Artist Profile - Gilly Whittington
Gilly works with stoneware clays, creating work for domestic use and makes larger, one off pieces for the garden, which can be seen in this exhibition. She did The City and Guilds Ceramic Training in the early nineties, and has been working as a craftsman potter ever since.
In the last five years she moved to Worcestershire. Before that she lived and ran her workshop in Oxfordshire, where she made her reputation. She is a member of both the Oxfordshire Craft Guild and the Worcester Guild of Designer Craftsmen. She has exhibited widely in the Oxford Art weeks and taught and exhibited regularly at Art in Action. Her work can be found in a number of galleries and private collections in the UK.
Some of Gilly’s work explores the juxtaposition of rough cratered surfaces with smooth interior glazes, with both shape and surface combining to give a feeling of movement and energy. She is currently working with coloured slips, and constantly experimenting with glazes to further her ideas and uses with both wood ash and locally sourced clay in her glazes. All her work is fired in a reducing atmosphere in her gas kiln. Her garden pieces continue the theme of movement with curved lines accentuated by dry ash glazes. The domestic ware combines uncluttered contemporary designs and practical use.
Gilly is moving to France to set up a workshop where the studio will be open to visitors.
