RICHARD PHETHEAN

A ceramics graduate of the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, and further trained in the studio's of tutors Colin Pearson and Janice Tchalenko, Richard is an established professional potter whose work has been exhibited throughout the UK and can be found in collections internationally.  He is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association, and is on the Crafts Council of Great Britain's Index of Selected Makers.

Following an interest in early English slipware, Richard began an ongoing exploration of the medium.  Using traditional slip-trailing and sgrafitto techniques, he spent two years developing ranges of honey and clear glazed tableware. 

Two years spent working as a volunteer on a crafts project in the Papua New Guinea highlands 1985-87 had an overwhelming impact, both emotionally and politically.  This led to a radical reappraisal of his work as a craftsman, and marked a return to classical vessel forms.

In 2001 Richard was offered a position as Resident Potter in an independent Quaker school. The situation provided an opportunity to take a new direction altogethe.

The main body of Richard's recent work is sculptural, using the potter's wheel to create vessel forms from sectional, altered and assembled thrown and additional slab elements. These are made in a coarse-grogged red earthenware clay. The brushed slips and fine sgrafitto detail are applied at the leather hard stage. 

After a bisque firing, areas of plain clay are inlaid with an engobe wash, then the pieces are selectively wax resisted, before glazing and firing to 1125 degrees c.