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York Ceramics Fair returns in ‘bigger and better’ space for 60 exhibitors at York Racecourse on March 4 and 5

York ceramicist Emily Stubbs: Taking part in the 2023 York Ceramics Fair, where she will demonstrate her skills in a 3.30pm session on March 5

FOR next weekend’s York Ceramics Fair, the Craft Potters Association has curated artworks from 60 prominent British ceramicists and potters, hailing from Cornwall to Scotland.

Returning after a short break, the 2023 fair – the fourth so far – will be held in a “bigger and better space” indoors at York Racecourse, Knavesmire Road, York, on March 4 and 5 from 10am to 5pm each day.

Among the Yorkshire makers will be Ruth King, Loretta Braganza and Emily Stubbs, from York, Katie Braida, from Scarborough, and Penny Withers, from Sheffield.

Anna Lambert: Exhibitor and York Ceramics Fair chair, at work in her studio. Picture: Ben Boswell, copyright of Craft Potters Association

York Ceramics Fair is selected and run by and for the makers, who aim to provide an affordable platform that nonetheless showcases the finest makers working in clay today, all seeking to attract seasoned collectors, enthusiasts and home ornament seekers alike.

From porcelain to earthenware, vivacious to tranquil, minimal to complex, abstract to realism, traditional pots to contemporary designs, these hand-crafted artefacts come in all forms, media, shapes and sizes. No commission is taken on sales in this chance to buy directly from the maker.

Anna Lambert, Keighley ceramicist and fair chair, says: “We’re very happy to welcome new and returning visitors and collectors to our new larger venue, with more than 60 selected potters and ceramic artists from across the UK.

RAMP creative collaborators Roop Johnstone and Alice Hartford: Demonstration at 1.30pm on March 4

“York Ceramics Fair outgrew its original home in the Hospitium [Museum Gardens], and after spending some time looking for the right space, we’re happy to say it will be hosted at the iconic York Racecourse. This bright and open venue ticks all the boxes, with a broad range of ceramic artwork at all prices, ease of access and plenty of space for exciting demos, activities and trade stands to browse. Plus for the first time we can offer parking to guests.”

The exhibitors will be: Kirsty Adams; Justine Allison; Julie Ayton; Dee Barnes; Natalie Bell; Steve Booton; Fiona Booy; Loretta Braganza; Katie Braida; Ben Brierley; Jane Cairns; Rebecca Callis; Roger Cockram; Johanne Coker; Dianne Cross; Anthony Dix; Dennis Farrell; Lesley Farrell; Doug Fitch; Miche Follano; Laura Gibbs; Sharon Griffin; James Hake; Jaroslav Hrustalenko; Ruth King; Anna Lambert; Tony Laverick; Roger Lewis and Francis Lloyd-Jones.

Taking part too are: Sophie MacArthy; Juliet Macleod; Hannah McAndrew; Colin Milnes; Sara Moorhouse; Jenny Morten; Eric Moss; Sue Mundy; Stephen Murfitt; Jeremy Nichols; Patrick O’Donohue; Simon Olley; Rachel Peters; Adela Powell; RAMP; Elizabeth Renton; Micaela Schoop; Yuta Segawa; Tokes Sharif; Emily Stubbs; Hiro Takahashi; Joanna Terry; Iona Crawford Topp; Carolyn Tripp; Shirley Vauvelle; Josie Walter; Paul Wearing; Andrea Welsh; Douglas White; Richard Wilson; Penny Withers and Rachel Wood.

Katie Braida: Demonstrating hand-building techniques at 11.30am on March 4

Over the weekend, in the centre of the fair space, informal demonstrations will be held by exhibitors, showing techniques important to their work. On Saturday, at 11.30am, Katie Braida will demonstrate the hand-building techniques she uses for creating her sculptural vessels, as well as how she refines and textures the forms.

At 1.30pm, the slip-decorated earthenware and porcelain-making collaboration of RAMP duo Alice Hartford and Roop Johnstone will work on making and decorating their taller forms to become lamp bases.

Alice will demonstrate her slip decorating techniques, painting thin layers of slip, application of paper stencils and scraffito work. Roop will demonstrate making taller forms on the wheel, using a combination of assembling separate forms and throwing large coils to build a form.

