JO
BOSLEY

Jo originally studied textile design at West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham. In 1993 she joined a weekly pottery class in East Hendred, Oxfordshire run by Pauline Thompson. She encouraged her students to develop their own style of ceramics and experiment with different techniques and clays. They visited the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford to look at examples of ceramics from different cultures such as the Minoans and the Aztecs. They also looked at Innuit design and more close to home ceramics from Staffordshire.

Jo works in stoneware crank clay, a strong, gritty clay which has a grainy, rustic appearance. She uses hand building methods, mainly coiling and slab work and finishes the pieces with slips, glazes before firing to 1240 degrees .

The pottery is suitable for indoor and outdoor use, although she advises not to let water to fill the pots in winter if leaving them outside.

HOLLY
ALDRIDGE

Holly Aldridge is a self‑taught stained‑glass artist from Brecknockshire whose work is inspired by wildlife and the quiet beauty of the countryside.

Drawn to bright colours and the magic of reflected light, she began working with stained glass in 2016 and now creates pieces ranging from small decorative works to bespoke windows.

Working from her home studio, Holly uses traditional techniques and brings her lifelong love of animals and detailed drawing into her painted glass designs.

KATH
LITTLER

Much of Kath’s subject matter derives from the coast of Wales where she was born, as well as visits to Orkney and Brittany. A move to the Black Mountains in 2015 opened up a whole new wealth of subject matter and great inspiration. She finds that to engrave is to re-visit the emotional experience of place and to endeavour to create a thing of beauty. If that is achieved it is hoped to inspire others – surely one, if not the, most important aim one can have in art.

Kath works  slowly, producing one design over a period of about a month or more. She works from drawings or paintings rather than photographs as she finds the marks she make, or colours she uses, are more informative than any photographic image can be, although she does use photographs for factual information sometimes.

EMMA KATE
OCHOM

After years of living in other worlds, absorbing fascinating cultures, but ultimately becoming frayed at the edges, Kate was extremely grateful to return to Wales and begin the transformative and cathartic process of studying a Contemporary Design Craft degree at Hereford College of Arts.

Here she spent three years learning the discourse and structural potential of Book Arts and bindings, dividing her energies between the textiles, print and 3D workshops.

Conscious of her environmental footprint, Kate chooses to work with as natural, biodegradable, or repurposed materials as possible and aims to use processes that require minimal energy consumption.

ED
WILLIS

Edward has no formal training in art; he has a degree in philosophy. He began making simple mobiles as nursery decorations for his children, becoming interested in the more elaborate sculptural possibilities of the form after seeing the work of Alexander Calder. He also takes inspiration from artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Brancusi and Naum Gabo.

Although his work is largely abstract, it often relates to animal and plant forms and the sculptures might be seen as “suspended animations”, lying at rest, waiting for a passing breeze to breathe life into them.

RICHARD
WILSON

Richard Wilson was born and brought up in Norwich, and has been making pots since the early 1970s. After studying for two years at Great Yarmouth College of Art, he worked from 1974 to 1980 at Le Dieu Pottery in Norwich before spending 3 years in Australia and New Zealand, and a further five in Germany, working with many potters using different techniques, in particular woodfired saltglazes.

Whilst in Germany, Richard spent some time with potters whose work drew from Eastern European designs, and has himself been especially inspired by Hungarian and Romanian slipware from the 1800s. He has also been strongly influenced by the Cardew tradition of English country pottery, having spent some months working at Wenford Bridge in the 1980s, learning about the strengths and subtleties of Cardew’s work.

STEVE
HAWKESWORTH

Since retiring from his work in the care sector, Steve has been developing his lifelong interest in woodwork and the various effects that can be achieved when wood is painted, burnt and carved. His subjects reflect an interest in life in and around the sea – the birds, boats, fish and local architecture.

The materials Steve uses, on the whole, are recycled or found.The timber is sourced from beaches, local woodlands in Worcestershire and he even has a large proportion of the fittings from a refurbished pub lying in the workshop ready to use.

KITCHENWOOD
WOBAGE

Ben, Lynn and Molly’s designs are responsive to the timber they are using; each piece is unique as every tree grows slightly differently. They use native, locally sourced wood, often from wind-fallen trees.

With over 30 years experience in wood-carving and furniture making respectively, Lynn and Ben create individual works as well as collaborating on their kitchen and home wares range with daughter Molly.

Ben, Lynn and Molly make at Wobage Farm Craft Workshops in the idyllic south Herefordshire hills, selling their work along with five other talented craftspeople in Wobage Makers Gallery.

NICK AND GABI
WARD

Nick and Gabi Ward make earthenware pottery. Their work is handthrown and handpainted using stained engobes ( clay slips). They use the sgraffito technique to decorate their pots with images of birds, animals and flowers. 

They are now making a new range of splash decorated pottery available in various colours.

Nick studied at Harrow School of Art. Gabi studied at West Surrey college of Art and Design.

They work together in their stone barn in Herefordshire selling through galleries and shows. 

BETHAN
JONES

Bethan is a ceramicist working from her pottery studio nestled on a rural organic farm in East Devon, UK.

After earning a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Ceramics, she relocated to Devon and spent time working alongside an experienced studio potter, refining her skills and developing a deep appreciation for functional, beautifully crafted tableware.