Kiln Diary #19

VESSELS FOR LIGHT AND SHADOW

I have called my exhibition at the New Craftsman in St Ives, ‘Vessels for Light and Shadow’. I am always aware of how the changing light can transform the colour and textures of my work. Bright sunlight seems to turn up the volume in a way, revealing the layers of process from soft marks in wet porcelain to the hard sharper lines drawn when the clay is nearly dry.

As light fades, the colours soften. The forms seem to emerge stronger and more defined in the shadows, the texture and surfaces quieter and gentler. I love to see these pieces in everyday situations changing in the natural light and course of the day. We can be taken unaware by a flash of blue, the swell of a rounded form and the roughness of a cut edge.

The vessels for the New Craftsman exhibition have been carefully cleaned after the drama of firing, photographed and numbered into their groupings. They are now lined up and waiting to be packed for the short journey to the gallery. The exhibition, part of the St Ives Arts Festival, opens on Saturday 10th September and runs until 7th October. If you can’t make it in person, the work will also be available to view online.

Drawing and mark making are a long-standing part of my work. They are not working drawings in a technical sense, instead they help me to understand form, volume and space; Three of the essential elements in a potter’s work.

Through the summer I have been collaborating with traditional Printmaker David D’Silva to produce two limited edition Screen-prints of my drawings, ‘Big Guardian Vessel’ and ‘Memory Jar’. It has been a fascinating process to see the drawings translated into another medium. They will be previewed at the New Craftsman Gallery and will also be available from our Trinity House Gallery in Penzance.

I will confirm a date for my next online collection very soon with details about our Winter exhibition. The prints and our Living Space book will be available to purchase from the Doherty Porcelain website. If you have any further enquiries or would like to purchase a print, please do contact me directly. We also look forward to welcoming you at our Trinity House Studio and Gallery.

To see more follow @dohertyporcelain