by Jon Williams | Feb 4, 2022 | Artist, Experiments, Outside, Surface Quality, Work in Progress
My slow burning, smoke firing journey continues… One of the most satisfying outcomes has been the incidental surfaces and effects that appear when I’ve been getting creative applying a slip resist to the surface of my bisque fired ware. In an attempt to echo the...
by Jon Williams | May 16, 2021 | Experiments, Interactive Art
Sit’s nicely in the palm this one. Love the markings produced by smoke permeating the layers of clay resist.
by Jon Williams | May 11, 2021 | Garden Sculpture, Interactive Art, Outside
A family of ceramic snails rocking out across the studio floor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jon Williams...
by Jon Williams | Apr 25, 2021 | Artist, Exhibitions, Garden Sculpture, Outside
Not sure what’s the collective term for a pot full of ceramic fish! Not sure what’s the collective term for a pot full of ceramic fish!? This shoal will be swimming at the magnificent Sculpture at Kingham Lodge exhibition. 1-9 May 2021. Set in 5 acres of...
by Jon Williams | Apr 21, 2021 | Experiments, Surface Quality
A beautiful galaxy appeared in the slip bucket lid!!!
by Jon Williams | Apr 18, 2021 | Artist, Experiments, Interactive Art, Work in Progress
interactive, interactive art, leather hard, rocking pots, thrown and assembled, wip, work in...
by Jon Williams | Apr 15, 2021 | Artist, Garden Sculpture, Outside, Surface Quality
This gnarly ‘ol slab of oak has been gently decaying in the Pottery garden for the last 10 years or so. It was initially used to display several of my discovery pots – lidded, thrown cylinders containing fresh clay and a note encouraging the...
by Jon Williams | Apr 11, 2021 | Experiments, Surface Quality
by Jon Williams | Apr 7, 2021 | Experiments, Work in Progress
I think its time to retire these ol’ saggers! #kintsugi anyone? Also… not sure what the shiny black stuff is on the inside the one on the left – tar or creosote maybe? Whatever it is I like it!! ???
by Jon Williams | Apr 2, 2021 | Experiments, Garden Sculpture, Interactive Art, Outside, Surface Quality, Work in Progress
Taking time to appreciate the subtle effects of layering and wiping away slip decoration…. At the moment, these snail sculptures are at the leather hard stage (my favorite!) and still have to dry for a couple of weeks before going in the kiln. Once...
by Jon Williams | Mar 28, 2021 | Beautiful Eastnor, Outside
As we head into Spring, I thought I’d share a few photographs taken on our winter commute! We’re extremely fortunate to live and work on the idyllic Eastnor Castle Estate at the southern end of the Malvern Hills in rural Herefordshire. Our home and...
by Jon Williams | Mar 21, 2021 | Artist, Experiments, Work in Progress
Somewhere in this blackened sagger is a little burnt offering in need of wire wool & wax tlc!
by Jon Williams | Mar 14, 2021 | Artist, Outside, Work in Progress
I love making these!!! – so much fun to produce! ?? They start life on the potters wheel as thin, solid cones. Texture is added whilst the clay spins and each one finally curled from the tip down. They’re insect antennae, added to the bodies of sculptural bees,...
by Jon Williams | Mar 7, 2021 | Social Engagement
The unscheduled break from all the social engagement and classes has provided a golden opportunity to develop my ceramic work. In fact, the lockdown hush fondly reminds me of the time Sarah and myself moved to Eastnor – 26 years ago. At that point in our careers...
by Jon Williams | Mar 4, 2021 | Artist, Exhibitions
Contemporary Ceramics asked me to provide a short piece of writing to accompany the work I sent them. It was suggested I comment on how I got into working with clay: As a child I loved drawing and messing about with mud. We lived on the edge of a large housing estate...
by Jon Williams | Feb 24, 2021 | Artist, Exhibitions, Interactive Art
I have a collection of bee and bug shakers for sale at Contemporary Ceramics in London The gallery is the shop window for the Craft Potters Association of Great Britain (CPA) and exhibits the greatest collectible names in British ceramics alongside the most up and...
by Jon Williams | Feb 21, 2021 | Experiments, Work in Progress
Although I’m a thrower, I do enjoy the challenge of working with other pottery techniques. These slabbed constructions are ceramic bases, designed to support a sculpture on a metal rod. That said, I reckon they look pretty cool as stand alone pieces. I...
by Jon Williams | Feb 14, 2021 | Exhibitions, Experiments, Interactive Art
I recently made a selection of high fired bee and bug shakers for a gallery in London. The high temperature makes for a satisfying ‘ring’ when the rattle is shaken. As I was lowering the last beastie into the kiln, I decided on a whim to save it from the...
by Jon Williams | Feb 7, 2021 | Artist, Experiments, Outside
It’s amazing how a terracotta pot can survive outside in the garden for decades. Season after season it is resilient against the very worst the British Winter can hurl at it. And then, all of a sudden, it quite literally falls to pieces. Frost damage occurs when...
