Ainsdale Pottery

I am a largely self-taught potter, artist and photographer.

I hand build all my pots using pinching, coiling, slabbing and modelling techniques. I make bowls, bottles, plates, lamp-bases and candlesticks. Many of my forms are sharp edged and finely balanced, the bottle forms often twisting as they rise. I use features from the landscape on my pots, mountains, streams and beaches occur frequently and also much smaller items such as shells and leaf forms.

I also, occasionally, make figures both animal and human which reflect my own interests in mountain walking and climbing but I have made many characters specially commissioned to suit the owner.

For my drawings I use coloured pencils or pastels, liking the direct contact with the surface, using smudging and rubbing techniques to achieve the variations in tones and shades which I see in the skies, clouds, landscapes and water I try to represent. The drawings have become more and more abstract and many later works are totally so but remain heavily influenced by elements from the landscape.

I have exhibited my work in local exhibitions over many years; the drawings and pots regularly in Southport Palette Club annual exhibition and many exhibitions with the Art and Craft Guild of Lancashire for many years. My work can be found in private homes in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Australia.

Contact Chris Hughes

Email: cahnumber12@yahoo.co.uk