Current Work

Thrown Porcelain and larger exterior works, mainly made for exhibition and to commission. Commissions are welcome.

Work generally available from:
Thrown Porcelain always available from the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracy, Devon, Contemporary Ceramics, Marshall Street, London and Leigh Gallery, Hastings.
Larger Exterior Ceramics from The Gallery at Bevere, Worcester, UK

Other Information:
Lecture on my own work, coupled with chinese ceramics and contemporary chinese paintings.

Art & Adventure are two of the strands that Christine-Ann Richards has successfully used over the years in planning her travels in China and central Asia. Her first visit with other members of the Craft Potters Association in 1978 has led to an on-going affair with the culture, the country and the peoples of China. This interest in the art, archaeology and philosophy that make up the history of the area have led to many a detour 'off the beaten track', which in her travels she seeks to share with others. 

"Throwing Large Porcelain Pots in Jingdezhen, China" by Christine-Ann Richards.

Technical Information

Oxidised porcelain fired at 1260/1280deg. C. while sculptural and exterior work is fired at 1150deg.C.
Kiln is self built using basic potterycraft kiln plus additional cylinders of kiln bricks cannabalised from other kilns. Modified over the years it can be used as one kiln or two and has 3 sections with an additional ceramic fibre top if necessary.

History

Christine-Ann Richards trained at Harrow School of Art and Technology with Mick Casson (1971-73), then worked with David Leach. In London, she started her own workshop as a member of the Barbican Arts Group (1975-83) and in 1976 was elected to membership of the Craftsmen Potters Association and the Society of Designer Craftsmen. She is also a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen. She now works from her home, a converted chapel near Frome in Somerset.

Christine-Ann has worked in thrown porcelain for more than thirty years, firing in an oxidising atmosphere and specialising in crackle, peach-bloom and monochrome glazes. A study trip to China in 1978 with the Craftsmen Potters Association had a radical effect on her work and way of life. She has pursued Chinese studies and returns regularly to China, often accompanying fellow artists.

Since 1989 Christine-Ann has also been working with a vitrified earthenware clay making large pots and water features. The summer of 1992 she spent on an international workshop in Tokoname in Japan and in 1996 she received a Winston Churchill Traveling Fellowship to return there to "explore the way water is used in landscape architecture". A project award from South West Arts has enabled her to develop some of the ideas evolved from the trip. In 1997 she was named ‘Somerset Craftsperson of the Year' for her new work.

Other activities
Travelling, photography, reading, classical music, Tai Qi. Knowledge of French and Chinese. Organises art and archaeological oriented tours to China, Far East and Central Asia.

Lectures, Demonstrations and Workshops
Ongoing series of Lectures; China, and the influence of Chinese ceramics and paintings on my work.
Organises and accompanies visits to mainland China and Central Asia, for potters and those interested in art and archaeology.
Demonstrations including Art in Action, Waterperry House, the Ethnographic Museum and British Museum, London and in her own studio.
1992 Attended International Ceramics Workshop, Tokoname, Japan
1996 Residency at Didcot Girls School

Tours & Adventure
These are two of the strands that Christine-Ann Richards has successfully used over the years in planning her travels in China and central Asia. Her first visit with other members of the Craft Potters Association in 1978 has led to an on-going affair with the culture, the country and the peoples of China. This interest in the art, archaeology and philosophy that make up the history of the area have led to many a detour 'off the beaten track', which in her travels she seeks to share with others. A growing interest in ‘the Silk Route’ has also led to visits to Samarkand and Bukhara, in Uzbekistan.

New tour for 2013 - Contemporary & Traditional Ceramics in Eastern China 6th – 30th October 2013 10th Anniversary Tour with Li Wenying Programme Director Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute.

Travelling overland from Shanghai to Yixing (teapots) and Tao Yao where they still make large coil pots fired in a dragon kiln.  Huangshan, the Yellow Mountain made famous in classical Chinese paintings. Hangzhou on West Lake and Longquan both known for their ceramics including celadon wares.  Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China, in time for the opening of its International Ceramics Festival.   Included in the price of the tour is the gift of a ‘free’ week from Wenying in celebration of our decade of travelling together.   There will be ten days of workshops at Sanbao with, at the end of the tour, the possibility of returning home with some of our own work.   Option to stay on at end of tour on a 1 – 3 week residency at Sanbao.   Landprice approx. £2,000 
Enquiries: Contact Christine-Anne at the above email/phone or website.

