Artist's Statement

Living in the country I cannot ignore the seasons and the consequent transformation of the landscape throughout the year. This influences my work and referring to landscape studies in my sketchbook and the marks and brushwork of my life drawings, I work intuitively on forms developed from organic sources. Responding to the material, enjoying the rhythm as I move around the form, I make marks of depth and variation, scratching and scraping through layers of slip, revealing the clay and emphasising the dryness of engobe or the softness of burnished slip; the silky surface emerging as polished as a sea worn pebble. I work spontaneously, creating forms and surfaces that evoke the feeling I have when I am part of the landscape, not illustrating it but striving to convey nuance of shape, balance and mass and creating mood and atmosphere.

Current Work

Work generally available from:
Shirley Crowther Contemporary Art, Ditchling, West Sussex
Uber Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Galerie Altstadt, Weinheim, Germany
Contemporary Ceramics, London
Cecilia Coleman Gallery
Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hampshire
New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Surrey
Europeanmakers Gallery, Amsterdam
Burnham Grapevine Gallery, Norfolk
Grapevine Gallery, Norwich, Norfolk
The Gallery at Bevere, Worcester, UK

Carolyn's New book - Pattern, Colour & Form, A&CBlack will be published on 31st May 2009.

Technical Information

Method 1
Method: Coiling, handbuilding and press moulding
Clay: Grogged white earthenware
Surface treatment: Sgraffito, etched or wax resist
Surface treatment materials: Oxided, vitreous slip, matt glaze
Firing temperature: 1140ºC

Method 2
Method: Coiling, handbuilding and press moulding
Clay: Grogged white earthenware
Surface treatment: Burnished slip
Surface treatment materials: Earthenware slip
Firing temperature: 1000ºC

History

Qualifications:
1976 -79 BA Hons. in Wood, Metal, Ceramics and Plastics at Brighton Polytechnic
1986 Postgraduate Dimploma in Ceramics at Goldsmiths College, London

Memberships:
Craft Potters Association - Fellow

Auctions:
Sotheby's Garden Sale,
Action Aid, Bonham's, 1992
Christie's "Handful of Clay, 1990
Phillips' Contemporary Craft, Oxford, 1989

Lectures/Teaching:
1998-onwards: Short Course Tutor, West Dean College, Sussex
Visiting Lecturer, Christchurch University, Canterbury, Kent
Lectures and Demostrations to Art and Craft Societies, Colleges and Potters' Groups
1989, 1991: Gallery Talk, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
1990: Guest Speaker, International Festival of Ceramics, Dorset

Private Collections:
Adolf Egner Collection, Coloe Museum
Robert Pinchen Collection, Potteries Museum, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire
Fine Arts Society, Glasgow
Brighton and Hove Museum Art Gallery, Craft Collection, Sussex

Books, Articles and Catalogues

Books:
"Sources of Inspiration", Carolyn Genders (A&C Black, 2002)
"Surface Decoration for Low Fired Ceramics", Lynn Peters (Lark Books)
"The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques", Frank and Janet Hammer (A&C Black)
"Resist and Masking Techniques", Peter Beard (A&C Black)
"Coiled Pottery", Betty Blandino (A&C Black)
"Het Atelier", Luk Versluys and Lucien Tinck
"Handbuilt Ceramics", Kathy Triplett (Lark Books)
"British Studio Potters Marks", Yates-Owen and Fournier (A&C Black)
"The Art of Handbuilt Ceramics", Susan Bruce (Crowood Press)
"The Potter's Guide to Ceramic Surfaces", Jo Connell (Apple Press)
"500 Bowls", (Lark Books)

Articles:
"A Potter's Progress", Ceramic Monthly, April 2004
Exhibiting Abroad, Artists' Newsletter, December 2002
"UpFront", Ceramic monthly, June/July/August 2001
Ceramic Review Issue 189, May/June 2001
"A Potter's Day", Ceramic Review 148, July/August 1994
CPA New Members, Ceramic Review 111, Mat/June 1988

Catalogues:
Councours Internationale de Céramique Contemporaire, Ville de Sarreguemines 2002
XVIII Biennale Internationale de Céramique D'Art, Ville de Vallauris, Golfe-Juan 2002
Craft Galleries Directory 1999
Mishou-Ryn Flower Arrangement Exhibition, Osaka, Japan 1998
Europanische Keramik - Sammlung Adolf Egner, Museum fur Angerande Kunst, Cologne 1995
Festival of European Ceramics Commemorative Programme 1992
40 Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d'Arte Faenza 1992

