Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you enjoy it!
I established Kelcey Ceramics in 2008 after graduating from Hereford College of Arts, with BA(Hons) in Contemporary Applied Arts. I am a Licentiate of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, and an Associate member of the Craft Potters Association.
I am currently studying for MA - Art and Design (Ceramics) at the University of Wolverhampton.
I am involved in the CinBA (Creativity and Craft Production in Middle and Late Bronze Age ) project, and for a period of three months from April to June 2011 I will be working in the ceramic studio of the V&A Museum under the museum's Graduate Residency Programme.
I make a range of Porcelain vessels, ranging in size from 2cm diameter to 40cam diameter. Some vessels are open, others have lids. Each piece or work is unique - I work intuitively with the materials, handbuilding all of my work, sometimes using a combination of throwing on the wheel with slab building. Many of my pieces are unglazed to retain the textural and visual qualities of this wonderful clay. In each piece I explore the interaction between the thrown form and mark making, using copper, impressed stamps, and touches of glaze to create other dimensions within the piece.
The pieces are fired to a stoneware temperature of 1260°C in an electric kiln. There is always an element of surprise after firing, both in the behaviour of the clay and where the copper has to some extent found its own path - factors I find fascinating and exciting. I am also intrigued by the ways in which the same 'ingredients' in a glaze, used in different proportions, can produce startlingly different colours and effects.
The inspirations for my work come from observing the effects of age and weathering on stone and wood, characteristics I am constantly aware of in my home and in the graveyard and Lych gate of our local Norman Church. Some of these qualities can also be seen within clay in its raw state, which can be captured or retained by kiln firing or, conversely, modified during the same process. In my website I have included pages with a selection of images that reflect these sources of inspiration, which I hope you will find interesting.
Ann Kelcey