Gallery – Studio Pottery London

We would be delighted to see you this evening, Thu

We would be delighted to see you this evening, Thursday 2 April at 5pm as we trial our very first online event.
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We explore studio pottery practice through an in-conversation with the V&A, Lucy Attwood and Gregory Tingay.
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Lucie Rie buttons, Jason Wason & the design of the first public ceramic studio in Central London. Gregory’s background provides us with a link to the heart of the history of studio pottery: he was taught as a young monk at Buckfast Abbey by Mary Boys-Adams, a pupil of Bernard Leach in the 1940s at St Ives. Through Mary, Gregory honed his craft of throwing in the Leach tradition. Thus, when he came to London and began teaching a decade ago, he connected his pupils, myself included, into that tradition. But our urban placing creates a very different take on that Anglo-Oriental way of making. Mary, Gregory’s teacher, used to talk of the artists she met in St Ives: Barbara Hepworth and Lucie Rie (pronounced REE). She used to talk of Lucie Rie’s visits there and her making of buttons as part of her contribution to the war effort. Lucie Rie, who settled as a refugee from anti-Semitic Vienna before its Nazification, in a mews house in central London, provides us equally with an exemplar for SPL. She worked all her life in this urban setting using electric kilns - a far remove from the Leach ideal of country pottery with reduction flame kilns. At SPL we encourage a solid traditional grounding in technique among our students, but diversity among our makers in how they develop their own style of making. The vitrine and window displays of the best contemporary ceramics provide visual encouragement and inspiration to aim for the highest standards of beauty. But we celebrate also the therapeutic character of wheel throwing. Many come to the studio to experience pottery for the first time as an escape from the increasingly mechanised and technological character of modern city living.
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If you wish to join the conversation with patrons then please kindly RSVP to Rose at studio@studio-pottery-London.com who will@share the zoom link with you.

Inspiration in hard times: @gregorytingay writes

Inspiration in hard times:
@gregorytingay writes
“As we all learn new ways of living, often in constricted spaces, trying to stay home and safe, it is especially hard for us who have no access to clay and our usual processes of making. How can we channel our creativity? How can we use this time of internal exile? Our imaginations need to soar; our love of ceramics needs to be fed through knowledge and discovery of things unknown to us. We have the tools to go on a journey of discovery: at least visually we have access to images and stories, pictures of pots and their makers. Time to encourage our members, students, and followers to STUDY! Follow up some ceramic hero or discover new ones & new work... LOOK at images of ceramic art: be inspired by unfamiliar forms and glazed surfaces, dream big. This photo shows Lucy at last year’s @friezeartfair friezeartfair golden screen setting off perfectly the elegant simplicity of the pot on the plinth. So different from my own practice on the wheel... but liberating, energising, opening up new worlds! ‘#contemporaryceramics #ceramicsculpture #clay #inspiration #friezeartfair #pot #handbuilding #honesty #woman #makers #artists #pottery #potteryclass #potterymembership #potteryinspiration

Taking stock 🍁 I am savouring the chance this s

Taking stock 🍁
I am savouring the chance this stay home presents to find a breathing space & to take stock.
For the gallery part of the studio this is an opportunity to share stock by showing potential collectors and home makers our curated ceramics virtually.
Yesterday an Italian collector bought the green Pillar vase, one of three in our studio window display.
These vases were among a collection of pots made by @gregorytingay during his artist residency at @hauserwirthsomerset last summer. This sale reminds me of the incredible generosity of people: the residency came out of a day’s teaching pottery to Manuela Wirth through my mobile business @popuppots. We drove down to Somerset for the day to introduce Manuela to throwing on the wheel. Over lemon drizzle cake, Manuela suggested that Gregory might take an artist residency - as the first potter - and this became a reality in the summer of 2019. Three months of creative intensity in the beauty of the Somerset countryside while we in London were designing and building the Studio.
To go from a van with a clutch of wheels doing pop up gigs, to having the beauty of our exquisite studio in SW1 (which I miss everyday) designed specially for us by @flint_interior_design, and the ability to sell ceramics there... this fills me with a deep sense of fulfilment and gratitude.
Artists: take stock and get yourselves out there - the web is your oyster 🦪
Inspiration in hard times: Lucy, Studio Director writing from home

Inspiration in hard times: as we reach the end of

Inspiration in hard times: as we reach the end of our first week in lockdown London, and the first week of closure for our Studio, we reflect on a fundamental aspect of our vision at SPL. This is community: we come together to learn, teach, & create around our shared love of clay, and in the process we form connection, friendships, relationships. As we collectively embrace social isolation for the greater good in this time of crisis, we remember, treasure and thank all of our SPL family who support and truly make our community. We are moved by the understanding of all who have put their memberships on hold, or accepted postponed classes, and we look to our shared future with hope.
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John Leach’s rallying cry brings a smile and reminds us that we are together and not alone: ‘Potters of the world: IGNITE!’
Beautiful studio design by @flint_interior_design . Photography by @dutodom dutodom

