Watch British artist Walter Keeler as he begins to make one of his signature, monumental jugs. We listen as Keeler talks us through the various processes, providing us with an invaluable insight into his philosophy towards clay and making. He shows us some of his ‘special’ tools and ‘hacks’ that he has discovered over his 60 years as a potter.
Extruded forms are synonymous with Keeler’s work. In particular the strong sweeping forms of the jugs, with spouts an integral part of the body, rather than being added later. The forms are made by pushing the clay through a die of the desired size and shape using a wall mounted extruder.
Keeler is a British studio potter, born in London in 1942. He attended Harrow School of Art, London where he was trained by Michael Casson. He established his first pottery at Bledlow Bridge, Buckinghamshire in 1965 then moved to his current studio in Penallt Wales, where he lives with his potter wife Madoline. He was professor of Ceramics at the University of the West of England and in 2007 was named Welsh Artist of the Year.
Keeler makes salt glaze pottery influenced by early Staffordshire Creamware. Writer Oliver Watson described him as ‘one of the most important and influential potters of the 1980s’. Keeler’s work is held in a number of public collections including Victoria & Albert Museum, National Museum Wales, American Craft Museum, New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA and the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
