Current Work

Stoneware, sculptures and ornaments for the garden such as birdbaths, sundials, planters, stools and lanterns.

Work generally available from:
Directly from the studio or through exhibitions and events.  As a CPA Fellow, my work is occasionally on display at Contemporary Ceramics Centre, London.

Other Information:
Available for lectures, demonstrations and workshops.

Technical Information

Work is hand-built by the slab technique or free-hand modelling. Craft Crank Stoneware clay is used for the garden pieces and the work is raw-glazed with dry matt glazes, in a small range of colours:  a blue ash glaze, a green slip glaze a dusty yellow slip glaze and a stony white glaze.

All work is high fired once, in an electric kiln to 1280'C. All the garden work is weather proof and those items designed to hold water permanently, such as the birdbath, are also treated with a proprietary water sealant.

History

1965 Nottingham University B.Sc.
1974 Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts Dip.A.D. Ceramics
After training at Camberwell, she became known for her thrown, burnished and sawdust fired porcelain and has written a book on sawdust firing. She now makes hand built stoneware planters, stools and birdbaths which were inspired by visits to India and Nepal. Karin Hessenberg has exhibited widely in Britain and abroad and her work is in the collections of a number of museums. Her plant towers are featured in Malcolm Hillier's book Container Gardening.
Commissions include a pair of tree containers for the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull. She is a solo artist and makes work to order or for exhibition. Her new book Ceramics for Gardens & Landscapes (A & C Black) has just been published.
A Fellow of the Craft Potters Association and listed on the Crafts Council Index.

Publications and Biography

Publications:
Book: Sculpting Basics Quarto 2004
Book: CERAMICS FOR GARDENS & LANDSCAPE A & C Black Feb 2000
Book: SAWDUST FIRING, B. T. Batsford 1994
Article: Five Women in the Garden, Ceramic Review 1992

Selected Bibliography:
Books: Malcolm Hillier, CONTAINER GARDENING, Dorling Kindersley 1991
Peter Cosentino, CREATIVE POTTERY, The Paul Press 1985
Peter Lane, STUDIO CERAMICS, Collins 1983
Articles: Stephanie Brown, Review of Greywalls Exhibition, Crafts Sept/Oct 1994
Practical Gardening 1993
Practical Gardening 1991
Pennina Barnett, Review of Fire and Form, Crafts 1989

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions:
2011 Sheffield Showcase. Window Display Sheffield city Centre 4 April - 4 May 2011
1996 Contemporary Ceramics'In The Window'
1995 Harlequin Gallery, London
1988 'Fire and Form', Craft and Design Centre, Leeds
1976 Anthony Shaw 'Window IV'

Group Exhibitions:
2011 Sculpture and Plants, Hall Farm, Harpswell, Lincs
2011 Out of The Earth II. NENPA Exhibition, Crook Hall Gardens, Durham
2011 Spring Exhibition, Willow Gallery, Oswestry
2010 Inside & Out Exhibition Rufford Craft Centre, Notts
2010 Rarefind Exhibition, New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham
2010 Figures of Inspiration Exhibition, New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham

2009 Autumn and Christmas Exhibitions at Harding House Gallery, Lincoln
2008 Northern Potters at the Platform Gallery, Clitheroe, Lancs
2007 The Curator's Choice, Anthony Shaw Collection, London
2007 Northern Fire 2, Oxo Gallery, London
2007 NPA at Lund Gallery, Easingwold, N. Yorks
2007 The Gallery Upstairs, Henley-in-Arden
2007 The CPA at 50, Bevere Gallery, Worcester
2006 North by North Wales, Rufford Craft Centre, Notts
2006 London Road Gallery, Sheffield
2006 The Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hants

2005 Northern Fire, Oxo Gallery, London
2005 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2005 The Gallery Upstairs, Henley-in-Arden
2004 Millennium Galleries, Sheffield
2004 Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool
2004 Ferrers Gallery, Staunton Harold
2003 Booth House Gallery, Holmfirth
2002 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2002 The Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hants
2002 Maureen Michaelson Gallery, London
2002 Garden Exhibition, The Ferrers Gallery, Staunton Harold, Leics
2002 Garden Ceramics Showcase, Rufford Ceramics Centre, Notts
2001 Maureen Michaelson Gallery, London
2001 The Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hants
2001 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2000 Maureen Michaelson Gallery, London; The Old Bakehouse Gallery, Chichester; Gallery Upstairs, Henley-in-Arden; The Scottish Gallery

