Kathy Priddis
Artwork for Kathy Priddis
Details
How would you describe the work you do and why?
POTTERY My pots are designed for everyday use, their shapes a collaboration of natural forms with their ultimate purpose or function. I make wheel-thrown stoneware, and I decorate with local clays from the Forest of Dean and Herefordshire, weathered in rainwater and sieved to make creamy slips. These also form the basis of my glazes where they interact with my celadon glazes to create spontaneous opalescent Chun effects in blues, greens and purples. Further decoration is with ammonite sprigs, wax patterns, leaf resist, or sgraffitto. PAINTING As a portrait painter, I work either from life or good quality photographs, using oils, acrylics, watercolour or pastels. I aim to depict presence and story as well as likeness. As a landscape painter I am inspired by the countryside and what lives in it: trees, hills, rivers and streams, old buildings, and the clear light and wide skies. I work figuratively on canvas or heavy paper using acrylics, oils, watercolours, pastels, and soluble pen, relying on sketches and photographs taken in all weathers and finishing the work in my studio. Thus an intuitive harmony exists between my interpretation of the mood of the landscape and my choice of palette.
For you what does being an artist mean?:
Being an artist, for me, is discovering the relationship between the harmony in Nature, both above and below ground, and my spiritual values.
Describe what you call yourself/your practice?:
Potter and Painter
Your practice & activities include e.g workshops, teaching:
I have a weekly Art and Drawing class - for adults.
Personal tuition on the potter's wheel, or hand-building - for adults and children.
CV & Education, relevant & leading to your artistic practice:
I have always painted. At school I won annual art prizes and started taking portrait commissions.
At college, while training for a B.Ed, I met David Leach, the eldest son of Bernard Leach (known as the ‘father’ of English studio pottery). Inspired by him, I put the painting on hold and spent a couple of years making pots. David inherited his father's intuitive, evolutionary development of forms and how they were glazed. He taught me to make my own glazes, rather than buying them, and how to use organic material rather than chemicals.
Exhibitions in the last 3 years:
Forest and Rivers Open Studio events x 4 times a year
h.Art Open Studio events x 2 times a year
Your gallery outlets/stockists:
Kilpeck Inn, Herefordshire HR2 9DN
https://www.kilpeckinn.com