Steve Beeton: Demonstrating how to facet a large moon jar on March 5 at 11.30am

At 3.30pm, Lake District ceramicist James Hake will show how to make a square vase on the wheel. His stoneware is embellished with oriental glazes made using natural materials gathered from the Cumbrian landscape. The firing process creates fluid and dynamic surfaces that draw together his experiments with colour and texture.

Steve Booton will open the Sunday sessions in an 11.30am demonstration that will cover texture and faceting small pots and a large moon jar. At 1.30pm, Hannah McAndrew will show how she slip-trails a piece of flatware while discussing her slip trailers and the way she lays out her designs.

The demonstrations will conclude at 3.30pm with York ceramicist Emily Stubbs, who draws inspiration from her 2D paper collages and sketches. She will demonstrate how she translates these into clay, building up layer upon layer of slips and glazes, using various decorating techniques in clay, such as under-glazing, sgraffito, mono-printing and mark making.

York ceramicist Ruth King: Dedicated more than 40 years to the art and process of making ceramic vessels

Her finished vessels have a similar graphic quality to them, with bold colour, strong line and intuitive mark making. Make a note to visit Emily’s studio in Ambrose Street during the 2023 York Open Studios, open on April 15, 16, 22 and 23, from 10am to 5pm.

Throughout the York Ceramics Fair weekend, a free shuttle bus service will run every 40 minutes from the Memorial Gardens coach stand on Leeman Road, close to the railway station, from 9.30am each day.

Tickets cost £5, under 16s free, at eventbrite.co.uk/e/york-ceramics-fair-2023-tickets-474142331477. For a full list of exhibitors and further details, head to: yorkceramicsfair.com.

Loretta Braganza: York hand-built sculptural potter
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Who are the NEW artists in 2021’s York Open Studios? The final fab four to find

Here Be Monsteras potter Kayti Peschke working in her Fangfoss garage studio

YORK Open Studios’ 20th anniversary celebration of the city’s creative talent begins this evening with a 6pm to 9pm preview. Head to yorkopenstudios.co.uk to find out which artists and makers will be “warming up” for the two weekends ahead.

After the Covid-enforced fallow year of 2020, York Open Studios returns with 145 artists and makers opening 95 studios, homes and workplaces tomorrow and Sunday, then July 17, from 10am to 5pm each day.

Among them will be 40 debutants, prompting CharlesHutchPress to highlight newcomers in a week-long preview, in map guide order, that concludes today with the final four as York prepares for this month’s showcase of ceramic, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, furniture, sculpture and textiles skills.

An abstract sculpture by Reg Walker

Reg Walker, sculpture, Kiln Studio, Arnup Studios, Panman Lane, Holtby, York 

REG crafts abstract sculptures, sometimes contemplative, sometimes playful, mostly in Corten steel, together with small pieces for the hand in bamboo and distinctive collages in natural materials.

He took up sculpture when inspired by volunteering at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, where he then took part in hot and cold metal courses.

Reg Walker: Moved into Arnup Studios two years ago

Originally from Ireland, Reg settled in Yorkshire in 1988, working in social research and organisation development. He had a studio at Kildale on the North York Moors before moving to Arnup Studios in Holtby in 2019.

He will open his studio for this evening’s preview.

Michelle Galloway: Loves experimenting with different techniques

Michelle Galloway, painting, The Pottery Studio, Arnup Studios, Panman Lane, Holtby, York

MICHELLE moved to York to study art, developing a lasting interest in art history, archaeology and architecture.

Her artwork took a backseat when she retrained as a teacher, but she continued to pass on her passion for art through children’s workshops.

When the opportunity for a temporary studio arose, Michelle rekindled her own creativity and love of experimentation with different techniques. She now has a permanent studio at Arnup Studios.

“My latest work is oils on large canvases,” she says. “Using small brushstrokes to build up layers of colour, the variation of colour and tone achieved creates an abstract and ethereal quality.”

Michelle Galloway in her studio

Michelle describes her oil paintings as having an intensity to them, whereas her watercolours are “mostly calm, harmonious, quiet and contemplative, atmospheric, yet gentle and light”.

“I work from my own sketches and photographs of the location, meaning that all my senses are engaged with the subject,” she says. “I sketch and make notes to myself, decide what to include or subtract, and use a camera to record both the larger scene and tiny details, an instant where the light changes or a fleeting glimpse of something of intrigue.  
 
“Back in the studio, I can take my time and work at my own pace. I can combine all the information with my personal and emotional response to create a visual interpretation.”  

