Join Clive Bowen in conversation with Mike Goldmark. Among other things, they talk about Clive’s early start as a painter, his apprenticeship with Michael Cardew, his love of music and improvisation and his success in Japan. We also see shots of his beautiful pots in situ at his Goldmark exhibition celebrating his 80th birthday.
Potters: Clive Bowen
Folk Roots, New Routes
Now in his 80th year, Clive Bowen ranks as the finest slipware potter working in Britain, feted in Japan and collected internationally. Alun Graves, senior curator at the V&A, takes stock of a career spanning over 50 years. For more than fifty years, Clive Bowen has made slipware at his pottery near Shebbear in north … Read more
Spontaneous Drawing
Geographically Clive Bowen seems more than appropriately sited as a potter – living and working at Shebbear, in the remoter Devon valleys near Great Torrington. He is close to where the great earthenware tradition of the North Devon coast once thrived, where he learnt to make pots at Michael Leach’s pottery at Yelland, and to … Read more
Documentary | Clive Bowen | Born, Not Made
Now in his early seventies, Clive Bowen is without equal in Britain as a maker of slipware. His pots are collected and used worldwide.
Filmed on location in Devon, this documentary follows Bowen as he prepares for his 2014 ceramics exhibition at Goldmark Gallery.
The film follows Bowen at work in his studio. It shows him throwing, glazing and decorating platters, jugs and store jars, press moulding tiles and opening his kiln.
Bowen discusses his life as a studio potter and the challenges involved.
An Interview with Clive Bowen | Slipware Potter
We spoke to slipware potter Clive Bowen about his love of clay… Looking around the studio, we’re surrounded by jugs and mugs, plates, dishes, platters, jars – all eminently usable. I’ve always made functional pots, pots for use in the kitchen or the home. This is my great love: how to present that meal, how … Read more
‘Pots to Give and to Hold’: Why We Love Eating from Handmade Ceramics
Even the most ascetic, least material of monks has need of three things: robes, in which to clothe himself; a temple, in which to shelter himself; and a bowl, with which to feed himself.
Masterclass | Clive Bowen | Jug Decorating
Clive Bowen continues his masterclass at Goldmark Gallery. In this film he decorates a jug and discusses the affects that wood firing has on his slipware decoration.
Masterclass | Clive Bowen | Slip Decorating Techniques
Watch master slipware potter Clive Bowen give a slip decorating demonstration at Goldmark Gallery. Clive’s work is borne out of the local North Devon tradition and his palette very much reflects this. He begins by showing a variety of decorating techniques on tiles whilst answering audience questions.
Masterclass | Clive Bowen | Decorating Tiles and Bowls
Slipware potter Clive Bowen gives a live demonstration at Goldmark Gallery of his decorating techniques. The film captures his seemingly effortless drawing with slip trail and sgraffito on tiles and the decoration of a bowl.
Masterclass | Clive Bowen | Slip Trailing, Sgraffito and Decorating Bowls
Clive Bowen demonstrates slipware decoration of a plate and tile at Goldmark Gallery whilst chatting with the audience. He touches on the rhythm of decorating “en masse” and his repertoire of stylistic devices.
Masterclass | Clive Bowen | Decorating a Plate and a Vase
Watch renowned slip-ware potter Clive Bowen during a live demonstration of slipware decorating at Goldmark Gallery. He discusses the influence of ‘The Unknown Craftsman’ and how his love of music inspires his work.
In Focus | Ceramic Forms: The Humble Jug
One of the simplest ceramic forms with the most basic of uses, the jug has a complex history. Read our latest ceramics musing on jugs of the past and present.
We Love Clay Guide | How to Spot a Good Pot: Surface (Pt. 2)
If the surface of a pot tells a story, decoration is the potter’s language, gestural marks and impressed shapes their vocabulary.
We Love Clay Guide | Buying Pots: 10 Types of Ceramic Decoration
It can be difficult to spot how different marks on a pot have been achieved. Here’s our short guide to ceramic decoration to get you started.
Profile | Clive Bowen: ‘Born, Not Made’
To coincide with the arrival of a new batch of pots from Devon, we’re featuring our feature-length ceramics film on renowned slipware potter Clive Bowen as this week’s Profile.