Biography & CV

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Awards

May 2006 - Awarded a grant from Arts Council England, West Midlands, for "Grants for the Arts - Individuals". Project entitled "Enhancement of Marketing Strategy and Artistic Portfolio".

May 2004 - Awarded a grant from Arts Council England, West Midlands, for "Arts for Individuals" to permit a dedicated research and development period.

 

Publications

Ceramic Art and Perception: issue 65; pp88-90 (September 2006). Profile and review by Craig Ashley. (Click here)

Ceramic Review: issue 213; p56 (May/June 2005) - Spotlight exhibition review by Emma Crichton-Miller (Click here)

 

2008 Exhibitions

1st - 28th March - Group show at The Gallery at Bever, Worcester, UK. (Click here)

1st - 31st March - Group show at the Wine Street Gallery, Devizes, Wiltshire, UK. (Click here)

1st - 4th May - Selected to exhibit at the 2008 Dießen Ceramic Market, Dießen, Bavaria, Germany. (Click here)

19th May - 2nd August - Group show at Gallery 23, Lancaster, Lancashire, UK. (Click here)

21st June - Mid August - Group show at the Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland UK. (Click here)

1st - 3rd August - Selected to exhibit at the 14th National Pottery and Ceramics Festival, Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK (Click here)

25th - 26th October - Selected to exhibit at the Oxford Ceramics Fair, St Edwards School, Woodstock Road, Oxford, UK (Click here)

22nd - 23rd November - Selected to exhibit at the 12th Southern Pottery & Ceramics Show, The Maltings, Farnham, Surry, UK. (Click here)

2007 Exhibitions

17th - 20th May - Selected to exhibit at the 2007 Dießen Ceramic Market, Dießen, Bavaria, Germany (Click here)

27th - 29th July - Selected to exhibit at "Potfest In The Park", Hutton-In-The-Forest, Nr Penrith, Cumbria, UK (Click here)

3rd - 5th August - Selected to exhibit at the 13th National Pottery and Ceramics Festival, Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK (Click here)

24th - 25th November - Selected to exhibit at the 11th Southern Pottery & Ceramics Show, The Maltings, Farnham, Surry, UK. DUE TO ILLNESS, I'VE HAD TO WITHDRAW FROM THIS SHOW (Click here)

20th November - 1st December - Selected to exhibit at The Gallery Upstairs, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, UK (Click here)

Late November - 24th December - Selected to exhibit at Millyard Gallery, Millyard, Staveley, Nr Kendal, Cumbria, UK (Click here)

2006 Exhibitions

Francis Burrows Fine Arts, The Qube, Birmingham (Click here). Ongoing show and also exhibits at art fairs within the UK.

"Where I Fell In Love Gallery", Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. Xmas show 2006. The gallery also stocks Andrew's work on an ongoing basis. (Click here)

25th - 28th May - Selected to exhibit at the 2006 Dießen Ceramic Market, Dießen, Bavaria, Germany (Click here)

28th - 30th July - Selected to exhibit at "Potfest In The Park", Hutton-In-The-Forest, Nr Penrith, Cumbria, UK (Click here)

4th - 6th August - Selected to exhibit at Art in Clay 2006, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. (Click here)

29th - 30th October - Selected to exhibit at Oxford Studio Ceramics, (Craft Potters Association show). St Edwards School, Woodstock Road, Oxford. (Click here)

18th - 19th November - Selected to exhibit at Art in Clay 2006, The Maltings, Farnham, Surrey. (Click here)

2006 Orton Cone Box Show Competition - Two vessels selected for the two year travelling and selling exhibition around the United States of America. Initial show held at Baker University, Kansas USA.(Click here)

 

Previous Exhibitions

Art@Warwick, Corporate exhibition. IBM UK Ltd, Warwick campus.

Old Courthouse Gallery, Ambleshide, Cumbria (Click here)

Selected to exhibit at the 9th Southern Pottery & Ceramics Show. The Maltings, Farnham, Surrey. (Click here)

Two man show, with painter Jessica Owens, at "Arts Creative @ the Old Brickworks" (Francis Burrows Fine Arts), Chesterfield, Derbyshire. (Click here)

Selected to exhibit at the 11th National Pottery & Ceramics Festival. Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. (Click here)

Beaux Arts, Bath, Wiltshire (Click here)

Red Barn Gallery, Melkinthorpe, Penrith, Cumbria (Click here)

Round House Gallery, Foston, Derbyshire. (Click here)

"A Sense of Place". Joint artist in a landscape-based exhibition. Wine Street Gallery, Devizes, Wiltshire.

Spotlight Exhibition. An 8 week solo show at the Art Gallery & Museum, The Royal Pump Rooms, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. This show was accompanied by a free talk and throwing demonstration by Andrew on Wednesday 9th March in The Royal Pump Room's "Assembly Rooms" 19:00 - 20:00. (Click here)

"Gallery H", The Promenade, Arnside, Cumbria. Work exhibited throughout all of 2005. (Click here)

Opening season of new gallery "Where I Fell In Love Gallery", Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. (Click here)

Christmas Exhibition, "The Gallery Upstairs", Torquil, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.

Warwickshire Arts Week 2004; joint exhibition space at St Mary's Church, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. (Click here)

Selected for the 2004 International Orton Box Show travelling two year exhibition in the United States. (Click here)

 

Biographical Data

Andrew was born and brought up in the coastal Northwest of England but has now lived in Warwickshire for six years. It was during his scientific career, researching his PhD in mammalian genetics and chromosomal biology at Cambridge, that he discovered ceramics and began a long fascination with the art form, both making and collecting. In January 2004, he took a six month sabbatical to focus on his ceramics and to facilitate his move from amateur potter to a professional exhibiting artist. With financial support from the Arts Council England, and mentorship from the internationally renowned ceramicist Peter Beard, his technical skills at the potter’s wheel and with glaze chemistry developed rapidly, resulting in a strong exhibiting portfolio.

His work consists of volcanic glazes applied over thrown stoneware vessels fired under oxidising conditions. The degree of the surface reaction is closely controlled and used to accentuate both form and hue. Some vessels exhibit muted reactions which work with the subtle tones of the colouring oxides, whilst the bolder coloured pots often have exaggerated textures. Different vessels have different voices and he aims to represent each one accordingly.

 

"The Scottish sandstone, granites and slate are a beautiful and intriguing surface teeming with wildlife. With my development of the volcanic glaze textures being applied to both thrown vessels and hand-built landscape forms, the Cumbrian and Caithness coasts have now overtly manifested themselves in my work".

 

The need to work with texture and subtle colours originated early in Andrew’s youth with a fascination of all things biological; the yellow, sage and black lichens growing on the tidal glacial rock of South Lakeland, where he grew up, have always excited him, as do the silver white and sage mosses on dry stone walls which can enliven a static and “dead” man-made structure. As a consequence of paddling in rock pools and scrambling up cliffs, he has been drawn to the variety and feeling of the rocks themselves. Major influences have been the slanting slate beds of Caithness; the coloured soft sandstone of both Petra and the Jordanian deserts; the basalt hexagonal stones in the Giant’s Causeway to name but a few.

The clay medium serves two functions to Andrew; firstly to define and express visual form, and secondly to function as a canvas for decorative expression. Marrying both produces a successful piece of visual art. This is not to forget the inherent process however; the expanding skills and lessons from previous experience directly link internal thoughts and impressions towards the final completed works through the sheer practicality of making.

Since turning professional, Andrew's ceramics have evolved dramatically into mature and strong work and, significantly, uniquely distinctive. The intimate relationship between vessel surface texture, form and proportionality will continue to be developed as his career continues.