Nantgarw China Works is still extremely active in encouraging, supporting and promoting contemporary artists working with ceramics. The China Works currently provides studio space and facilities to outstanding ceramicists who create, fire and exhibit new work on the premises. These artists actively pass on their skills to both adults and children through regular workshops at China Works.

In 2017 Nantgarw China Works undertook a project to recreate the original recipe for Nantgarw Porcelain which had been lost for over two hundred years. This successful completion of this project has enabled our current artist in residence to start making new contemporary work from this exceptional porcelain body. A small number of items made from this porcelain will be sold to help support the sustainability of the museum.

Artists

Freya James – Ceramicist & Tutor

I am a Ceramicist making small batch, functional ware based at Nantgarw China Works.

I studied BA (hons) Ceramics at UWIC from 1998-2001 where I focused predominantly on hand building techniques. Having had a break to raise my family, I returned to clay in 2013. Studying evening classes at UWIC, I was taught how to throw by the incredible late Morgen Hall. From this moment I was hooked, and it wasn’t long before I bought my first wheel.

In 2015 I decided to return to education and complete my teacher training for adults. Whilst studying at Coleg y Cymoedd, I was fortunate to conduct my work experience at Nantgarw. From here, I have been given the opportunity to grow and develop; I currently teach six pottery classes a week.

From my studio based here at Nantgarw, I am producing traditionally inspired country-ware. Within these traditions, I love the warmth and homeliness terracotta brings to the table. The work I produce is predominantly thrown and decorated with my own adapted tin glaze and sponged with oxides.  My inspirations come from my love of food, cooking, eating and attempting to grow. Having come from a family that has always moved around, my sense of belonging comes from the home rather than a place. For me home is the essence in everything I do.

Lupin Wright, Ceramicist & Tutor

I’m Lupin, I am an artist/ceramicist and tutor at Nantgarw China Works.

I graduated from UWIC in 2004 with a BA (Hons) in Art and Aesthetics. There I studied various practical applications of art, balanced with the philosophical study of art, considering questions about why people produce art. What makes some things beautiful? Why do we elevate some objects to be placed in a museum? Who makes these decisions? It was a fascinating time in my life when I learnt to look at things differently, to believe in my own ideas, and to help others make the most of theirs.

After university, I spent 14 wonderful years working in schools and with the youth service – young people are epic! Raising my children while working in education was a chapter of my life that I loved. During this time, I continued with my art but it became small, to fit into my family and work life. I started painting little landscapes, mostly of Welsh beaches from holiday photos. These paintings became a lifeline keeping me connected to my creative self.

I’ve been teaching adults glass fusing and children’s pottery classes at Nantgarw for the last few years. This was a real turnaround after working within schools for so long, but no less rewarding. It is a delight to come into such a wonderful place each day, surrounded by wonderful people and interesting history.

In 2022 I was given the opportunity to learn mould making and slip casting at Nantgarw – plaster is a lovely material to work with. Slip cast ceramics is design-based, you have to plan it all out in advance to end up with multiples of exactly the same thing, which is very satisfying. Although I’m fairly new to slip casting, I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I now make and sell functional handmade slip-cast stoneware ceramics, from my own designs and using my own moulds, on-site at Nantgarw.

 

Sally Stubbings – Ceramicist & Tutor

I am the long-standing ceramicist in residence at Nantgarw China Works and was involved in working alongside specialists to rediscover and recreate the original recipe for Nantgarw soft-paste porcelain.  Well rounded in all aspects of ceramics, my primary focus is on porcelain which is either slip-cast, wheel-thrown or hand-built.  I enjoy many creative outlets and have taught pottery, fused glass, silver clay jewellery, and botanical painting classes at Nantgarw.

I am currently working with Nantgarw porcelain in a contemporary manner, using references to the human condition and how fragile we can be, but also highlighting the resilience and strength that can be found within ourselves. The decoration on new Nantgarw porcelain is incised using the reference wild flowers found on site.  Some of my pieces have colour applied to the inside in order to add a contemporary twist and an inner warmth.

My practice has been inspired by ‘Blanc de Chine’ produced in Dehua, the capital of the Fujian Province in Southwest China. During my visit to the ‘Fragile’ Exhibition at the National Museum of Wales, I was interested in a Blanc de Chine inspired small bowl which was crafted at the Bow factory in London.  Blanc de Chine refers to the ‘White of China’ and it is the quality of surface that can be achieved in the porcelain that has inspired my work. I am also intrigued by the fact that Dehua was often left with part of a foot unglazed in order to show the ‘nature and beauty of the underlying clay’. I have always felt that when you completely enclose porcelain with a glaze, something is lost.

The other influence on this body of work came as a result of attending a print making course. I fell in love with the patterns that are produced with this media. I then worked on the surface of the clay with an erosion technique which has given me the marks that I searched for in my work.