Exhibitions

2004 - Affordable Arts Fair, Battersea Park, London
2004 - Open Studio, Oak Farm, Danehill, East Sussex
2004 - Garden Gallery 10th Anniversary Summer Exhibition, Broughton, Hampshire
2004 - Solo Exhibition, Shirley Crowther Contemporary Art, Ditchling, West Sussex
2004 - Summer Exhibition, Peter's Barn Gallery, West Sussex
2004 - "Coup de bols" - Gallery Traces, Hastiere, Belgium
2004 - Winter Exhibition, New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Surrey
2003 - Winter Exhibition, New Ashgate Gallery, Famham, Surrey
2003 - 'Diversity' - Works of National Potters, Mid-Cornwall Galleries, St Blazey Gate, Par, Cornwall
2003 - Potters & Their Books, Old Bakehouse Gallery, Fishboume, Nr. Chichester, West Sussex
2003 - Designer Crafts 2003, Mall Galleries, London
2002 - XVIII6 Biennale International de Ceramique d'Art de Vallauris, France
2002 - 4th Sarreguemines International Ceramic Competition
2002 - "Coupes et Bols", Galerie Carlin, Paris
2002 - "Still Life", New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Surrey
2001 - "Refined Earth" - Solo Exhibition, Bedales Gallery, Petersfield, Hampshire
2000 - 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Keramiek Galerie Groot Welsden, The Netherlands
2000 - Summer Exhibition, The Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hampshire
2000 - The Old Bakehouse Gallery, Sussex
2000 - Galerie Texel, The Netherlands
1999 - Internationale Biennate of Ceramic Art, Brussels
1999 - Solo Show, Eton Applied Arts, Eton, Windsor
1998 - Michou-Ryu Flower Arrangement Exhibition - Takashimaya, Osaka, Japan
1998 - 'Brighton Up', Brewery Arts, Circencester & Black Horse Gallery, Frome, Dorset
1998 - Solo Showcase, Hove Museum, Sussex
1997 - Keramisto '97, Milsbeek, The Netherlands
1997 - Gmunden Topfermarkt, Austria
1997 - The Old Bakehouse Gallery, Sussex
1997 - Garden Gallery Summer Exhibition, Broughton, Hampshire
1997 - Internationale Biennale Of Ceramic Art, Brussels
1997 - 'Messing with Mud'.C.P.A. Show, Plymouth Arts centre
1996 - Solo Show, Galerie Lot Duynstee, Maastricht, The Netherlands
1996 - Bothy Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
1996 - Galerie Hilde Holstein, Bremen, Germany
1995 - C.P.A. Show, New Ashgate Gallery, Famham, Surrey
1995 - Contemporary Ceramics Show, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1994 - Made In Britain, Easton Rooms, Rye, Sussex
1994 - Gallery Upstairs, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire
1994 - Solo Show, Galerie Altstadt, Weinheim, Germany
1993 - Galerie Lot Duynstee, Maastricht, The Netherlands
1993 - Galerie Babel, Landsmeer, The Netherlands
1993 - Solo Show, Barbican Showcase, London
1993 - Chelsea Craft Fair
1993 - Made in Britain, Galerie Groot Welsden
1992 - 1992 Window at the Crafts Potters Shop
1992 - Gowan Gallery, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire
1992 - Galerie Chariotte Hennig, Darmstadt, Germany
1991 - Two Views, Designer Craftsman Society Show. The Dixon Gallery, London
1991 - Galerie Tessel, Texel, The Netherlands
1991 - Solo Show, David Holmes Gallery, Halifax, Yorkshire
1990 - Creative Eye, London
1990 - Barbican Showcase, London
1990 - Solo Show, Gill Drey, Chenil Galleries, London
1990 - British Women Potters, Takashimaya, Tokyo, Japan
1990 - Betttes Gallery, Hampshire
1989 - Art in Action, Oxford
1989 - Solo Show, Easton Rooms, Rye Art Gallery, Rye, Sussex
1989 - Potters '89, Craftsman Potters Shop, London
1989 - Ashdown Gallery, Uckfield, Sussex
1989 - David Holmes, Halifax, Yorkshire
1988 - New Members Show, Craftsman Potters Shop, London
1988 - Garden Room Gallery, Lewes, Sussex
1988 - Chelsea Craft Fair, London
1987 - Direct Design Show, London
1987 - Chelsea Craft Fair, London
1987 - Solo Show, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
1986 - Chelsea Craft Fair, London
1985 - Solo Show, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
1984 - Cevider, Valencia, Spain
1984 - Solo Show, Llantarnam Grange, Cwmbran, Wales
1982 - Solo Touring Show with Hampshire County Museum Service
1982 - Solo Show, Wandle Gallery, Carshalton, Surrey
1982 - Concorso Intemazionale della Ceramica d'Arte, Faenza, Italy
1981 - Southampton Art Gallery

Awards

2002 - Major Award Southern and South East Arts
2001 - Craft Pottery Charitable Trust
2001 - South East Arts
1994 - South East Arts
1989 - David Canter