Details of two previous Tours of the many that Christine-Ann has organised and led are shown lower down the profile.

 

Awards and Grants

1983 George de Menasce - Oriental Ceramic Society for research into early Chrinese northern whitewares.
1984 Leverhulme - for research, in China, into early ceramics
1984 The Great Britain-China Educational Trust: funding for Chinese language studies in Beijing
1985 British Council travel award to go to China to attend conference
1985 Crafts Council award to attend International Conference on Ancient Pottery and Porcelain
1991 Greater London Arts award for moulds for large work
1993 South West Arts Project Award to complete kiln extension
1995 South West Arts funding for exhibition at The Orangery, London
1996 Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship to return to Japan to explore the use of water in landscape and architecture
1996 South West Arts Project Award towards developing ideas emanating from Japan trip
1997 "Somerset Craftsperson 1997"

Exhibition History

1990 - With Elisabeth Frink, Terrace Gallery, Worthing; "Creative Eye" The Crafts Council at Chelsea
1991 - "The Avant Garden" The Oxford Gallery at The Barbican, London;
1991 - "Creative Eye" The Crafts Council at Chelsea
1992 - "Creative Eye" The Crafts Council at Chelsea
1993 - "Paintings & Pots" Gerald Godfrey Gallery, London;
1993 - "Chelsea Craft Fair"; The Stuttgart International Garden Festival
1994 - "Studio Ceramics Today" Victoria & Albert Museum;
1994 - "Decorative Arts Today" Bonhams;
1994 - "Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
1995 - "Earth, Fire and Water" The Orangery, Holland Park, London;
1995 - "Society of Designer Craftsmen" at the Mall Galleries;
1995 - "European Ceramics from 1950" Cologne Museum for Applied Arts "Chelsea Crafts Fair" The Crafts Council at Chelsea

1996 - "To Have and to Hold" Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester;
1996 - "Hampton Court Palace Flower Show"
1997 - "New Work" The Orangery, Holland Park, London. "Fresh Air"
1998 - Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
1999 - Porcelain at "Sotheby's Contemporary Decorative Arts Exhibition";
1999 - Leda Fletcher Gallery, Geneva; "Fresh Air"; Quenington
1999 - The Garden Gallery
2000 -"The Graduates" The Studio Pottery Course at Harrow School of Art 1963-1974, Alpha House Gallery, Sherborne; RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show; "Interior & Exterior" at The Millinery Works, London.

2001 – The Gallery Upstairs, Henley in Arden; Craft in the Bay, Cardiff
2001 - RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
2002 – The Society of Designer Craftsmen at the Mall Galleries, London; Urban Gardens, Olympia; Broadway Modern, Worcester; Art for Giving 2; Ronald Emett Gallery, Beaminster; Ferrers Contemporary Gallery, Leicester .
2003 – “Garden Inspiration” Walford Mill, Wimborne; Urban Gardens, Olympia “Ground Cover” The Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey; “The Garden Gallery” Rachel Bebb
2004 – SDC at the Mall Galleries and Maureen Michaelson, London; The Sculpture Show at Wyck Rissington; Stoberry Park, Wells Art Outside, Abbey House, Malmesbury; Somerset Art Week,
2005 –“Black & White” Millinery Works, London; Oxford Arts Week SDC at the Mall Galleries, The Gallery Upstairs, Henley-in-Arden; Earth & Fire

2006 – “The Garden Gallery”, Broughton; Art Outside at Abbey House, Malmesbury; Art in Clay, Hatfield & Farnham; Somerset Art Week; The Blue House, Frome Festival; Alpha House Gallery, Sherborne
2007 – “In Focus - Porcelain” The Devon Guild of Craftsmen; Society of Designer Craftsmen at the Mall & Chelsea Old Town Hall, London; “CPA @ 50” Bevere Gallery, Worcs.; Bowlish Contemporary, Somerset; Art in Clay, Farnham, The Blue House Garden, Frome Festival; “Art in the Garden” Stoberry Park, Wells; Fresh Air 2007, Quenington, Glos.
2008 The Society of Designer Craftsmen at the Mall Galleries, London
2009 Rachel Bebb, “The Garden Gallery”, Hybrid Art & Design, Honiton, Stoberry Park, Wells
2010 Contemporary British Art, The Millinery Works, London, RHS Garden, Wisley, Rachel Bebb “The Garden Gallery”, The Devon Guild of Craftsmen at Plymouth City Museum, Somerset Guild of Craftsmen in the Walled Garden, Cannington

