Emerging Potters Issue 25

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Potters

Issue 45 July to Sept 2026

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Introduction Welcome to the new edition of the magazine. Another busy season with major ceramic shows across the UK and many students finishing their courses. I have tried to cover as many as possible but due to the volume it has not been possible to include everyone.

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Included in this edition is a feature on Yilina Yang who graduated from the Royal College of Art last year. I hope to do more of these focus pieces in the future.

This Summer also marks the retirement of Professor Felicity Aylieff who has been the head of faculty at The Royal College of Art since 2001. This year also marked a solo show by her of a touring show. She has to be the most important teacher and maker this past decade.

Front cover: Patricia Shone.

Featured in the Ceramic Art London Show 2026.

Sarah Rooms Heaphy Ceramic Art London

Content: Ceramic Art London Central Saint Martins Yilina Yang RCA Book Review: Exploring Crystaline Glazes Book Review: Material Matters The Royal College of Art: Ceramics and Glass

Issue 45.

Editor: Paul Bailey Contact: paulbailey123@googlema il.com.

Copyright: Emerging Potters magazine

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Ceramic Art London 2026

In Ho Song 3

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Ceramic Art London 2026 The acclaimed Ceramic Art London fair, now in its 22nd year, returned to Olympia, London from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May 2026, with a private view on Thursday 7th May. Hugely respected in the contemporary ceramics world, and always oversubscribed, it is Europe’s leading showcase for makers to sell their work.

Previous careers by female makers at the fair include the following: physicist, nurse, animator, textile designer, advertising, librarian. Many now have work in public collections.

In 2026, 68% of artists at Ceramic Art London are women.

Women are more likely to buy work by women artists according to The Art Basel and UBS Report on Global Collecting 2025.

Largest and highest-priced item is £12,500 from USA-based artist, Landis Carey, who is exhibiting at the fair for the first time. She has suffered from synaesthesia and now makes ceramic pieces for hospitals.

Ashley Howard

Ex-nurse, Sarah Walton uses her tactile qualities to make bird baths. Her ceramics are represented in 15 UK museum collections and numerous private ones, She is heavily inspired by life experiences.

Suleyman Saba 4

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Loraine Rutt is a cartographer ceramicist who produces accurate ceramic maps and globes and has sold a special piece to Apollo 15 astronaut Col. Al Worden who mapped the moon.

Exhibitor Carolyn Tripp works for a social enterprise in Haringey, which helps those with mental health issues “recovery through creativity” which is cheaper than the cost of sectioning people.

Launching at CAL, was The Eileen Lewenstein Prize. This new award celebrates excellence in critical writing about ceramics. Named after the first co-founding editor of Ceramic Review and the Craftsmen Potters Association (now Craft Potters Association), Eileen Lewenstein was a trailblazing writer, lecturer, potter and photographer with a strong interest in socialist politics.

Shirley Vauvelle

Great talks were by great women, ranging from Kate Malone and Dame Zandra Rhodes, to Felicity Aylieff and curators from the V&A, Watts Gallery, and Leach Pottery – these being free with entry to the fair.

‘Get Hands On’ and learn hand building skills with the London Potters across the weekend, with a special session led by The Great Pottery Throwdown's Princess Fingall was just one of the highlights.

Toni Losey

Sharon Griffin 5

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Alison Coaten (left)

Jaejun Lee 6

Simon Olley

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Ceramic Art London 2026 Patricia Shone (cover) Her studio is on the Isle of Skye.

After 20 years working from the garage she built a new studio on the croft in 2020.

Her work is hand built, highly textured vessels, not necessarily functional but definitely pots. She has been developing a stretching technique to achieve natural clay textures on the surface of controlled organic forms. Fired as earthenware raku; saggar fired stoneware in the gas or wood kiln for heavy reduction; wood or gas for neutral firings.

She commented, “CAL feels like a formal setting. We are presenting our work in a design space more like a gallery or a customers’ home.

It is just as friendly as Potfest without the vagaries of the weather to contend with. Being in central London gives access to a much larger population than the more rural and picturesque Potfest settings. This is now the 8th year she has taken part in CAL” Originally she trained at Central School of Art, before the amalgamation with St. Martins and the move to Granary Square.

For her coming from Northern Scotland,not including the costs of running the business, the costs add up to about £2K. This includes stand dressing (painting & electrics); stand furniture (homemade); accommodation; van hire; fuel; parking.

