Artists Statement

Nic works in “The Leach Tradition” and was the last student to be trained at The Leach Pottery, in St Ives. He was a part of the production team from 1979 to 1980. This followed a four-year vocational ceramics course at Cornwall College.
In 1975 he moved to Cornwall with his wife Jackie, a weaver, and in 1981 established Trelowarren Pottery on the Trelowarren Estate near Helston. Here their workshops were open to the public.

In 2005 they relocated their successful business into Helston and opened their new Gallery, “Nic Harrison Ceramics”, where Jackie also has her workshop. Nic now works at Penhale Jakes in Ashton, near Helston, producing his own extensive range of useful oven to table, kitchenware in Stoneware clay. The stunning views from his workshop over the sea towards The Lizard Peninsula have inspired Nic in the making of new collections of work for Exhibition, using both Porcelain and Stoneware clays. The distinctive shapes that he produces are mostly influenced from his roots in “The Leach Tradition”. The forms are uncluttered, plain and simple. He sometimes alters the roundness of the pot by beating and uses oxides of copper, iron or cobalt, in the decoration.

Current Work

Reduction fired stoneware and porcelain mainly for exhibition and collection. I also make a range of useful pots for the kitchen.

Work Generally Available from:  
Nic Harrison Ceramics, Helston, Cornwall
St Ives Ceramics, St Ives, Cornwall
The Leach Pottery, St Ives, Cornwall.
Cornwall Crafts Gallery, Trelissick, Truro, Cornwall
Cornwall Crafts Gallery, Trelowarren, Helston, Cornwall
Pencarrow House Craft Gallery, Bodmin, Cornwall
Lantic Gallery, Tiverton, Devon
On-Line Gallery, Southampton
Bristol Guild Craft Gallery, Park Street, Bristol
Gallery St Ives, Tokyo, Japan
Mashiko Museum, Japan

Technical Information

The pots are thrown on an Alsager wheel, much of Nic’s work is made in the locally produced, Westcountry clay.  The glazes are applied to the surface of the biscuit fired pot.  They are all considered to be traditional glazes of the Leach Pottery, Celadon – a sage green, a black to rust Tenmoku and a grey Celadon glaze known as Ying Ching.  Decoration is achieved by applying oxides of cobalt, iron manganese or copper to the glaze surface.

Nic designs and builds his own reduction fired kilns which are fired to a temperature of 1300’C with propane gas.