Pottery Studio - Tim Copsey

Japanese and early English forms and techniques inform much of what I make, I’m also inspired by artists with sculptural approaches to making. But I want my pots to be functional and enjoyed in the home, kitchen and garden. The elemental nature of wood-firing and the Peak District landscape are incredibly important to the finish of my work. Of course, there are often cracks and disappointments... Kintsugi, the mending technique that makes the broken beautiful, that elevates and celebrates a simple beloved piece, to re-establish beauty and function after life takes its toll… I try to do that every day?

I don’t have one technique - I coil, slab, throw and carve often the same pot. Thrown pieces are usually altered and hand-shaped. Slab pieces are finished on the wheel. I use canvas slings to shape my round vase forms and big bowls. Even fired pieces are sometimes cut, reconfigured and ‘glued’ using low-fired clay.

I use commercial black, white and grogged stoneware: sometimes mixed with 'found' materials like Peak District grit, Withernsea beach clay and other ‘inclusions’. All material eventually goes into the same reclaim bin.

I use two main glazes: shino (feldspar and salt) and oribe with tinted slips and ash glaze.And work is wood-fired from green to stoneware temperatures. Often pieces are put through the wood kiln more than once and I use a very small electric kiln to ‘final’ fire pieces using additional tinted glazes and occasionally lustres to achieve my surface results.