It’s a great time to buy collectable contemporary ceramics, they are becoming more prominent in the art world and the market is booming.  You don’t have to visit a major art fair like Masterpiece, you can find them using Instagram or by visiting local art fairs.

Recently I visited a wonderful art exhibition in the beautiful hamlet of River in wooded West Sussex countryside which for two weeks every year becomes the home of The Treve Art festival. This year there were at least 19 artists who for a fortnight come together to exhibit, demonstrate their artform and run art workshops. If the weather is fine, you are welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy a stroll around the sculpture trail and meet the resident wood carver demonstrating wood working. My children tried their hand at weaving with Raga Brown whilst I fell in love with Wendy Farley’s ceramics. They are tactile and bold and with the most amazing textures.  They are objects that will stand the test of time and look beautiful in your home, bringing texture and form. They definitely make it on my Objects of Desire list.

Thanks to Gallery 57 in Arundel I found out more about Wendy Farley.  You can see how beautifully her pieces group together to make a interesting collection in Wendy’s image of a forthcoming show in Midhurst.

Wendy is a ceramic artist and teacher working from her studio in West Sussex. ​ Her work is hand built, mostly coiled and pinched with some slab work.  Inspiration comes from everything she sees but particularly from the sea, nature and ethnographical art and craft. She has always been interested in simplicity and purity of form using smoke firing as a technique to enhance shape allowing for balance between the control one can inflict and the accidental markings from smoke and fire. ​ Texture and colour feature in some work as a contrast to burnished areas and the natural smoky colours. ​ Wendy’s recent work has moved away from burnishing by using a heavily textured crank body with oxides, underglazes and slips firing to mid stoneware temperatures.

Featured image thanks to Gallery 57.  For more information visit Gallery 57 in Arundel, West Sussex