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Graham Ellerby graduated from Farnham in the days of Henry Hammond
and both Henry and the Canadian potter John Reeve, who worked at the Leach
Pottery and taught at Farnham during Graham’s time, have been important
influences. Graham’s work also shows
his admiration of Japanese Iga ware, English Mediaeval and traditional
Mediterranean ceramics.
Having previously taught ceramics and art
as a full time career in the Surrey area, Graham currently runs
master-classes in throwing; holds demonstrations; lectures to further inspire
potters and even “performs” at corporate events! This change has resulted in Graham being
able to give a full-time commitment to ceramics, resulting in greater
experimentation and development which feature in this exhibition, his third
at the Harlequin Gallery.
Fire and clay are cornerstones of his
work and he derives equal pleasure from harnessing both, always considering
the making, packing and firing as equal components of the creative
process. Along with Katerina
Evangelidou, Graham builds and designs his own kilns which they both use. All
of the pots in this exhibition come from the first three firings of Graham’s
new kiln that he calls Birbilo (a name derived from a Greek folk story having
to do with the multiple layers of clothes which Graham and Katerina needed to
overcome the bitter cold whilst building the kiln.). Birbilo can best
be described as a three metre long cross
draft wood firing kiln in the form an elevated half barrel with the firebox
within the chamber.
Graham
constantly seeks to amalgamate the fluidity of the clay with the potency of
the fire; he explores the infinite variations of fly ash and the salt upon
the form. Graham has continued experimenting with “tumble stacking” his pots
in the kiln; many of these pots are fired on their side to get the maximum
effects of fly ash and the small amount of salt added at the end of the
firing process. All Graham’s pots are
reduce-fired to a temperature of 1300°C over a period of about 14 hours. Then
the kiln is reduce-cooled by filling the firebox with wet logs and allowed to
cool naturally for two days before opening.
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