ABOUT THE ARTIST

AVRIL FARLEY - 2 Bayhead Cottages, Lower Soudley,
Near Cinderford, Glos, GL14 2UD. United Kingdom
Tel: 01594 823241.
E-mail: Please go back to the main page

Website: www.crystalpot.co.uk

My first taste of ceramics was a one off occasion as a guest at an adult education class in Australia in 1997. The experience encouraged me, on my return to the UK, to enrol for a two year BTEC National Diploma in Design and Studio Ceramics at the Royal Forest of Dean College, under the auspices of Alastair Young and Jack Doherty, followed in September 2000 by a two year Professional Development Certificate Course, both of which I passed with Distinction.

After working for over 30 years in commerce, I gave up 'the day job' in February 2002 to devote the majority of my time to ceramics. My workshop is an old converted wash house at my home in the Forest of Dean, where, apart from a small gas bottle fuelled raku kiln, I am wholly dependant upon electricity to fire my work.

I am a member of South Wales Potters and an Associate member of the Craft Potters Association.

About the Work

Although I occasionally use other clays , my great love is porcelain, and the majority of my work is made in this demanding clay. Whatever the media, it is very important to me that my work is well finished, tactile, and visually appealing at any angle.

My pieces are thrown Limoge special porcelain or a very white stoneware clay from Australia, fired to between 1260 and 1280 celcius in an electric top loader. I am interested in glaze technology, particularly in the field of creating unusual glaze surfaces within the constraints of electric kiln firing, and the subject of my work is an ongoing exploration into the beguiling and frustrating discipline of Macro Crystalline glazes. I am constantly experimenting with new shapes and glaze combinations within this field, and my work ranges from tiny bottles to very large bowls and dishes.

I am inspired by the simple, graceful shapes of Song dynasty Chinese porcelains; the Art Nouveau period with its fluidity of design; botanical motifs and the natural world in general - from fractals to water, and the folds of desert and rock. I have often thought the specialised crystalline glaze on my porcelain bowls and bottles to be reminiscent of many natural themes, including the soft lichen on the stones and trees of the Forest in which I live and work.

Publications
Frank and Janet Hamer Potters Dictionary edition 5 - Featured Article
Diane Creber - New Edition Crystalline Glazes published May 2005 - Featured artist
Ceramics Technical Vol 20 2005 - Australia, featured artist
Ceramic Review March/April 2006 - Rare Earth Glazes
2006 Gallery Guide - Parkfields Ross on Wye

Galleries currently stocking my work
Parkfields Gallery; December 2002 to date
Bowie Gallery, Hay on Wye, January 2002
Red Dog Gallery (formerly Craft Renaissance), Usk, May 2004 to date
Gallery on the Usk, Crickhowell July 2004 to date
Studio Fabrica St Albans
Jo Charles Gallery, Whitley Bay
Out of the Blue Gallery, Bath
Cole and Co, Beaumaris, Anglesey