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Mitch Pilkington

Nel Foulkner

Jihyun Kim

Ashraf Hanna 9

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Some key facts about the show * The fair hosts the largest collection of independent makers of this calibre in Europe - plus Canada to Korea. * Every budget is catered for: £50 to £10,000. * Over 300 applicants from 27 countries for 125 places with a rigorous selection process. * Kate Malone and Zandra Rhodes discuss: ‘From Clay to Catwalk’ * Explore the extraordinary diversity of forms from fantastical figures and lighting to Amsterdam houses. * Catrin Jones, Chief Curator of the V&A Wedgwood Collection, to discover why Wedgwood remains an icon of ceramics. * Free for under 16s to visit * Talk directly to all the makers about how their pieces are made. * The opportunity to experiment with clay at the fair by joining a hand- building session to learn techniques such as pinching and coiling.

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Ceramic Art London 2026 Jaeeun Kim Jaeeun is based in London. She worked at an adult education centre for around 10 years, mainly teaching ceramics. For the last three years as Head of Pottery at the centre. She now works full-time from her home studio.

Her work mainly focuses on stoneware vases. A lot of the surface decoration comes from memories of childhood, walking home after school and noticing the sky, trees, houses, weather and changing light. These memories often become abstract expressions on the surfaces rather than direct images.

She was also influenced by the House-TreePerson (HTP) drawing concept connected to art therapy, which became important to her after working with and teaching disabled children.

Korea has a very strong ceramic tradition, with important ceramic festivals and biennales in places such as Icheon and Yeoju. However, CAL feels quite different. She has been impressed by how energetic and international CAL felt compared to many of the ceramic events in Korea.

In Korea, there can sometimes be a clearer separation between contemporary ceramic art and functional pottery, whereas at CAL she felt there was more appreciation for the balance between the two. Originally she studied ceramics in Korea and completed an MA there.

Usually it takes her several months to prepare for a fair like CAL. The making process itself is quite time-consuming because ceramics involves drying, firing, testing, and sometimes unexpected failures.

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Ceramic Art London 2026

A-S Rope

Harriet Castlin 12

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Diane Griffin

Diane Griffin

Her studio is in the garden, and she has been working there for 12 years.

She makes sculptures that speak of our symbiotic relationship with the Earth, and is interested in how we use rituals and ceremonies as a way to help us feel connected to Mother Earth, ourselves and each other. The work uses different processes - soft slabs, coiling, hand building and throwing, each bringing a different energy to the work.

Diane commented, “The quality of work at CAL was very high again and the selection of exhibitors really showcased a broad variety of current contemporary ceramics. It felt very international with many exhibitors and visitors travelling from all over the world to be there. It was great to connect with so many people from different countries, all with a shared love of clay”.

She studied at Farnham College, graduating with B.A.Hons in Ceramics in 1988. - back when it was West Surrey College of Art & Design. - Now UCA Farnham.

This has been her first year exhibiting at CAL. After being a visitor for many years, she was delighted to be selected to exhibit. This required working on a new collection, especially for the show which took about three months. Once there she was surprised by the costs for parking and furniture for the stand surprising how it all adds up.

One tip she has for new makers is to pre-design your stand fully beforehand working out where each piece would be placed so that the set up day can be as smooth as possible.

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Sarah Rooms Heaphy

She splits her time between coastal visits recording the environment with photography, sketching & painting, walking, collecting small treasures, and working with clay from her home/studio in Cambridge, where she has lived for the past 10 years.

She works with a stoneware porcelain clay to sculpt large scale abstract forms inspired by her love of the intertidal space, part land / part sea that is ever changing with the ebb & flow of the tides. Natures weather patterns reveal treasure on every walk she takes along various coastal environments. Organic in form, they play with balance, texture, layering & interlocking surfaces. Working with textures, slips, her own home-made pencils, chalks and multiple texture glazes she fires in an electric kiln.

Ceramics is a second career for Sarah, having originally trained in Fashion & Textiles, at Nottingham Trent University, she had a 10 year career as a children’s wear fashion buyer. Her training has been ongoing for the past 20 years she has been making.

Initially with evening classes, which soon led to formal learning in the City & Guilds creative studies programme, up to Higher Professional Diploma, level 4, plus continued learning running a ceramics department at West Herts further education college. This included teacher training, and workshop delivery to the adult students.

In 2018 she was accepted into Digswell Arts Studio complex to redirect her ceramic journey into more sculptural work. More recently, she received a Developing Your Creative Practise from The Arts Council UK to grow the scale of her work. This is her first year at CAL.

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Ceramic Art London 2026 Emily Stubbs Emily is a founding member of Pica Studios in York. Pica Studios was founded in 2017 and is an artist-led studio collective of 23 artists, makers, writers and thinkers set within a 19th century building in the centre of historic York.

They have recently just moved the entire studio from Grape Lane to Walmgate which was quite a challenge!

She creates slab built abstract fragmented vessels and wall pieces. Through the work she explores the playful relationship between form, pattern and colour. The vessel is her primary interest, created by building and collaging slabs of textured clay together. Drawing inspiration from her 2D paper collages and sketches she translates this process into the clay, building up layer upon layer of slips and glazes.