1999 The Garden Gallery; The Scottish Gallery; Jack-in the-Bush, North Ferriby
1998 Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh, Hants; Bettles Gallery, Ringwood, Hants
1997 'The Garden' at the Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Notts; The Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hants; The Scottish Gallery at Greywalls, Edinburgh
1996 Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh, Hants; Bettles Gallery, Ringwood, Hants; The Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hants; Castlegate House Gallery, Cockermouth, Cumbria
1995 Rufford Craft Centre 'Interiors'; Brund Mill Gallery, Derbyshire; The Garden Gallery, Broughton, Hants; 'Figures in Clay', Crafts Council Shop

1994 Jewell & Roberts, Holmfirth; Rufford Craft Centre 'Parks and Gardens'; The Scottish Gallery at Greywalls, Edinburgh
1993 Czech and Slovak Centre, Leeds
1992 The Gallery Upstairs, Solihull; Alfresco, Northern Arts Exhibition, Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland; Ferrers Gallery, Staunton Harold
1991 Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool; Rufford Craft Centre, Notts; The Scottish Gallery at Greywalls, Edinburgh; The Fiery Beacon Gallery, Painswick
1990 Bettles Gallery, Ringwood, Hampshire; Galerie Dagmar, London; 'Vernal Chorus', Collection Gallery, Ledbury; Craftsmen Potters Association; Laurimore Gallery, Boxford; Stafford Art Gallery

1988 Contemporary Applied Arts; Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool
1986 British Ceramics, Keramik Studio, Vienna; Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
1985 British Porcelain, Glass and Jewellery, Westminster Gallery, USA; Small Pots and Small Paintings, Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames
1984 Karin Hessenberg and David Garland, Oxford Gallery; 'Fire and Smoke', Rufford Craft Centre, Notts; Long Street Gallery, Tetbury; Small Pots and Small Paintings, Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames
1983 'Ceramix', Brighton Polytechnic; Makers '83, British Craft Centre; 37 Potters, Kettles Yard, Cambridge; 'Come Inside', Hopper Williams Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1982 The Makers Eye, Crafts Council; Claywork, Stoke-on-Trent City Museum and Art Gallery; Ceramics from Traditional Form to Sculpture, Scottish Gallery; Nimes Trade Fair, France; Innate Harmony, London; Stafford Art Gallery; Ceramics '82, Rufford Craft Centre; Henry Rothschild Biennial, Kettles Yard, Cambridge
1981 Saggar and Sawdust Fired Pots, Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; Small Pots and Small Paintings, Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; British Crafts Centre, London; Englische Keramiken und Holzarbeiten, Kunstammlungen der Veste, Coburg, Germany; West Midlands Studio Pottery, Birmingham University; Walsall Museum and Art Gallery
1980 Ceramics for Children at Cheyne, Fairfield Halls, Croydon; Yew Tree Cottage Gallery; Whitechapel Open; New Ashgate Gallery; Birmingham Potters Group
1979 Century Galleries, Henley-on-Thames

Events

2007 Open Up Sheffield, artists' open studio event
2006 Potfest Peak
2000 Earth & Fire V & VI, CPA Ceramic Fair at Rufford
1996 Ceramic Fair at Rufford
1994 The Great Sheffield Art Show
1994 Ceramic Fair at Rufford
1992 Garden Festival Wales, Ebbw Vale
1991/92 Creative Eye
1989 International Potters Camp, Aberystwyth

Commissions

2006 Private commission for garden sculpture
2005 Sculpture for Sheffield Museums and Galleries Trust
2001 Various private commissions
2000 Various private commissions
1998 The Crafts Council Chelsea Prize Winner
1991 Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
1982 George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton

Awards

1994 Grant, Yorkshire & Humberside Arts
1990 Grant, Yorkshire Arts
1988 Individual Artist Award, Greater London Arts
1981 Award, West Midlands Arts
1980 Award, West Midlands Arts

Public Collections

BuckinghamshireCounty Museum
City of Stoke-on-Trent Museum
State Cultural Museum Taiwan
Leeds Schools Loans Service
Paisley Museum
Oxfordshire County Museum
City of Glasgow Museum
Bedfordshire Education Authority
Townley Hall Art Gallery and Museum, Burnley