When I made my way to Britain’s Contemporary Ceramics Centre, so conveniently located right across Great Russel street from the British Museum, I found that the October featured artist was ceramic sculptor Martin Pearce. Biomorphic forms, built with earthenware coils and slabs filled the gallery space and the front window for his show “Allusive Forms”.

As Martin says “I am constantly inspired by natural forms of growth and structure: the landscape, cloud forms, trees, the human body. The list is endless.”

His biography and photos of his work can be found here, at his website:

https://www.martinpearceceramics.com/portfolio

I enjoyed seeing and touching the vaguely familiar and comfortable shapes, but I had another reason to visit CCC that day.

Port Moody Arts Centre’s young Ceramic Artist-in-Residence from 2017-18, Malory Tate, had told me that she is now Membership & Subscriptions Manager for Ceramic Review. This is the long-established magazine published by Ceramic Review Publishing, a subsidiary of the Craft Potters Association of Great Britain Limited. Its office is in the lower floor of the Contemporary Ceramics Centre – what a fabulous place to work!

While we had coffee in a nearby book shop Malory was able to spot a delivery truck showing up and dashed off to help unload the 300th edition of said magazine. Apart from her almost full-time job as subscriptions manager she has found a space in a group ceramic studio quite near to where she and George live in East London. She seems delighted with the way her life is working out, and although there isn’t really enough time to continue producing the exhibition-worthy work she made on her year-long studio time in Port Moody, she is confident that will happen before long. Meanwhile she is enjoying London and getting to meet lots of important and influential people in the world of ceramics. Well done Malory!

To remind you of the fabulous work Malory makes I’ve added the link to my blog about her end-of-residency show, in 2018.

https://www.gillianmcmillan.com/2018/08/12/rococo-and-baroque/

I may have to make another blog to show photos of which other pots I liked in the rotating members’ display in the gallery. My bisque firing of stoneware pots for next week’s soda firing is over and this afternoon’s chore is to pack up some pots for Eclectic Gallery in Victoria.