by Jon Williams | Jan 31, 2021 | Artist, Social Engagement
Our studio Eastnor Pottery looking beautiful in the January snow. The Pottery is located near the Malvern Hills on the idyllic Herefordshire Eastnor Castle Estate. I share the space with my wife and fellow potter Sarah Monk. When we’re not working on our own...
by Jon Williams | Jan 28, 2021 | Artist, Interactive Art
I have a collection of bee and bug shakers making their way to Contemporary Ceramics Centre in London. The Gallery is the shop window for The Craft Potter’s Association of Great Britain and is ideally situated in the heart of the capital, opposite The British...
by Jon Williams | Jan 23, 2021 | Artist
Over the years I’ve collaborated with many talented and creative photographers to document my ceramics and social engagement practice. My current go to professional is George Nash AKA Beyond The Beaten Path. George is communicative, super efficient and fun to...
by Jon Williams | Jan 21, 2021 | Experiments, Outside, Work in Progress
Whilst experimenting with smoke fired pottery on the BBQ last Spring, I found a lot of my pots developed hair-line cracks and fissures due to the thermal shock of the flames licking the ware. There was only one course of action – make myself some saggers! Those...
by Jon Williams | Jan 14, 2021 | Artist, Experiments, Interactive Art, Work in Progress
I’ve been developing more rattles and shakers, this time in the shape of bugs and bees. Each little beastie is made entirely from sections created on the potter’s wheel. The separate elements are joined together and smoothed to give the appearance of being...
by Jon Williams | Jun 30, 2020 | Experiments, Outside
In an attempt to add further depth to my ceramic surfaces, I’ve been messing about with fire in the Pottery garden. I had dabbled with smoke firing once before in my role as an artist in residence at Evesham Nursery School. I have very fond memories of working...
by Jon Williams | Jun 23, 2020 | Artist, Exhibitions, Experiments, installation, Interactive Art, Outside, Social Engagement
https://jonwilliamspottery.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/QVUN7245.mp4 Tree Pringles! The latest incarnation of x30 or so wheel thrown disks. They made their debut at Fresh Air Sculpture Exhibition a few years back as a purely sculptural piece, stacked one on...
by Jon Williams | Jun 15, 2020 | Experiments, Work in Progress
These poor little fellas have been thrown, slipped, cut, stretched and pulled apart on the potter’s wheel! I’m enjoying seeing how far I can push the material with the aim to capture or preserve the point of disintegration. It’s a tricky balance to...
by Jon Williams | Jun 12, 2020 | Artist, Work in Progress
Sometimes it’s just nice to see what the stuff can do!
by Jon Williams | Jun 9, 2020 | Experiments, Outside
Something I greatly value about the making process is the emergence of an unexpected outcome. The potter’s wheel offers lots of potential for a creative ‘surprise’ and I always try to stay alert to the ‘happy accident’. The slightest...
by Jon Williams | May 21, 2020 | Exhibitions, installation, Interactive Art
Throwback Thursday: Electro Bees in the Black Country Aug 2016 Back in the depths of Winter 2015 Jon was approached by Creative Black Country to contribute a work of art for a field of ceramic flowers, being ‘grown’ by community groups in West Bromwich and the...
by Jon Williams | May 14, 2020 | Interactive Art, Social Engagement
Throwback Thursday: Making Together at Birmingham Settlement 2018 This was a year-long programme of inter-generational making based activity initiated by Craftspace and took place at Birmingham Settlement. I was one of six makers who got to work with early-years...
by Jon Williams | May 10, 2020 | Experiments
Really enjoyed making these three! They were produced at a time when I was busy experimenting with process and materials, using all sorts of clay bodies and firing temperatures. I worked intuitively and quickly, blow torching freshly thrown vessels on the...
by Jon Williams | May 7, 2020 | Interactive Art, Outside
Throwback Thursday: Happy Craft Play Project 2013 – 2014 Outside learning with nursery aged children in the depths of winter – chilly, great fun and a fine example of partnership and collaborative working! Just look at the individuals and organisations...
by Jon Williams | Apr 30, 2020 | Exhibitions, installation, Interactive Art
Throwback Thursday: Hereford Ceramic Sound Trail 2015 Having been inspired by the success of my solo exhibition Sensational Clay, I was keen to explore in more detail some of the threads I’d been developing for the show – particularly the sonic...
by Jon Williams | Apr 20, 2020 | Outside
Never been asked to make a pottery rabbit before! Chuffed to be asked by the lovely peeps at Puzzle Wood in The Forest of Dean to be included in their Great Puzzlewood Easter (virtual) Pottery Trail!
by Jon Williams | Apr 17, 2020 | Exhibitions
A couple of pots from the Museum’s ceramic collection that inspired Jon to make his interactive, water play ceramics for the exhibition MAKING HISTORIES currently on show at Leamington Spa Museum and Art Gallery in Warwickshire. The first two photos are of a...
