February Newsletter 2025
Welcome to the second newsletter of the year. This one has a three dimensional focus. We will introduce three of our ceramicists through the artist profiles and showcase a selection of the NYOS emerging artists through images of their work.
Check out the diary dates for future exhibitions and events and look out for the first NYOS event of the year at Rural Arts in Thirsk, taking place from 4th -22nd March.
Visit the NYOS website to find out about the Friends of NYOS scheme
https://nyos.org.uk/join/friend-of-north-yorkshire-open-studios/
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Artist Profile: Allison Wiffen, Dales Region
Career Path – I first did ceramics at school, loved it then, but didn’t do it again till my 30s. Aged 40 I left my job and went to Camberwell College of Art, specialising in ceramics. I have been a ceramic designer and maker ever since.
Inspiration – My pieces are often very simple in form as I really enjoy surface decoration. I notice colour and pattern everywhere I go, in the garden, in city streets, on dry stone walls. I am also particularly fond of fabrics and wallpapers from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
My latest work involves the printing of multiple layers of colour and pattern on shallow bowls. This takes me back to the work I was doing when I left Camberwell which was all about the ephemeral nature of existence and how we leave traces of ourselves in our homes with their layers of paint and wallpaper. I am very excited about this work and am hugely enjoying making it.
Studio Day – I usually work from 10 till 4. Some days I might spend the day throwing on the potter’s wheel. The following day I will then have to finish those pieces adding handles or bases. Some days I will be decorating and in full-colour mode. Decoration can be done using slips or liquid clay onto raw clay, or can be done with underglazes after the bisque firing stage. Either way, there will be pots of colour everywhere, brushes everywhere, a kind of crazy colourful chaos! The final stage in my work is glazing. Glazing is a whole world in itself: matte, shiny, satin? High temperature or low with the latter giving brighter colours but the former strength. One of the great joys of ceramics is the range of possibilities it offers, this is also a big problem for a person who wants to play and do it all . . . I have learned over the years to rein myself in, to some extent.
The most exciting thing of all is always getting things out of the kiln after the final firing. I have an idea what to expect for the most part but there are always surprises: sometimes a pot that thrills you beyond measure, as well as disappointments. If you can’t cope with things going wrong then I would say don’t become a ceramist!
I think I am the luckiest person alive to do what I do for a living . . . playing with clay, it’s just the best.
Artist Profile: Carol Metcalfe, Central Region
Career Path – I studied Sciences at A level, then, as a mature student, went on to study Textiles but ended up majoring in Ceramics and Glass before completing a Doctorate in Ceramic Ash Glazes. I discovered Wood Ash Glazes which inspired me to explore and research the use of other plant ashes as ceramic glaze ingredients. The resulting glazes are a cornerstone of my practice.
Inspiration – I am inspired by the landscapes around my home in North Yorkshire. My ceramic pieces have a strong sense of place. Some of the landscapes are torn and reassembled, in response to the challenges the countryside has faced over the years and continues to face going forward, scarred but enduring.
Process and Practice – I produce handbuilt stoneware ceramic pieces, glazed with my own sustainable plant ash glazes. Using the waste material left after harvesting arable crops, I have developed a whole range of glazes; some glossy and transparent, others dry with rich colouring. My ceramic art practice incorporates these home-grown ash glazes, together with other found materials, collected locally. The textured surfaces of my pieces are also produced using waste products from the farm. Weeds or seeds and chaff, dressed out of the harvested crops, are rolled into the soft clay. Further surface decoration makes use of other natural, locally found materials, such as clay slips and iron-bearing silts, poured or painted onto the piece. A long-held ambition to use wind power to fire the electric kiln has been realised with the installation of a small turbine. Work is produced using this renewable energy as far as possible, increasing sustainability.
Studio Day – There is no ‘typical’ day in my studio. Ceramics is a very time related activity and cannot be rushed. The activities involved are also very varied, from collecting or burning plant material to create ash, to rolling out clay, to applying colour or monitoring 12 hour kiln firings. I often make several visits to the studio in the day. Fortunately, it is just across my yard, in an outbuilding! I am enjoying the opportunity to work within the North Yorkshire Open Studios group and take part in the varied events it offers, including welcoming visitors to my studio. These activities complement my own selling exhibitions in local venues and galleries.
Artist Profile: CFS Ceramics, Moors and Coast Region
Career Path – My father (a sculptor) had friend who was a potter, and as a very young boy I remember going and watching him throwing pots on his potters wheel. I thought it was fascinating and totally bemused by the fact that a lump of clay, when it spins round, could be shaped to make so many different shapes, some small, some very large. Quite magical. The rest, as they say, is history. I went to Art college in 1972 and have been making pots and teaching others ever since.
Process and Practice – I work with a variety of clays, depending on what I want to make, as this will influence the finished piece. Most of my work is wheel thrown, sometimes altered and sometimes with additions attached. These additions are not always made from clay. I high fire my work, but have been working towards ‘greening’ my practice and lowering the temperature from 1280c to 1240c. I use green electricity to fire my kiln.
Inspiration – When I was at college Bernard Leach and his book was our bible. Not only did I like his philosophy of fusion of East meets West, I was inspired by early Japanese, Chinese and Korean pottery traditions. Then I discovered Lucy Rie and Hans Coper and a new modernist European tradition. For me, pottery is still, after all these years, a journey of discovery.
Meet NYOS Emerging 3D artists – With this month’s Newsletter focusing on ceramicists, we thought it would be lovely to share with you artists who are new to NYOS in 2025 and who work in three dimensions.
FROM THE TOP: SMITTON CERAMICS, SCHIEW CERAMICS, GREENTHWAITE SCULPTURE, CATH LITTLE, THE MOSAIC ROOM, JOHNNY SUNTER, GOOSEWING STUDIOS, and MAGICK AND WILDS.