Q&A with Ceramic Artist Andrew Walker Part I

Me in my Studio 2020

When did you start making ceramics?

Like most people I played around with clay whilst being at school and college but didn’t pick it up again until many years later in my early 40’s. During 2015 I attended an open evening at a small local pottery studio, I knew straight away this could be something I’d like to pursue. So, I enrolled in a 6-week hand building course and I was completely hooked, realising very quickly that I loved working with clay. There was a calmness that came with manipulating mud into an array of different forms.

Around the same time, I had undergone surgery on my foot, so whilst being off work for a while I decided to buy some clay and practice at home. The more I made, the more inspired I became. To be honest at the beginning I fumbled my way through different techniques by just having a go, but looking back I see how important that time period was as it cemented the fact that I wanted to create with clay all the time.

Over the next few years, I attended an opening studio on a part time basis, concentrating on improving my skills and trying to push the boundaries within my own aesthetic. Then during 2019, I decided to open my own pottery studio to teach classes and make why own work full time.

Have you always been creative?

I guess so… I came from quite a creative family; both my grandparents were painters. I remember from an early age I loved to draw & paint which followed through into university where I studied Textile Design. After leaving education most of my creative experience has been in the retail world. Firstly, in fashion and then in interiors where I became Head of Visual for an international homeware company, developing instore and window concepts along with styling photoshoots.

Why do you decide to hand build your work instead of throwing?

As I’ve touched on previously, I like the peace and calmness that comes with hand building. I’m sure throwers would say the same, but I don’t get that kind of feeling from throwing. Probably because I’m not very good at it. Plus, I really enjoy the construction aspect, the idea of bringing together multiple pieces of clay to create one structure really appeals to me. I often allow the viewer to see how my work is constructed by purposefully leaving joins visible.

What would you say are your main sources of inspiration?

Construction- whether that be mechanical or architectural. Inspiration comes from everyday life, walking the streets seeing what surrounds us in our urban existence. At the beginning of this discovery I spent a lot of time looking at what we walk on every day, taking inspiration from objects like paving slabs or drain covers; mainly the things we take for granted and don’t often notice.

My current collection is inspired by industrial architecture. Mainly the iconic block-like geometric buildings from the mid-century where I’m drawn to their simplistic, graphic like quality. I like to look at these structures and break their components down, the shapes and symmetrical lines form the basis for creating a starting point in my construction. I also draw inspiration from the shadows these structures create, often taking into consideration how these impact on the negative space.

Virtually all your work is unglazed, why don’t you use glazes very often?

The raw materials used within architectural construction inspires how my finished pieces are viewed. These materials are usually laid bare for everyone to see and hopefully this is communicated in my work. That’s not to say that I don’t like glazes, but I try and use them within limited edition pieces, so they stand apart from the rest of the collection.

The new architectural range showcases a step towards introducing coloured stains to clay bodies before their construction. These bright tones reflect the type of colour pallets seen within architecture that contrast with the often-stark raw materials.