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 | Apr 21, 2021 | Experiments, Surface Quality
A beautiful galaxy appeared in the slip bucket lid!!!
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 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 | 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 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 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 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 | 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 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 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 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...
