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Gareth Mason is an English ceramicist who pushes boundaries in both form as well as surface treatment. I’ve found his work inspiring and challenging. Inspiring in that he pushes the viewer to consider his or her own concepts of what the act of making ceramics is really all about; challenging in that his manipulations and the thought process behind those manipulations of both form and surface aren’t immediately evident. You have to dig in a bit, spend some time. I encourage you to take some time with Gareth’s work now – I think it’s worth the effort.

I will admit that I struggled to find images to accompany this article. The modifications to form and surface that Gareth does to his work happen across all areas of a three-dimensional form. I’ve included several images of individual pieces, taken from different angles, to give you a better idea.

JTW: You say most of your work is “ridiculously involved” with wheel turning just a starting point of the process. Can you describe your creative process in more detai

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My career in ceramics is a remarkable, if understated, story. I have no artistic or ceramic history in my family nor did I study ceramics at art college. In fact I discovered ceramics by accident as an element in my teaching degree whist at Bretton Hall (now the site of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park) in the late 1960s. Similarly my work in Raku was appropriately the result of a serendipitous encounter with American Raku ceramics in the early 1980s. However due to persistence, a natural talent and support from colleagues, friends and family, especially my wife Jan, over the past 40 years I have established myself as a leading international practitioner in Raku Ceramics.

I have exhibited and presented workshops throughout the UK, Europe and USA introducing my processes and work to people worldwide. In the mid 80’s, using modern kiln materials, I pioneered large scale Raku in the UK. During the late ’80s and early ’90s I was one of a handful of international potters who invented and developed the Painting With Smoke (Naked Raku) process extending the repertoire of contemporary Raku C

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Melanie Sherman, a German-born artist, currently resides and works in Kansas City, Missouri. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute, her artistic journey is influenced by her background in graphic design, which honed her keen eye for patterns and decorative elements. Within her ceramic practice, she skillfully merges her passion for ornamentation with a deep fascination for the historical legacy of ceramics, specifically drawing inspiration from 18th-century European porcelain. Melanie’s artistic pursuits have taken her on extensive travels across China, Japan, Hungary, France, Luxembourg, Holland, England, and Germany, allowing her to delve into the realms of both historic and contemporary porcelain production. These experiences kindled her appreciation for prestigious ceramic wares.

As a resident at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemét, Hungary, she had the privilege of studying under the renowned Latvian artist, Ilona Romule. This residency deepened her love for working with plaster and engaging in meticulous porcelain p