent
in this country until the early 20th century.
The exhibition will be on show in the Leach Pottery Gallery from 28
November to 17 January. All
work are for sale.
- ENDS -
The Leach Pottery is managed by the Bernard Leach (St Ives) Trust Ltd, a registered charity founded in 2005 reg. no 1111263. The primary objectives of the trust are to further the development of studio pottery, provide training in the art, craft and making of pottery and to advance the public education of the life and work of Bernard Leach and his circle.
The Leach Pottery’s dedication to providing student and apprentice opportunities and excellence in training has resulted in its selection as one of the UK’s new Craft Trailblazers, a group of key employers who have set the national standards for new government backed craft apprenticeship guidelines.
julia@leachpottery.com / www.leachpottery.com
Fine Art Communications
Mercedes Smith / 07825 270235 / mercedes@fineartcommunications.co.uk
www.fineartcommunications.co.uk
