Warren MacKenzie at the Leach Pottery

Cornwall Ceramics Trail 2013 Map

The map for the Cornwall Ceramics Trail 2013 is now available to download as a PDF

DOWNLOAD CCT MAP

Leach Pottery Sponsors Cornwall's First Ceramics Trail

The Leach Pottery and Fine Art Communications are sponsoring the first Cornwall Ceramics Trail to take place between September 14th and 28th 2013.  For two weeks in September 2013, potters and ceramicists across West Cornwall have joined together to offer this special opportunity, inviting the public into their workplaces to meet them, watch them at work and buy pots direct from the maker. A downloadable map will be available in the next few days from the Leach Pottery website but in the meantime details of the participating potters can be found on the CCT blog http://cornwallceramicstrail.blogspot.co.uk/ or on their Facebook group page - Cornwall Ceramics Trail

Vancouver Apprentice Returns to the Leach Pottery after Fifty Years

In August the Leach Pottery welcomes back former apprentice, Glenn Lewis from Vancouver, for the first of the pottery’s international residencies for 2013. 

Lewis was apprenticed at the Leach Pottery in St Ives between 1961 and 1963, inspired by a friend from art school, John Reeve, who had arrived back in Vancouver from Cornwall with stories of his own time at the Leach Pottery. Lewis, who had graduated in painting and ceramics from the University of British Columbia, worked in the St. Ives studio under the direction of William Marshall and alongside Kenneth Quick, John Leach and Nirmala Patwarden, producing the workshop’s handmade standard ware pottery. These two years was also a time for aesthetic and spiritual growth under the mentorship of Bernard and Janet Leach. 

At the end of this period, John Reeve returned to England, and along with Warren MacKenzie, Reeve and Lewis bought an ancient house and barns in Devon, and built a pottery workshop there called Longlands, where they began producing their own pots in 1964. Shortly after setting up Longlands, Lewis returned to Canada, teaching in the University of British Columbia Education Faculty and exhibiting in Vancouver and Toronto. His work moved towards sculptural pieces and he was awarded grants to allow him to continue his experimental and innovative work.

Glenn Lewis is resident at the Leach Pottery between August 24^th and September 6^th. During his two weeks at the Leach Pottery this summer he will be making pots in the old pottery workshop where visitors will be able to watch him working and making pots, and talk meet about his memories of being an apprentice there fifty years ago.

Cornwall Design Fair - Aug 16/17/18

Preparations are well under way now in the studio for the Cornwall Design Fair which opens on August 16th at Trereife House, near Newlyn.  The Leach Pottery has taken a whole marquee for the three days of the event and will be holding demonstrations and taster sessions as well as raku firings and of course selling our pots.  The opening times are Friday & Saturday 11am to 6pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm.  Tickets £6, under 16s FREE.  Do try and join us there.
For more information visit www.cornwalldesignfair.co.uk

A Focus On ..... Britta Wengeler

A reminder to anyone who hasn't seen it yet that we are showcasing the personal work of Leach production potter, Britta Wengeler in the shop until the end of August.  Britta Wengeler, who is from Germany, has been making our tableware since 2012 and is currently on maternity leave from the studio.

After finishing her training in Germany 2009, she travelled for three years through France, Germany, New Zealand and England to learn more about different techniques and cultural aspects of ceramics. Especially, her time with New Zealand potter Petra Meyboden and her time in France had a strong influence on her work.

Britta loves cooking and the simple things of daily living. It is important to her that she produces work that is beautiful and a pleasure to use. Britta therefore produces a range of table and kitchen ware that is functional yet playful, while being rooted within the formal language of traditional European pottery. The pots are all produced at the Leach Pottery, decorated with stamps and glazes then fired under reduction in a gas kiln to 1300°C.

Bernard Leach Lithos For Sale

We have just managed to get our hands on a number of Bernard Leach lithos by the Curwen Studio which we are selling, unframed, at £400 each (plus postage).  These are very rare and I think this batch is the last lot that are likely to be available - you will find them occasionally coming up at auction but not often.  We have Black Jar, Tree of Life, Lion Tile, and Fish Vase:

DESCRIPTION

Bernard Leach(1887‑1979) lithograph on paper, produced after Bernard Leach (in his 90's) visited the Curwen Studio encouraged by Janet leach and Barbara Hepworth . Leach worked with Stanley Jones to produce these stunning lithographs which are all signed and numbered in pencil by Leach himself. With failing eyesight, these few lithographic works represent possibly his last creative acts. The prints are in fabulous condition, having never been previously framed and stored in gallery archives. Copies were presented by Curwen Studio through the Institute of Contemporary Prints to the Tate Gallery Collection in 1975.

If you are interested in buying one please contact me on julia@leachpottery.com or phone 01736 799703 - we can take credit card or cheque but numbers are very limited.

Welcome to the Leach Pottery blog



I have always struggled to keep a diary - try as I might, it is a discipline which has eluded me.  I love stationery so I have many partially filled notebooks and journals on my shelves and desk, but I quickly get distracted and move on to the next.  So please bear with me as I start to write this blog - it isn't something that comes naturally. 

I also feel that a Leach Pottery blog is long overdue.  I have been in post here as Director for 5 years now, since the pottery was reopened to the public following the restoration in 2008.  Throughout that time so much has happened - so many changes, developments, setbacks, triumphs and crises - but there has been little done to track that story.  So I suppose I should start with where we are now on this slightly rainy summer day in July 2013.

FIRING

Today we are firing the large soda kiln.  It is a clean up firing in as much as we are clearing out and firing stuff that has been hanging around in the studio for a while. But we are also taking the opportunity to fire individual work by our potters in preparation for the Cornwall Design Fair at Trereife near Newlyn which takes place in the middle weekend of August (16-18). We have a whole marquee this year and will be selling our tableware, work by our potters and also holding demonstrations, workshops and raku firings.  Richard (our technician) has been building the stands and Roelof (Senior Production Potter) is getting everything organised.  I am just hoping the weather improves!

CLAY DAYS 

Today Amanda (Education Officer) is running her fabulous Clay days workshops in the old pottery workshop with another happy band of parents and children.  We do this every Tuesday and Wednesday through the holidays. Yesterday they were making sculptures and today's lot are on coil pots. 

THIRD GENERATION

We have a new gallery space in the reception to the old pottery and our current show is called Third Generation and features the work of Bernard Leach's four potter grandsons - Simon, Philip, John and Jeremy.  All of the pots are for sale and the exhibition runs throughout the summer (entry to this bit of the site is free as it is to the shop).  I have added a few photos from the opening two weeks ago - thanks to Matt Tyas for the pictures.