Five ceramic artists/potter (known collectively as Earthworks), all having a connection with the University of Derby, will exhibit their work at the Midas Workshops Gallery in Buxton as part of the Buxton Art Trail weekend and Buxton Fringe.
Read the review to find out more. The Midas Workshops Gallery is location number 36 on the map.
Please do join us for drinks and nibbles at the preview on Saturday 10th July between 14:00 and 17:00.
Thoresby Gallery will be hosting a selling exhibition of work by members of the Northern Potters Association and an invited group of potters from the Sadirac region of France.
You are welcome to join us at the private view which will take place on 11th July between 14:00 and 17:00.
I will be exhibiting at Potfest in the Pens 2010, an interactive potters' market showing the work of up to 150 potters.
The Geffrye Museum will, once more, play host to Ceramics in the City. Showcasing new work by 48 selected ceramicists, a mix of both well-established names and rising talents. The wide array of work on show and for sale means that there is sure to be something to please everybody.
A private view will take place on Thursday 16th September between 18:00 and 20:30. If you would like to come along to this please do let me know.
Near the centre of France is the village of La Borne where I spent a couple of days last week. It is surrounded by dense woodland which gives it a magical feel and clay is still commercially extracted just a few kilometers away. These two ingredients are pretty much everything a potter needs to produce wood fired work, and that is what La Borne is famous for.
It is thought that pottery was first produced in La Borne in the 16th century and in the 18th and 19th centuries many of the village's inhabitants were in some way connected with the production of pots for domestic and farm use. During the 1920s the ceramics industry in the area went into decline and by the end of the Second World War there were only a few potters left.
Unlike many other places around the world where the ceramics industry went into terminal decline La Borne kept ticking over and in the latter part of the 20th century more and more potters from France and further afield were drawn there.
Today, a wide range of work from traditional & functional to contemporary & sculptural is produced in La Borne by potters from all four corners of the world. The unifying factor is that most of it is still fired with wood and made from the local clay. The clay reacts wonderfully to long firings with wood, possibly due to it containing iron pyrites.
There is a museum in the old chapel which houses a fabulous collection of old pots and next door, in what was the local girls school, is the ceramics centre. The day after we left the doors of the ceramics centre were due to close for the building to undergo a metamorphosis into workshops and demonstration areas. Next to the old building a new building is currently being built which will house a permanent exhibition space for the potters of La Borne, kilns and other facilities. Please note that neither building will reopen until the end of the first quarter of 2010 so if you are planning a trip to La Borne in the near future don't forget this.
This was my third visit to La Borne. The previous two times were during the middle of the week in the morning when nothing seems to be open. Saturday or Sunday afternoons are best if you want to visit La Borne for the ceramics.