2011 Bohun Gallery, Henley on Thames artdejardin, Rutland, In the Blue House Garden Frome Festival, “Art in the Garden”, Stoberry Park
2012 The Black Swan Gallery 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Frome, Contemporary British Art & East West at The Millinery Works, London, Somerset Arts Week, Last Open Studio Show Exhibition of Thrown Porcelain & Garden Ceramics

Commissions
1992 - Water-Fall Garden for the Royal Hampshire Hospital
1994 - Large Vase for Charlton Lane, Acute Mental Illness Hospital
1998 - Water-Feature for Headquarters of Foster Yeoman at Marston House
2000 - Bird-Bath, Torbay Hospital
2001 – Nine works commissioned by Roger Waters
2002 – Wave sculptures for private client
2004 – Pair of Vases: Hampshire Regiment Museum, Serles House, Winchester
2005 – Wave sculptures for private client

Publications

1978- "Colouring Glazes" Ceramic Review, No.54
1986 - "Early Northern Whitewares of Gongxian, Xing and Ding" Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society Vol.49
1988 - "Solo Travel in China" The Guardian - September Feature
1989 - "China - Ten Years On" Ceramic Review, No.117
1991 - "A Potter's Day" Ceramic Review, No.128
1995 - "Equipment in the Workshop" - The Kiln CPA News No.41
1995 - "The Spirit Way" China Review, Autumn/Winter

Previous Tours to China

2003 - Report on Guided Tour to China "CELEBRATE" - 25th Anniversary of 1st Craft Potters Association Trip to CHINA & 1,000 years of Porcelain Production in Jingdezhen in SPRING 2003 from 20 May - 14 June 2003 CLICK HERE FOR REPORT

2005 - Programme for a small group that journeyed to Yunnan Province in SW China in March 2005 following the ‘Mingei’ tradition: pots, jewellery and textiles. CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

The ‘Mingei’ Tradition in Central China 13th March – 5th April 2008. This tour visited Suzhou, Guilin & the tribal areas of Guizhou Province & Jingdezhen the porcelain capital of China. From the classical gardens of Suzhou we travelled to Guilin where classical Chinese painting is made a reality. Climbing into the secluded, mountainous, tribal area of Guizhou Province we visit musicians and artists in weaving, embroidery, batik, indigo and silver. Each tribe having their own style of dress and architecture. Thence to the ceramic areas of Changsha and Jizhou, famous for its black wares, and Jingdezhen.
Comment: The ‘Mingei’ tour was fantastic and it was great that Mary Rich, one of the co-organisers on the CPA 1978 tour, was able to come. Only 7 of us but really great. Guizhou Province which we visited featured in the BBC television programme that went out this week. And then the opportunity to spend three weeks making pots at Sanbao. Visited Takashi Sawano as well at the Sculpture Factory in Jingdezhen. More organised than Sanbao where I worked out of town in the countryside, but no less impressive.

2008 - Western China & The Southern Silk Road, 5th – 27th September, Ancient civilisations buried in the sands of the Taklamakan Desert, fortresses and frescoed Buddhist cave complexes, mosques, minarets, carpets, silk, metalwork and jade.

The ‘Mingei’ Tradition in Central China, 30th Anniversary of the 1st CPA trip to China, 13th March – 5th April 2008. Suzhou, Guilin & the tribal areas of Guizhou Province, Changsha, Jizhou & Jingdezhen the porcelain capital of China.

From the classical gardens of Suzhou we travel to Guilin and experience the reality of classical Chinese painting. Climbing into the secluded, mountainous, tribal area of Guizhou Province we visit musicians and artists in weaving, embroidery, batik, indigo and silver. Each tribe having their own style of dress and architecture. Thence to the ceramic areas of Changsha and Jizhou, famous for its black and hairs fur wares and Jingdezhen the porcelain capital of China where we will stay at Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute.
Go to Christine-Ann's own website for more information on her work and trips: CLICK HERE