Michelle will be welcoming visitors to this evening’s preview.

A brace of ceramic trios by Judith Glover

Judith Glover, ceramics, Brambles, Warthill, York 

JUDITH specialises in sculptural ceramics, using the technique of coiling.

“My work is often presented as trios, thus emphasising the relationship between the pieces,” she says.

“Inspired by Italian still-life artist Giorgio Morandi and British painter, designer and illustrator Rex Whistler, I often incorporate different strata of clays in the same piece to give a painterly quality.

“Ceramic artists Jennifer Lee and Ashraf Hanna influence my unglazed hand-built work with clean lines that enhance the interior design of homes.”

Judith Glover with one of her sculptural ceramics

Judith learned the basics of pottery through studying with Su Rogers in Guildford. “Re-locating to North Yorkshire in 2010, I continued to develop my practice, specialising in sculptural hand-building,” she says. “My base clay is generally a Potterycrafts recipe, which contains a red clay from Derbyshire and buff fireclays from Shropshire.”

Her latest pieces, developed in the 2020-2021 lockdowns, are of imaginary landscapes and seascapes. “They use flattened coils and inserts of different clays to create painterly pieces,” says Judith, who is a member of the Northern Potters Association and an associate member of the Craft Potters Association.

All proceeds from sales of her work go to IDAS, the North Yorkshire charity that supports those affected by domestic violence.

A couple of cups, made by Here Be Monsteras ceramicist Kayti Peschke

Here Be Monsteras (Kayti Peschke), ceramics, Ashtree Lodge, Gowthorpe Lane, Fangfoss, York

KAYTI creates ceramics under the name of Here Be Monsteras from her garage studio in her garden in the Wolds, east of York.

Her background is in photography and magazine design, but two years ago she started making pottery and now she has converted full time. “It has become an obsession,” she says.

Kayti makes wheel-thrown ceramics with stoneware clays, “all with a lovely speckle and texture that are wonderful tactile”, to create functional objects for the home.

“Brushstrokes form the decorative styles using a mix of glazes, hand-coloured clay and wax-resist techniques,” says Kayti. “I also screen print pots, using my own hand-cut designs and I love working on colour palettes, with limited runs for each season.”

She has worked on screen-printing ceramics with artist Jade Blood, creating travel cups and a full dinnerware set, as well as collaborating with restaurants and cafés that serve their menus on her tableware.

“A cup of tea in a handmade cup really does taste better, maybe because the process feels more special or you take more time over it? I’m not sure why, but it’s true,” says Kayti.

Taking shape: Kayti Peschke in hands-on mode in her studio

In her home studio, the cups of tea flow and her dogs hang out in the sunshine as she listens to BBC 6Music or podcasts. “I absolutely love being out there, creating, and hopefully this shows in the things I make.

“All the pieces I create are made to be practical and often multi-functional. It’s so important to me that they’re used and enjoyed and bring a little bit of extra joy to the day!”

As testament to that, her ceramics can be found in York at Kiosk, Fossgate; Sketch By Origin, York Art Gallery; Jolly Allotment, Walmgate; Flori, Walmgate; Melk, SparkYork and Clifford Street, and Botanic York, Walmgate.

Beyond York, Yorkshire stockists include The Hispanist and Two Gingers, both in Paragon Street, Hull; Plant & Paint, Humber Street, Hull; The Gallery, Malton; The Art House, Wakefield; Flavour Like Fancy, Meanwood, Leeds; Mr Cooper’s, Whitby, and Mlkwood Studio, Bridlington.

Kayti will be giving throwing demonstrations at 1pm and 3pm each day during York Open Studios.

A painting by Ian Cameron, one of 145 York Open Studios artists in 2021. Find him – but maybe not this bird – in his back garden at 65, Green Lane, Acomb, York

TO find full details of all the York Open Studios artists and makers, their studios, opening hours and examples of their work, go to: yorkopenstudios.co.uk.

The 95 locations will be highlighted on a map of York to help visitors navigate their way to as many studios, workshops and homes as they wish. 

Visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk to look at the York Open Studios map.  Alternatively, free printed brochures with the map can be picked up from Visit York, on Lendal, or in shops, restaurants and visitor attractions around the city. 

2021’s York Open Studios will be Covid-compliant, with artists adhering to Government guidelines on social distancing, ventilation and sanitisers, keeping themselves and visitors safe throughout.