Jane White – portfolio

Contact the artist

https://societyofdesignercraftsmen.org.uk/our-makers/jane-white
01491 638742
janewhiteceramicsathotmail.com

The Old Dairy Studio Pottery, Turville Park Farm, Turville Heath, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 6LB

The artist at work

Artist information

I’m a Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, and after graduating with a degree in Ceramics 20 years ago I’ve been working with the practice of making pit-fired ceramics. I work from my studio on our farm in the Chilterns, firing the work in a large pit in the field behind the studio, using fallen wood from the surrounding woodlands. I was also commissioned to write a book for the Ashmolean Museum in 2015 – Alan Caiger-Smith and the Legacy of Aldermaston Pottery, published in 2018.

Exhibition information

My work is constantly evolving, exploring the beauty of the form, and referencing the world around me, and the enduring qualities of the ancient pots in national collections across the world.  My handbuilt and fragile forms are buried in a deep trench on our farm in the Chilterns, surrounded by organic material, and a large fire is built over them.  The resulting alchemy transforms the surface into a myriad of different patterns and colours.  An exciting but risky technique resulting in work where surface and form become seamlessly unified, as in nature, and each piece that survives is totally unique.