Join Anne Mette Hjortshøj for a masterclass in her studio on the island of Bornholm just off the Danish coast as she prepares press moulded square bottles. She finishes by throwing the neck of the bottle and describing how she will glaze and decorate using finished examples. ‘I spend most of my time in the studio working on my wheel, and I like the process, but sometimes it’s nice to get away and do something different. So I started making these press-moulded square bottles, in which you have a flat canvas that you can work on and that can show off the glazes. I see the materials in a different way when I see this canvas, when I see a picture more than I see a three-dimensional object.’
Square bottle
Talking Pots | Anne Mette Hjortshøj | Square Bottles
Anne Mette Hjortshøj looks at one of her trademark square bottles and reveals the surprising way they are constructed. She talks about the importance of getting away from the wheel and how these bottles serve as a canvas for decoration and experimentation.
Critics Choice | Ken Matsuzaki
Potter, writer and academic Sebastian Blackie takes a look at Ken Matsuzaki’s 2011 exhibition at Goldmark Gallery. It was extraordinary that the exhibition took place at all. Ken’s hometown of Mashiko had been devastated by a huge earthquake in March that year; fortunately these pots had been dispatched for the UK just before it had struck.
Exhibition | Phil Rogers | Earthly Matters
Phil Rogers, one of the outstanding British potters of his generation, exhibited at Goldmark Gallery from 16 May 2020. This was the 5th major exhibition of his work at Goldmark and each show has built on the success of the one before. Goldmark was closed because of the Coronavirus however the exhibition was available virtually to the public with an online tour and new films featuring both an interview with Rogers and footage of him at work. The exhibition saw the publication of a new catalogue written by the Rev. Richard Coles, Vicar of Finedon, former member of 1980s pop group The Communards and presenter of Radio 4 programme Saturday Live. The film shows the culmination of an extraordinary career in ceramics by a potter who forged his own path pushing the boundaries of the traditions he was rooted in.