‘Inspiration in hard times: last night we all jo

‘Inspiration in hard times: last night we all joined in with countless citizens in cities, in the countryside, and even in castles, to applaud the heroic efforts of our NHS frontliners - ambulance staff, nurses, doctors, carers, volunteers - all who are fighting to save lives around the United Kingdom. Clapping hands, banging saucepans - all physical signs of heartfelt appreciation, echoing the daily ritual in other European countries, to say THANK YOU! We have been inspired by the 🌈 artwork of children in the windows of homes around the country. Giving 💐 is another way to show that we treasure someone. As potters, we at SPL have decided to collaborate with @moriartyevents to make vases for flowers provided by @attwood.t the NHS: our small way to give moral support at a time of national stress and to say 🙏 to the NHS. STAY HOME: SAVE LIVES’ writings shared by @gregorytingay

Continuation from a diary by @gregorytingay “As

Continuation from a diary by @gregorytingay
“As I write this from home away from my potter’s wheel and the life and community of our Studio I can hear the sound of children playing in gardens - the hope of younger generations to protect in this time of crisis. This morning’s news broadcasts showed children confined at home but creating glorious paintings of rainbows to place in windows to cheer passers by who may be key workers in our hospitals and vital services. Art at every level, from the naive charm of children’s hands to the sophisticated work of adult professionals, provides a means of visual escape into other worlds of beauty - solace to the heart and spirit. Pottery, rooted as it is in the very stuff of existence, the clay on which we walk and to which we return at death, has its own grounding strength as practice and product. Humans have been making functional pots from prehistory, and ornamenting these vessels to convey aesthetic experience for as long as there has been human consciousness. Somehow we potters, ceramicists, makers in clay, what you will, connect in the craft of our art with human history, past, present, future. In the spinning of the potter’s wheel we share in the revolution of our planet and in the momentum of the wheel of time. Now so many of us are cut off from our studios, we too feel the dislocation of the world undergoing the isolations and stresses of the global pandemic. A source of artistic refreshment is still available to us in this age of online communication. Galleries and national institutions of the arts may be closing their doors to preserve life, but art still lives, breathes and inspires us all through the wonderful possibilities of online communication. Access to collections remain at a distance; from the safety of home we can still taste, experience, view the art work of the world and feel aesthetically nourished.” We’ll hosting discussions with @vamuseum and @designmuseum in the coming weeks. Photo by @dutodom 💋

Inspiration in hard times: Serene reminder of the

Inspiration in hard times:
Serene reminder of the contemplative practice of throwing on the wheel. Artistic Director, Gregory Tingay, throwing and assembling moonjar forms. At Studio Pottery London we cherish the individual growth of each student and member in the art of pottery: time to make, time to heal. Photographed superbly by @dutodom #studiopottery #ceramics #wheelthrowing #pottery #potteryclasses #contemplation #therapy

Mornings like these 🍁 #wheelthrowing #madeinche

Mornings like these 🍁
#wheelthrowing
#madeinchelsea
#bisquefired #japanesepainting #painting @victoriabakerharber @markvandelli

A morning with Florian Gadsby #potstars ✨ 9-10:3

A morning with Florian Gadsby
#potstars ✨
9-10:30am on Tuesday 24th March
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Studio Pottery London, 29 Eccleston Place, SW1
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Florian Gadsby @floriangadsby is a ceramicist working in North London. With 260k+ Instagram followers, he is known for illuminating descriptions of his process. Recent exhibitions include at Hauser & Wirth (@make_hwsomerset) @alfreddunhill and St Ives Gallery. Previously Ken Matsuzaki’s visiting apprentice in Mashiko, Japan and Lisa Hammond at Maze Hill Pottery. Recent press includes Evening Standard (@laura_weir) and Hole & Corner (@holeandcorner)
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As part of our cultural program for SPL members if you wish to join please call the studio 02080049439

‘The centering of clay on the wheel acts as a me

‘The centering of clay on the wheel acts as a metaphor for the centrality of learnt skill and craft in this ancient art form, as well as the spiritual and psychological centring which gives pottery its therapeutic dimension.’ @gregorytingay Artistic Director and Resident Potter #arttherapy

“Where there is a woman, there is magic.” –N

“Where there is a woman, there is magic.” –Ntozake Shange
@n.i.c._.n.a.c @camillahorsfall @morgana_robinson @taraylyons01 @katherinesandrews @aliceuglow @gregorytingay @tatguyuk
Photo by @dutodom
Studio design by the amazing @flint_interior_design

SPL Member’s pilgrimage with Artistic Director G

SPL Member’s pilgrimage with Artistic Director Gregory to see the iconic Korean moon jar once owned by Bernard Leach, given by him to Lucie Rie, returned to the Leach Pottery and now pride of place in the Korean gallery at the British Museum #moonjar #koreanceramics #bernardleach #lucierie #studiopottery #historicceramics #britishmuseum #fieldtrip #ceramicmakers
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Part of our studio membership includes:
Dynamic programming: guest experts lecturing on topics such as ceramic practice, history, and culture
SPL community cultural trips and masterclasses. These are free for members (there is a charge for non-members)
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CPA shop and gallery opposite the museum to see the current exhibition showcasing the work of Anna Silverton - a modern end to a morning of inspirational ancient pottery