She loves taking part in CAL. It's a chance to engage with visitors face to face, meet new galleries, sell direct to the public and see a lot of her potter friends!

Originally she studied for a Pre-BA Art Foundation in Dewsbury at Batley School of Art and Design in 2003. This was where she first encountered clay and it stuck! Later she went on to receive a BA(Hons) Degree in Ceramics from University of Wales, Institute Cardiff (UWIC) graduating in 2007.

This has been her 5th year at CAL, taking part three times when the event was at Central St Martins and then more recently CAL25 and CAL26 from Olympia West.

Exhibitions and shows such as CAL can be a big cost at the beginning of your ceramics career.

Her advice is to see them as a platform to showcase your work to the highest standard.

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Miho Inagaki - above

Vanessa Hogge

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Clare Palmer

Russell Kingston 17

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Ceramic Art London 2026

Bahareh Khameiry

Helen Randell - below

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Ceramic Art London 2026 Winners

Dan Kelly. Emmanuel Cooper Prize awarded by the Craft Pottery Charitable Trust - his winning piece going to the Pallant House Gallery.

Sun Kim - CAL Outstanding Exhibitor 2026

Olga Siruk CAL Newcomer 2026

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Ceramic Art London 2026 Judges

Professor Felicity Aylieff, Royal College of Art with Sequoia Miller, Curator and Co-Director of the Gardiner Museum in Toronto; Sue Mundy, Chair of the CAL 2026 Committee and CAL 2026 Exhibitor.

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Central Saint Martins College Once again the Central Saint Martins College brought us an outstanding show in an outstanding building, of international fame.

The first step for the college course is to encourage a curiosity for a complex, sometimes rogue material.

Next, students are encouraged to develop a personal toolkit, which is appropriate to themselves.

The show reveals the materials knowledge and intelligence gained over a three year intensive study of the ancient discipline of ceramics. The students can’t always be dependent on all the technology available today, but have to have a ‘hands on’ approach.

The evening of the first viewing is very much a social occasion and very, very busy. Students come from around the world to experience working and living in London. Most importantly they were keen to talk about their work with confidence and authority. So much achieved in such a short time.

One of the key aspects of the course is how the teaching ensures that students develop an understanding of their place in the world and the context in which they operate, as both makers and thinkers.

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Central Saint Martins

Jasmine Gilpin

Lily Deason

Olivia Terry Samantha Tucci

Ruby Bastin

left:Iona Sigleton Above: Chantal Phuay Yi 22

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Central Saint Martins

Ananya Jaswal Breeze Bee Connor Hopper

Emily Fraser below: Andrea Llerena

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CentralSaint SaintMartins Martins Central

above: Colin Huxham Below: Colleen Wong

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Yilina Yang RCA Yilina’s ceramic practice explores the tension between permanence and decay. Combining Vanitas traditions with contemporary cultural fragments, her shimmering, illusionistic forms evoke a sense of fragile desire. Animalistic surfaces scales, skin - gesture toward both seduction and loss. She is the recipient of the RJ Washington Bursary 2025.

Yilina graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2025.

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Yilina Yang

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Book Review

Exploring Crystalline Glazes

By Diane Creber Published 14 May 2026 | Paperback | 192pp | £25 |ISBN 9781789943931 The New Ceramics Series. Published by Herbert Press imprint of crafting books by Bloomsbury Publishing for makers of all levels.

Diane Creber is an award winning potter based in Canada. Her book looks at the history of the process, looking at the most suitable clays, different types of crystalline glazes, how they can be grown under specific conditions, and how different ingredients react together.

Crystalline glazes have in the past been elusive, but now with new developments in materials and digital processors, the process has become simplified, producing amazing results. Creber in the book explains how she first discovered the process some 40 years ago. Since then she has met hundreds of potters working with this technique.

Today, it still involves a methodical procedure of recipes and firing schedules. There has to be an understanding of how crystals work, how they grow, how the composition of the glaze works and how each material reacts. This book tries to demystify the process and give an understanding of the process.

Crystals are a substance whose elements are arranged in patterns that fit together and repeat. Most crystals require a medium in which to grow, and the conditions are ideal there start growing in many different ways within a solution.

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Book Review: Exploring Crystalline Glazes

Post reduced at higher temperature Annie Cap

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Book Review: Exploring Crystalline Glazes

The book covers a range of advice as well as being lavishly illustrated.

Natural crystals History of crystalline glazes Growing crystals in a glaze Types of crystalline glazes Suitable clay Forms, catch basins and test results Ingredients Glazes Aventurine glazes Glazing Kilns Firing aids Firing crystalline glazes in oxidation Reduction-fired crystalline glazes After the firing Special effects The author looks in some detail at kilns available today and different effects.

