Tryptich frame OPEN
Sara Jane Harper
Ceramic dogs by Claire Billinglsey
Claire Billingsley
Carved Oak Chest by Alison Hugh Milton
Alison Hugh Milton
A Break in the Blizzard by Sean Crawfod
Sean Crawford
Rose by Rose Norman
Rose Norman

Melody Carter

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Artwork for Melody Carter

Red lava

Wye Mermaids

Herefordshire 'farm' ware

Lugg meadow mugs

hand thrown bottle with Tenmuku glaze

'caravanning' mugs

Hand thrown bowls

Details

Telephone: 
07586 520171
How would you describe the work you do and why?: 

I create for pleasure and relaxation. I make domestic wares but also pieces that inspire me from the surrounding landscape and events. My domestic work tends to be glazed in traditional colours and earth/sea tones but I have also made pieces that celebrate and commemorate events and experiences where I indulge my illustrative and more artistic skills.

I am a nurse, teacher and academic and am convinced of the connection between feeling mentally well and hopeful and being creative. Something very good happens to my brain when I am working in the studio and there is substantial emerging evidence to support this theory

For you what does being an artist mean?: 

For me its about the possibilities that being creative presents. Through making I have the possibility of concentration, solitude and contemplation but also of sharing and exchanging with others. Like other forms of creative practice pottery is a medium of communication. The textures of clay in both raw and fired states contain something eternal and timeless and therefore evokes a response of one sort or another.
I believe that the quality of my work is directly connected to the amount of practice I am able to put in -nothing magical about it although when I open the kiln things can seem a bit 'out of this world'.

Describe what you call yourself/your practice?: 

I am a potter , I make, fire and finish my pottery in my garden studio.

Your practice & activities include e.g workshops, teaching: 

I enjoy both the production process of repetition and refinement of shape and form but also the construction of one of unique items for an individual. I make and sell from my studio shop and at local markets. I also take commissions for domestic wares and for memorial or commemoration.

I teach intensive throwing workshops for individuals or pairs

During the Covid-19 pandemic we were able to run online pottery workshops from the studio for groups of nurses, doctors, teachers and other key workers

CV & Education, relevant & leading to your artistic practice: 

I first learned how to throw in adult education classes at the Folk House in Bristol and then at Northcote Pottery in Melbourne, Australia. When I returned to England and settled in Hereford I attended an evening class at Hereford College of Arts which encouraged me to enrol in the
MA Contemporary Crafts Hereford College of Arts which I completed in 2019.

Conference Presentation: 2019 Illustrating Mental Health 10th Illustration Symposium, Grief: small acts of meaning 7th November 2019 The Art House, University of Worcester

Publication : Ward L and Carter M (2020) Learning how to SMILE. Improving physical and mental health through nurse education and creative practice Nurse Education in Practice 43 https://www-sciencedirect-com.apollo.worc.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S147...

Exhibitions in the last 3 years: 

In 2019 my work was shown in the Hereford College of Arts MA Contemporary Crafts Graduation show . In my final project I explored the concepts of materiality and mourning practices . Along with other Christian creatives I received a commission to make a jug for the LICC social media campaign in 2022, this piece was photographed and published as it was seen 'travelling' around London. In June-July 2023 I participated in the West Hereford Faith in Art Summer Show at All Saints Church Hereford;'Living Water'.

Your gallery outlets/stockists: 

I sell via my Instagram page @edgarstreetpottery, direct from my studio during H-Art Week and at local markets including Wye Valley Makers. A selection of my work will be available at the Courtyard Theatre Shop from August 2023.

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