The advice is to buy the best you can afford. Know how many pots will be produced at a given time, the type of work and temperature requirements.

Many potters have a kiln just for crystalline glazes. Under this chapter there is useful information from suppliers from around the world looking at kiln preparation and safety precautions, fuel kilns, loading the kiln, The book goes on to look at firing aids, after firing techniques, and special effects.

Bottle- Bill Boyd

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Book Review

Material Matters An Artist’s Guide to Understanding Ceramic Materials

By Linda Bloomfield & Linda Swanson 30 July 2026 | Hardback | 240pp £35 ISBN 9781789942309 Published by Herbert Press, an exciting imprint of crafting books by Bloomsbury Publishing for makers of all levels.

Understanding how and why clay and glazes work (or don't) is a fundamental skill needed by all potters and ceramicists.

Material Matters reveals the science and technology involved in making and firing ceramics, explaining the property and behaviour of various raw materials based on their underlying chemistry.

Supported by full colour illustrations, photographs, charts and graphs, and written by ceramic arts professor Linda Swanson and glaze expert Linda Bloomfield, Material Matters is the essential guide to working confidently with ceramics.

Suitable for both amateur and experienced potters, the topics explored include clay types, slips, glaze development, colourants and firing techniques – as well as the safety and sustainability tips needed along the way.

Linda Bloomfield.

Porcelain bottles and vases, magnesium satin matt glazes fired to cone 8.

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Book Review: Material Matters

Material Matters brings ceramic chemistry to life in a clear and engaging way by introducing the use of the 13 ceramic oxides, the building blocks of clay and glazes. With simple, accessible explanations, it helps readers understand how materials work and how to use them with confidence.

Alongside this practical foundation, it highlights more sustainable approaches to making and firing ceramics, and is richly illustrated with inspiring ceramic art from around the world.

About the authors: Linda Bloomfield trained as a materials scientist before becoming a potter. She has made porcelain central in her West London studio since 2003, with past work sold through Liberty, Harrods and Michelin-starred restaurants, alongside ongoing commissions and gallery exhibitions. A regular magazine contributor, she has authored bestselling glaze books such as The Handbook of Glaze Recipes and Colour in Glazes, leading to a global reputation and extensive teaching of glaze workshops across Europe.

Linda Swanson is an artist whose interests are grounded in the metamorphic nature of ceramic materials and processes. Her works have been exhibited around the United States, Canada and Europe with recent exhibitions at the Musée National de Sèvres in Paris, Galateea Contemporary Art in Bucharest, Art Paris with Galerie Maria Lund, the DePaul Museum in Chicago and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Porcelain mugs with glossy glaze with coloring oxides. Fired in an electric kiln to cone 8.

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Book Review: Material Matters

Above: Linda Bloomfield. Lichen forms in woods 2021. Thrown porcelain forms with licheneffect glazes. Image: Henry Bloomfield.

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The Royal College Ceramics and Glass This year the graduating students come from 15 different countries. It has not been possible to include all of their work, but represented here is a selection of a vast range of raw talent and ability.

Given all the demands made of the students during this intensive year is testament to their critical and creative temperament and ambitions.

It should be mentioned that Felicity Aylieff who is leaving the college this year has been someone of major influence and inspiration. Throughout, both the pressure of leading the course, she has also produced one of the most important international solo shows, which was premiered at Kew Gardens before touring the country. In a parting comment she said,” What has always inspired me most about teaching at the RCA is witnessing the individuality of each student emerge so powerfully over time”.

students undergo a one year programme which is a type of peerlearning that is unique to the Royal College. Throughout the year students work in ‘platforms’ which are unique readings of the disciplines. These include a focus on research, materiality, well-making and wellbeing. No idea?

The course is a one-year MA where the students examine their previous experiences and methodologies, experiment , test and develop a new body of work.

Aninda Singh

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The Royal College of Art: Ceramics and Glass

Yi-Chun Wang

Ao Han

Srabani Ghesh

Zixuan He

Nehal Aamir

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The Royal College of Art: Ceramics and Glass

Zhuofan Yu

Tianyuan Zhang

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The Royal College of Art: Ceramics and Glass

David Stothard

Louise Hapton

Seonhong Im 36

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The Royal College of Art: Ceramics and Glass

Madeleine Lacroix 37

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Thrown Gallery Cornwall

Thrown Gallery, Unit 12, Lanteague, Zelah, Truro, Cornwall TR4 9JG Open Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Launching our new gallery & 'Elemental' show We are very excited to open the doors to our new permanent home at Lanteague, Cornwall - a vibrant community of independent businesses on the North Cornish coast. After five years of working nomadically since moving out of our first gallery in Highgate, London, it feels good to be going back to our roots of a physical gallery space and, with this, back to our gallery director Claire's roots in Cornwall.

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You can find back numbers of the magazine on the ISSUU platform

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